@kitten I think it has to do with the "class" of location?
Like, you would use "nach Berlin" same as "nach Hause", which are sort of fixed / "named" locations.
As opposed to "zum Restaurant" (aka "zu dem", but no one uses the long form).
Not exactly sure, but I think it mostly depends on if you're referring to a general location, vs a specific thing (like a restaurant). Given it would be "zum Haus". I think the difference is sort of the same as English "going home" vs "going to a restaurant", but I can't explain why it works that way either (as in, when you use "to" vs when not).
@kitten Gute Frage! Eigentlich wird „nach“ immer im Kontext von unbestimmten Orten wie Städte oder Ländern genommen („nach Spanien“) und „zu“ zu bestimmten Orten („zum Geschäft“).
„Hause“ ist aber ja eigentlich bestimmt. 🤔
Witzig ist: „Er geht nach Hause. Dann ist er zuhause.“ 😂
@kitten zu is followed by proper names (or like, more generic nouns like restaurant) while nach is for larger geographic locations (like cities, countries, continents, etc) and specifically “hause”
