Wo und wohin (where and where to……)

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Wo und wohin (where and where to……)

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‚Wo‘ simply asks you ‚where‘- e.g. Where are you? – I am at office or I am at home.

‘Wohin’ asks you about your movement to a direction – e.g. Where are you going? (you are going from your present location to a new location, a directional movement) – I am going to the cinema.

Look ‘wohin talks about a ‘directional movement’, because ‘wo’ can also include movement but ‘at and within’ a place (For example: Where are you? – I am playing at school. So here you are playing, which also means movement but within school)

Wohin geht er? – Where is he going?

- Er geht in die Stadt (He goes to the city)

- Er geht in die Schule (he goes to the school)

- Er geht ins Ausland (He goes abroad)

-Er geht ins Büro (He goes to office)

Wo ist er? – Where is he?

- Er ist in der Schule (He is at school)

- Er spielt in der Schule (He is playing at school)

- Er ist in der Stadt (He is at the city)

- Er ist im Ausland (he is abroad)

- Er ist im Büro (He is at office)

So as you see from the examples above, preposition ‚in‘ is accusative in case of ‚wohin‘ whereas in case of ‚wo‘ its dative. There are a number of prepositions that take a ‘double standard’, so to say, based on ‘wo’ and ‘wohin’. These are called ‘Wechselpräpositionen’ in German – prepositions that are both dative and accusative. Good to know them by heart. Altogether 9 prepositions:

in, an, auf, vor, hinter, über, unter, neben, zwischen

Some Examples

Ich lege das Paket auf den Tisch - I put the package on the table (wohin, akkusativ)

Das Paket liegt auf dem Tisch - The package is on the table (wo, dativ)

Stellen Sie bitte den Stuhl/die Stühle hinter den Tisch – Please put the chair/chairs behind the table (wohin, akkusativ)

Der Stuhl ist hinter dem Tisch – The chair is behind the table (wo, dativ)

Ein Alien-Raumschiff fliegt über die Stadt - An alien spacecraft flies over the city (wohin, akkusativ)

Der Regenbogen hängt eine halbe Stunde über der Stadt – The Rainbow hangs for half an hour over the city (wo, dativ)

Ich gehe neben die Kirche, um Martha zu treffen - I am going beside the church to meet Martha (wohin, akkusativ)

Ich habe Martha neben der Kirche getroffen – I met Martha beside the church (wo, dativ)

Image

Ein Alien-Raumschiff fliegt über die Stadt (Image credit: julio.garciah, Source: Flickr, CC BY 2.0)
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