Prepositional Adverbs: da(r)- and wo(r)-
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Learn to refer to things, situations, and clauses with da(r)- and ask about them with wo(r)-. Distinguish these forms from preposition + pronoun for people and from spatial or temporal da-words.
Explanation
German prepositional adverbs and pronouns
Use da(r) + preposition to refer to a thing, topic, or whole situation. Use wo(r) + preposition to ask about it.
| Preposition | Question form | da(r)-form |
|---|
| an | woran? | daran |
| auf | worauf? | darauf |
| für | wofür? | dafür |
| mit | womit? | damit |
| über | worüber? | darüber |
| von | wovon? | davon |
| um | worum? | darum |
| bei | wobei? | dabei |
| vor | wovor? | davor |
Insert r before a preposition beginning with a vowel: woran/daran, worauf/darauf, worüber/darüber. Do not insert r before a consonant: wofür/dafür, womit/damit.
Things and people
Use wo(r)- and da(r)- for things and topics:
Woran denkst du? - Ich denke daran.
For a person, keep the preposition before a personal pronoun:
An wen denkst du? - Ich denke an sie.
Do not use daran when referring to a specific person.
Referring to a clause
A da(r)-word can anticipate a following clause:
Ich freue mich darauf, dass du kommst. Sie achtet darauf, dass die Tür geschlossen ist.
Place and time
Some forms also function as independent adverbs:
- daneben, davor, dahinter, darauf can describe place.
- dabei, davor, danach can express time relations.
Context decides whether a form replaces a prepositional complement or describes a place or time.
Exercises
- Choose the correct question or answer form. Pay special attention to things and people. (11)
- Insert words from the shared word bank. Use the preposition and context to decide. (11)
- Replace the highlighted reference to a thing with the correct da(r)-word and write the complete sentence. (11)
B1 · German · Grammar