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Pronominal adverbs: da- and wo-compounds

B1

Ich warte darauf. instead of Ich warte auf den Zug. – Womit fährst du? instead of Mit was fährst du? These da-/wo-compounds make your sentences shorter and more natural — especially with verbs that take a fixed preposition.

  • Prepositional adverbs (da(r)-forms)
  • Question prepositional adverbs (wo(r)-compounds)

da-compounds

Many verbs take a fixed preposition (warten auf, denken an, sich freuen über). When it is about a thing and not a person, you replace Präposition + Sache with a pronominal adverb with da-.

You simply attach da- before the preposition: Ich warte auf den Bus. → Ich warte darauf.

If the preposition starts with a vowel, -r- goes in between (da + -r- + auf): darauf, daran, darüber. Otherwise it stays da-: davon, damit, dazu.

A few important forms:
1. auf — darauf: Ich freue mich darauf.
2. an — daran: Ich denke oft daran.
3. mit — damit: Sie fährt damit.
4. für — dafür: Er interessiert sich dafür.

Verb with prepositionda-compoundExample
warten aufdaraufIch warte auf den Zug. → Ich warte darauf.
denken andaranWir denken an die Ferien. → Wir denken daran.
sprechen überdarüberSie sprechen über das Buch. → Sie sprechen darüber.
fahren mitdamitEr fährt mit dem Bus. → Er fährt damit.
träumen vondavonIch träume von einer Reise. → Ich träume davon.

Find words

Which da-compound fits?

wo-compounds (questions)

Find words

Which wo-compound fits?

Put sentences in order

Fill in the blanks

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