Da- and wo-compounds (e.g., damit, worüber, wozu) — pronominal adverbs used to refer to things

Da- and wo-compounds (damit, worüber, wozu, etc.)

This article explains the German da- and wo- compounds that replace prepositional phrases when you refer to things or ask about things. These are sometimes called pronominal adverbs. You will learn what they mean, when to use them, how to form them, and common mistakes to avoid. Many examples in German are given, with English translations in parentheses.

What are da- and wo-compounds?

Da- compounds
- A da- compound is da or dar plus a preposition. It stands for a previously mentioned thing, idea, event, or situation. Use it when you want to say "that" or "it" + a preposition in English, for example "about it", "with it", "for that".
- Example pairs:
- Woran denkst du? (What are you thinking about?)
- Ich denke daran. (I am thinking about it.)

- Womit schreibst du? (With what are you writing?)
- Ich schreibe damit. (I am writing with it.)

Wo- compounds
- A wo- compound is wo or wor plus a preposition. It is used to ask about a thing or to form a relative clause about a thing. It corresponds to English "what ... (about)" or "where ... (in/at/on)" + preposition.
- Example pairs:
- Worüber sprichst du? (What are you talking about?)
- Worüber haben sie gesprochen? (About what did they talk?)

Quick summary
- Use wo- for asking questions or introducing a relative clause about a thing.
- Use da- to refer back to a thing in statements or answers.

When do I use them?

1) Questions and relative clauses: use wo- compounds
- If you ask about a thing, use a wo- compound: Womit, woran, worauf, wovon, worüber, wofür, wogegen, wonach, wodurch, worin, usw.
- Relative clause example: Das ist das Thema, worüber wir gesprochen haben. (That is the topic we talked about.)

2) Statements and answers: use da- compounds
- If you refer back to a thing already known in the conversation, use a da- compound: damit, daran, darauf, davon, darüber, dafür, dagegen, danach, dadurch, darin, usw.
- Example: Wir haben darüber gesprochen. (We talked about that.)

3) People vs things
- Important rule: da- and wo- compounds refer to things or abstract ideas, not to people. For people, use preposition + personal pronoun or a wer/ wen/ wem question.
- With people: Mit wem sprichst du? (With whom are you speaking?) Ich spreche mit ihm. (I am speaking with him.)
- With things: Womit schreibst du? Ich schreibe damit. (With what / with it.)
- Incorrect: using damit to mean "with him/her". That is wrong or will change the meaning.

4) Special other uses
- Some words that look like da-compounds are not pronominal adverbs in the same sense. For example, damit can also be a conjunction meaning "so that / in order that". Darum can mean "therefore" as well as "about that". Context decides the meaning.
- Ich gebe dir Geld, damit du es kaufen kannst. (I give you money so that you can buy it.) Here damit is a conjunction.
- Es regnet, darum bleibe ich zu Hause. (It is raining; therefore I stay home.) Here darum means "therefore."

How are they formed?

Basic rule
- da- compounds: da + preposition => da + an/auf/mit/bei/etc.
- If the preposition begins with a vowel, an r is inserted: dar + in/auf/über/um/aus -> darin, darauf, darüber, darum, daraus.
- wo- compounds: wo + preposition => wo + an/auf/mit/bei/etc.
- If the preposition begins with a vowel, insert r: wor + in/auf/über/um -> worin, worauf, worüber, worum.

Examples of the formation pattern
- an -> daran / woran
- auf -> darauf / worauf
- mit -> damit / womit
- über -> darüber / worüber
- von -> davon / wovon
- in -> darin / worin
- zu -> dazu / wozu
- für -> dafür / wofür
- durch -> dadurch / wodurch
- vor -> davor / wovor

Notes on pronunciation and orthography
- Always write the compound as one word: damit, darüber, wovon, daran, usw.
- You will often see people use preposition + was instead of wo- in spoken German, e.g. Auf was wartest du? This is common in speech, but worauf is more idiomatic and preferred in writing.

Common prepositions with examples

Below are common prepositions with a wo-question and a da-answer or natural response. Most responses can be either a noun phrase or a da-compound.

- an
- Woran denkst du? (What are you thinking about?)
- Ich denke an den Sommer. / Ich denke daran. (I am thinking of summer. / I am thinking about it.)
- Person variant: An wen denkst du? (Who are you thinking of?) An Maria. (Maria.)

- auf
- Worauf wartest du? (What are you waiting for?)
- Ich warte auf den Bus. / Ich warte darauf. (I am waiting for the bus. / for it.)
- Person variant: Auf wen wartest du? Auf meinen Bruder. (On my brother.)

- mit
- Womit schreibst du? (With what are you writing?)
- Ich schreibe mit einem Kugelschreiber. / Ich schreibe damit. (I write with a ballpoint pen / with it.)
- Person variant: Mit wem sprichst du? (With whom are you speaking?) Mit meinem Freund. (With my friend.)

- über
- Worüber sprichst du? (About what are you speaking?)
- Wir sprechen über das Buch. / Wir sprechen darüber. (We talk about the book. / about it.)

- von
- Wovon redest du? (What are you talking about?)
- Ich rede von dem Film. / Ich rede davon. (I talk about the movie. / about it.)

- in
- Worin liegt das Problem? (Where does the problem lie / in what is the problem?)
- Das Problem liegt in der Unordnung. / Das Problem liegt darin. (The problem is the mess. / in that.)
- Directional pair to remember: Wo? versus Wohin?
- Wo bist du? (Where are you?) Ich bin dort. (I am there.)
- Wohin gehst du? (Where are you going to?) Ich gehe dorthin. (I am going there.)

- zu
- Wozu ist das? (What is this for / what is the purpose?)
- Das ist dazu, Pflanzen zu gießen. / Es ist dafür da, Pflanzen zu gießen. (It is for watering plants.)

- für
- Wofür brauchst du das? (What do you need that for?)
- Ich brauche das fürs Kochen. / Ich brauche das dafür. (I need it for cooking. / for that.)

- gegen
- Wogegen protestierst du? (What are you protesting against?)
- Ich protestiere gegen den Lärm. / Ich protestiere dagegen. (I protest against the noise. / against that.)

- durch
- Wodurch ist das passiert? (How did that happen / through what did it happen?)
- Das ist durch den Sturm passiert. / Dadurch ist das passiert. (It happened because of the storm.)

- vor
- Wovor hast du Angst? (What are you afraid of?)
- Ich habe Angst vor Spinnen. / Ich habe davor Angst. (I am afraid of spiders. / of that.)

- unter
- Worunter leidest du? (What are you suffering from?)
- Ich leide unter Rückenschmerzen. / Ich leide darunter. (I suffer from back pain. / from that.)

- nach
- Wonach suchst du? (What are you looking for?)
- Ich suche nach meinem Schlüssel. / Ich suche danach. (I am looking for my keys. / for them.)

- aus
- Woraus ist diese Vase? (What is this vase made from?)
- Sie ist aus Ton. / Daraus kann man schließen, dass sie alt ist. (It is made of clay. / From that one can conclude it is old.)

Notes
- Often you can answer a wo-question either with a full noun phrase (e.g., auf den Bus) or with the da-compound (darauf). Both are correct; the da-compound is shorter and common when the thing is known or already mentioned.

Wo-compounds in relative clauses and alternatives

- Relative clause example: Das ist das Buch, worüber wir gesprochen haben. (That is the book about which we talked.)
- Formal alternative: Das ist das Buch, über das wir gesprochen haben. Both are correct; many writers prefer preposition + relative pronoun (über das) in formal writing, but worüber is common and natural.
- When the antecedent is words like alles, nichts, etwas, you normally use wor- forms: Alles, worüber wir sprachen, war interessant. (Everything we talked about was interesting.)

Common mistakes to avoid

- Using da-/wo- compounds for people
- Wrong: Ich spreche damit. meaning "I speak with him/her". Correct: Ich spreche mit ihm/ihr. Use mit wem for people and mit + personal pronoun for answers.

- Confusing warum and worum
- warum = why (Warum bist du müde?)
- worum = about what (Worum geht es? = What is it about?)

- Forgetting the inserted r before vowel-starting prepositions
- Use darauf, darin, darüber, darum, daraus, worauf, worin, worüber, worum, woraus.

- Mixing up da-compound with conjunctions or adverbs
- damit (da + mit) can mean "with it" but also is a conjunction meaning "so that / in order that". Pay attention to sentence structure: conjunctions introduce subordinate clauses and send the verb to the end.
- Example: Ich gebe dir das Buch, damit du es lesen kannst. Not a pronominal adverb here.

- Using preposition + was too often in writing
- Auf was wartest du is common in speech, but worauf is the standard form preferred in writing.

Short cheat sheet

- Ask a question about a thing: use wo- + preposition (Womit? Wofür? Worüber? Wovon?)
- Refer back to a thing in a statement: use da- + preposition (Damit. Dafür. Darüber. Davon.)
- For people: use wer/ wen/ wem questions, or preposition + personal pronoun answers (mit ihm, an ihr, für ihn).
- If the preposition begins with a vowel, add r after da / wo: dar- / wor-.

Glossary
- pronominal adverb: a word that combines a pronoun idea (it/that) with a preposition (e.g., damit = with that)
- preposition: a word that shows relation (an, auf, mit, für, von, in, über, zu)
- antecedent: the thing or idea the pronoun refers back to

Final tip: When in doubt, make the full prepositional phrase with a noun first (Ich warte auf den Bus), then replace it with the da-compound (Ich warte darauf) when you want to shorten or avoid repetition. Practice spotting whether the question asks about a person (mit wem) or a thing (womit), and the correct form will usually follow naturally.