Wo- / Da-Wörter

German	English
Ich freue mich darauf. Er träumt davon. Worüber denkst du nach?	I'm looking forward to it. He dreams about it. What are you thinking about?

Wo- / da compounds require some explanation because they don't exist in English.
In German, however, they play quite an important role and are often used.

Da compounds

Several months ago we spoke about pronouns (ich, du, er, sie, es...).
Pronouns can be used to avoid repetitions and make sentences shorter:

example:

1. Cathy, Joy and Kristine sind Freunde. Cathy, Joy and Kristine gehen oft zusammen ins Kino.
   (Cathy, Joy and Kristine are friends. Cathy, Joy and Kristine often go together to the cinema.)
2. Cathy, Joy and Kristine sind Freunde. Sie gehen oft zusammen ins Kino.
   (Cathy, Joy and Kristine are friends. They often go together to the cinema.)

In the first example I used twice "Cathy, Joy and Kristine". It sounds strange and makes the sentence unnecessary long.
In the second example I replaced the name of the three girls by "sie" (they).
You know who I mean with "sie" because I used the names in the sentence before already.

Da compounds have exactly the same purpose but they don't replace a person.
They replace an inanimate object. To be exact: da compounds replace the object which follows a preposition.

example 1:

1. Ich kann den Schlüssel nicht finden. Ich suche nach dem Schlüssel.
   (I can't find the key. I'm looking for the key.)
2. Ich kann den Schlüssel nicht finden. Ich suche danach.
   (I can't find the key. I'm looking for it.)

Because I don't want to write "Schlüssel" again I replace it by "danach".
"Danach" consists of the word "da" and the preposition "nach" which belongs to the verb "suchen" (to look for = suchen nach).

example 2:

1. Ich vermisse unsere gemeinsame Zeit. Ich träume oft von unserer gemeinsamen Zeit.
   (I miss our common time. I often dream about our common time.)
2. Ich vermisse unsere gemeinsame Zeit. Ich träume oft davon.
   (I miss our common time. I often dream about it.)

Because I don't want to write again "unsere gemeinsame Zeit" I replace it by "davon".
"Davon" consists of the word "da" and the preposition "von" which belongs to the verb "träumen" (to dream about = träumen von).

We can summarize so far:

"Da compounds" have the same function as pronouns but they just replace inanimate objects (if the inanimate objects follows a preposition). They always consists of "da" and "preposition" which belongs to the verb. If you want to translate a "da compound" into English split up the preposition and translate the "da" into "it". It's not completely correct but helps to understand the meaning for now.

example 3:

1. Liebe ist ein schönes Thema. Wir sprechen oft über Liebe.
   (Love is a nice topic. We often speak about love.)
2. Liebe ist ein schönes Thema. Wir sprechen oft darüber.
   (Love is a nice topic. We often speak about it.)

In this example the "da compound" consists of "da" + "r" + "preposition".
There is one additional rule we have to consider:

If the preposition starts with a vowel (a,e,u,o,) or an umlaut (ä,ü,ö) you have to put a "r" between "da" and the "preposition": da + r + preposition

Wo compounds

"Wo compounds" have the same function as "da compounds". They also replace the inanimate object following the preposition.
The difference is: "da compounds" are used in statements and "wo compounds" are used in questions.

example 1:

• question: Wonach suchst du? answer: Ich suche nach dem Schlüssel.
  (What are you looking for? -> I'm looking for the key.)

As you can see the example the "wo compound" is a kind of question word
which consists of "wo" and "preposition" which belongs to the verb (to look for = suchen nach).

If you try to translate a "wo compound" don't translate the "wo" into "where"
because here it has actually the meaning of "what".

example 2:

• question: Wovon träumst du? answer: Ich träume von unserer gemeinsamen Zeit.
  (What are you dreaming about? -> I'm dreaming about our common time.)

If the preposition starts with a vowel or an umlaut put a "r" between the "wo" and the "preposition".

example 3:

• question: Worüber sprechen sie? answer: Sie sprechen über Liebe.
  (What are they talking about? -> They are talking about love.)

Wo - Da compounds vs. personal pronouns

I noticed that you still struggle to decide whether you
have to use a wo - da compound or a personal pronoun.
The following overview might help you:

	inanimate objects	animate objects (people)
statements	da compound da + (r) + preposition	preposition + pronoun
questions	wo compound wo + (r) + preposition	preposition + question word

statements

example 1:

• Ich freue mich auf das Wochenende (=inanimate object).
  (I'm looking forward to the weekend.)

Ich freue mich darauf.

• Ich freue mich auf meine Frau (=animate object).
  (I'm looking forward to my wife.)

Ich freue mich auf sie.

example 2:

• Ich denke an den Urlaub (=inanimate object).
  (I'm thinking about the holiday.)

Ich denke daran.

• Ich denke an meinen Vater (=animate object).
  (I'm thinking about my father.)

Ich denke an ihn.

questions

example 1:

• Ich ärgere mich über die Arbeit (=inanimate object).
  (I'm angry about the work.)

Worüber ärgerst du dich?

• Ich ärgere mich über meinen Chef (=animate object).
  (I'm angry about my boss.)

Über wen ärgerst du dich?

example 2:

• Ich träume oft von einem eigenen Haus (=inanimate object).
  (I often dream about an own house.)

Wovon träumst du?

• Ich träume von meinem Bruder (=animate object).
  (I often dream about my brother.)

Von wem träumst du?

 

	Wo- / Da-Wörter 1				Lösung
	Wo- / Da-Wörter 2				Lösung
	Wo- / Da-Wörter 3				Lösung

	Wo- / Da-Wörter (theory, 4 pages)