German Adverbs of Place
Describe where things are, give simple directions and finally understand hin and her.
German separates location (wo?) from direction (wohin?) more strictly than English. 'Upstairs' is oben when you are there and nach oben when you are going there.
The small words hin and her add the direction: away from you or towards you.
Where something is
These words answer wo? and describe a location. They don't change form.
Where?
- Nearhierhere
- Near or fardathere, here
- Fardort(over) there
- Upobenup, upstairs
- Downuntendown, downstairs
- Indrinneninside
- Outdraußenoutside
- All overüberalleverywhere
Position
- Leftlinkson the left
- Rightrechtson the right
- Frontvorneat the front
- Backhintenat the back
Die Kinder spielen draußen.
The children are playing outside.
Das Bad ist oben links.
The bathroom is upstairs on the left.
Ist hier noch frei?
Is this seat free?
Where something goes
For movement, German adds nach or -hin/-her. Oben is where you are; nach oben is where you're going.
Location → direction
- obennach obenup(stairs)
- untennach untendown(stairs)
- linksnach linksto the left
- rechtsnach rechtsto the right
- draußennach draußenoutside
- hierhierher(to) here
- dortdorthin(to) there
- drinnenreinin(side), spoken
Ich gehe kurz nach oben.
I'm just popping upstairs.
Biegen Sie an der Ampel nach links ab.
Turn left at the traffic lights.
hin and her
Her points towards the speaker, hin away from the speaker. In speech they often move to the end of the sentence.
- her = towards me: Komm her!
- hin = away from me: Geh hin!
- wohin = where to, woher = where from
- Spoken: Wo kommst du her? = Woher kommst du?
Question words
- Locationwowhere
- Directionwohinwhere to
- Originwoherwhere from
Woher kommst du?
Where are you from?
Wohin fahrt ihr im Sommer?
Where are you going in the summer?
Komm mal her!
Come here!
Common mistakes
✗
Wo gehst du?✓ Wohin gehst du?
Direction needs wohin; wo is only location.
✗
Ich gehe oben.✓ Ich gehe nach oben.
Movement upstairs is nach oben.
✗
Komm hin!✓ Komm her!
Movement towards the speaker is her.
Questions learners ask
What's the difference between hin and her?
Her points towards the speaker, hin away from the speaker. Komm her! means come here; Geh hin! means go there.
Is there a difference between da and dort?
Dort clearly means 'over there'. Da is vaguer and very common in speech; it can even mean 'here'.