Voted Best Answer
Jul 07, 2014 - 12:04 AM
Hi. Ins shows movement in terms of going to a place and is accusative case. For example, today I go to the cinema = Heute gehe ich ins Kino. Whereas if you are saying you are in (or into) the cinema that shows location (not movement as you are "in" something) but is dative case). For example, I am in the cinema = Ich bin im Kino. But if I am going to the cinema (maybe to meet someone out front and not go in) then I would say, Ich gehe zum Kino (zu dem = zum). If I remember correctly, zu is when one is going to somewhere in terms of a direction but in is when you are actually inside the building. For example, ich gehe von hier zu da (or I go from here to there). I think that ins or zu could, in most cases, be interchangeable providing you use the correct case but if you are going in or into the structure you would use in. I hope this is helpful.