Pronominaladverbien

In German and English we talk about objects, concepts and people by using nouns. Then we
usually don’t repeat them in next sentences, but replace them with pronouns.
z.B. Meine Mutter arbeitet an der Uni. Sie ist Deutschlehrerin.
But there are sentences in which verbs or adjectives are used with certain preposition. In English we simply
replace the nouns mentioned with pronouns. But in German the preposition and the pronoun are combined in
one form, called a da-compound (Pronominaladverb).
z.B. Lea will jetzt über ihr Referat sprechen. (Lea wants to talk about her report now.)
Aber ihr Professor will später darüber sprechen. (But her professor wants to talk about it later.)
The prepositional phrase with it or them in English is expressed as da(r)- + the preposition in German. For
example, dafür can be translated as for it or for them; damit means with it or with them. By the way, the
word da- in this context has nothing to do with the adverb da which means there. It simply replaces the
reference (noun) mentioned in the previous sentence.

Da(r) + Präposition
If preposition begins with vowel (e.g., an, über, in, etc.), an r should be added between the da and preposition
so that the word can be pronounced.
► The object of the preposition should not be a person.
z.B. Denkst du an deine Freundin? Ja, ich denke an sie. (not daran!)
► Not all prepositions can be used as da(r)-compounds.
d.h. ohne, seit, genitive prepositions
► da(r)-compounds are not used for expressions for time (except danach and davor)
z.B. Er wird in drei Tagen zurückkommen.

Wo(r) + Präposition
Wo-Compounds are the combination of a preposition and an interrogatory phrase such as about what, with
what, etc.). In English this construction usually appears at the end of the sentence or, less frequently, at the
beginning. But in German it always begins the sentence, since it is the “first element” of the sentence. Note
that wo does not mean where in this context, but represent all Fragewörter other than wer. The same
concept is at work here as with da-compounds (i.e., one cannot use a wo-compound when referring to a
person.

In an interrogative sentence, German uses wer in the appropriate case:

Nominativ wer
Genitiv
Dativ
wessen (whose)
wem Übung
Akkusativ wen