excursion / digression
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excursion
An organized trip undertaken for a specific purpose, usually education, research, or exploration. Such trips are often made by groups such as school classes, university courses, or clubs.
Die Biologieklasse macht morgen eine Exkursion in den Nationalpark.
The biology class is going on an excursion to the national park tomorrow.
The word contains the Latin prefix 'ex-', which means 'out' or 'outward.' An 'Exkursion' is therefore literally an 'Ausflug' (trip) — either to a real place or away from the main topic of a text.
Die geplante Exkursion führt die Studenten in ein nahegelegenes Naturschutzgebiet.
The planned excursion takes the students to a nearby nature reserve.
To recognize the meaning, pay attention to the context. If it is about a trip to a place, e.g. 'ins Museum' (to the museum), 'in den Wald' (into the forest), it means a trip. If it is about a topic in a lecture or text, e.g. 'in die Geschichte' (into history), it means a digression.
Die Schüler freuen sich auf die Exkursion in den Zoo.
The students are looking forward to the excursion to the zoo.
In the meaning 'Ausflug' (trip), 'Exkursion' is very often combined with the verbs 'machen' (to make/do) or 'unternehmen' (to undertake). If you are taking part yourself, you can also say that you 'an einer Exkursion teilnimmt' (take part in an excursion).
Unser Verein unternimmt jedes Jahr eine Exkursion in eine andere Stadt.
Our club undertakes an excursion to a different city every year.
The meaning 'Abschweifung' (digression) is used almost exclusively in academic, scholarly, or very formal contexts, for example in a university lecture or in a specialist book.
Im Anhang des Buches findet sich eine längere Exkursion zu diesem Spezialthema.
In the appendix of the book, there is a longer digression on this specialized topic.
journey / trip
'die Reise' and 'die Exkursion' both mean that you travel or go to another place. However, 'die Reise' is much more general. It can be private, business-related, short, or long, for example a vacation or a business trip. 'die Exkursion' is more appropriate when a group is traveling in an organized way in order to learn, research, or look at something, for example a school class in a museum. Learners may confuse the words because both have to do with being on the move. A simple rule is: for vacations and normal trips, you usually say 'Reise'; for a planned educational or research outing, 'Exkursion' is more likely.
Die Klasse macht am Freitag eine Exkursion in den Wald, um Pflanzen zu bestimmen.
The class is going on an excursion to the forest on Friday to identify plants.
Wir planen im Sommer eine Reise an die Ostsee.
We're planning a trip to the Baltic Sea in the summer.