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Local prepositions — Lokale Präpositionen (wo?, wohin?, woher?)

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📺 Instructional Video

An instructional video explaining this grammar topic with practical examples.

🎯 Lesson Goals

  • Understand how location, direction and origin are expressed with German prepositions.
  • Distinguish between wo?, wohin? and woher? in everyday sentences.
  • Apply the prepositions correctly in speaking and writing.

📚 Core rules

Preposition Question it answers Example question
wo? where? (static location) Wo bist du? — Where are you?
wohin? where to? (direction of movement) Wohin gehst du? — Where are you going?
woher? where from? (origin) Woher kommst du? — Where do you come from?

Usage notes

  • wo? is used when the subject stays in place. It never implies movement.
  • wohin? is paired with verbs of motion (gehen, fahren, laufen, fliegen). It asks for the destination.
  • woher? asks for the source or origin. Often used with kommen, stammen, beziehen.
  • If the verb does not denote motion, use wo? even if the sentence talks about a change of state (e.g., Der Zug steht wo? vs Der Zug fährt wohin?).
  • The three questions can be combined: Wo bist du? Wohin willst du gehen? Woher kommst du?

📝 Sample sentences

  • Wo ist das Buch? — Where is the book? ✅
  • Wohin fährst du? — Where are you traveling to? ✅
  • Woher kommt er? — Where does he come from? ✅
  • Wo liegt die Stadt? — Where is the city located? ✅
  • Wohin willst du gehen? — Where do you want to go? ✅
🔤 Lektion 4: Wohnen und Nachbarn — Housing and Neighbors 🔤 Exercises Lektion 4: Wohnen und Nachbarn (Living and Neighbors) 🔤 Lektion 6: Auf dem Weg zur Arbeit — On the Way to Work 🔤 Exercises Lektion 6: Auf dem Weg zur Arbeit (On the Way to Work) 🔤 Lektion 10: Durch die Stadt — Across the City 🔤 Exercises Lektion 10: Durch die Stadt (Through the City)

🎯 Interactive exercises

✏️ Fill in the blank with the correct word: Write only one word in each field.

# Question Answer
1 ___? ist das Restaurant? (where)
2 ___? gehst du nach Hause? (where to)
3 ___? kommt dein Freund? (where from)
4 ___? liegt das Museum? (where)
5 ___? fahren wir morgen? (where to)

✏️ Fill in the blank with the correct word: Write only one word in each field.

# Question Answer
1 ___? steht das Bild? (where)
2 ___? fliegst du? (where to)
3 ___? stammt das Rezept? (where from)