If you are confused about the use of certain German words, such as dort and dorthin. In this lesson, you will find out why simply is not just dort, because we translate both words into our language as there. You wonder why the Germans always have to complicate things. But the German language is not called the language of technology for nothing. They are very precise, so is their language. In this lesson you will find answers to your questions and everything you want to know about adverbs of place in the German language, what adverbs of place are, what adverbs of place exist, what they mean and how they are used.
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What are adverbs of place?
Wo? –Inaction
Hier, da and dort
Wohin? – Direction
Woher? – Origin
Tabelar overview of adverbs of place
What are adverbs of place?
Locale Adverbien or Adverbs of Place in German express rest and movement, so they have the ability to answer the following questions:
Wo? – where?
Wohin? – where to?
Woher – where from?
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Grammar Contents
Wo? (inaction)
Adverbs of place that answer the question with Wo? (Where?) express inaction (rest).
For example:
links – rechts (left – right)
oben – unten (up – down)
vorn – hinten (forward – backward)
draußen – drinnen (outside – inside)
irgendwo – nirgendwo (=nirgends) (somwhere – nowhere)
nirgendwo and nirgends have the same meaning and usage
hier – da/dort or hier/da – dort* (here,there)
drüben (over, on the other side)
mitten (in the middle)
überall (everywhere)
nebenan (by)
gegenüber (opposite)
unten (under)
vorn (in front of)
Hier, da and dort
Hier/ da / dort stand alone and have the meaning here/there.
Dort is less commonly used in spoken language and is often replaced by da.
Da have the meaning of the presence of something, without specifying the place.
For example:
Ist noch Brot da? – Is there any bread left??
We can, of course, ask a question with hier and dort, but this also indicates the place.
For example:
Ist hier noch Brot? / Gibt es hier noch Brot? -Is there any more bread here?
Ist noch Brot dort(drüben)?/Gibt es dort noch Brot? – Is there any more bread there?
Hier- and da- stand in combination with a preposition: darauf, daran, hiermit … They do not carry the literal meaning of hier and da, but instead have the function of a demonstrative pronoun combined with a preposition:
damit = with that
womit = with what
hiermit = with this.
Germans don’t really like to use dies or jenes, they often use das instead, they also prefer combinations with da– to those with hier-.
Combinations with wo- cannot be replaced, and also combinations with dort- DO NOT EXIST.
Wohin? (Direction)

Adverbs of place that answer the question with Wohin? (Where?) express movement in a certain direction.
For example:
abwärts (down) – aufwärts(up)
vorwärts (forward) – rückwärts (backward)
hin (there) – her (here)
(hier)her (here) – dorthin (there,that way)*
heraus (outside) – hinaus = raus**
herein (inside) – hinein = rein**
herauf (up) – hinauf = rauf**
herunter (down) – hinunter= runter**
herüber (across) – hinüber = rüber**

*(hier)her + kommen (come here) – woher?
(dort)hin + gehen, fahren (go, drive there) … – wohin?
** In the written language, the forms heraus, hinaus are mostly used … The rule of the adverb hierher/dorthin applies here, that is, the position of the speaker in relation to the listener is important. In the spoken language today, mostly abbreviated forms such as raus, rein are used…
Examples with nach + adverb:
nach links/rechts (to the left/right)
nach oben/ unten (up/down)
nach vorn/ hinten (forward/bakward)
nach draußen/ drinnen (outside/inside)
irgendwohin / nirgendwohin (somewhere/nowhere)
überallhin (everywhere)
Examples:
Geh nach links/ rechts.–Go to the left/right.
Geh nachoben/ unten. –Go up/down.
Geh nachvorn/ hinten.–Go forward/backward.
Woher (origin)
Adverbs of place that answer the question with Woher? (From where?) express movement from a certain direction.
For example:
von links – von rechts (from left – from right)
von oben – von unten (from above – from below)
von vorn – von hinten (from the front – from the back)
von draußen – drinnen (from outside – inside)
von irgendwoher – nirgendwoher (from somewhere – from nowhere)
von überallher (from everywhere)
Examples:
Er kommt von links/rechts. – He comes from the left/right.
Er kommt von draußen/ drinnen. – He comes from outside/inside.
Er kommt von irgendwoher aus Spanien. –. It comes from somewhere in Spain.
Die Fans kamen von überallher zu dem Konzert. – Fans came to the concert from all over.
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Grammar Contents
Tabular overview of adverbs for the place

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