CONTENT
Prepositional adverbs are adverbs formed from prepositions. They usually answer questions such as "when," "where," or "what."
Pronominal adverbs, on the other hand, are adverbs formed from pronouns and used to indicate a location, either physical or abstract. They often serve to introduce a clause that provides additional information.
German
English
Womit schreibst du?
With what are you writing?
Prepositional adverbs: "wo" + preposition (womit, wofür, ...)
Wo + preposition is useful when asking questions for clarification or to introduce a subordinate clause. We could translate wo as the English "what":
German
English
Wofür ist das?
What is this for?
Ich weiß nicht, wovon du sprichst!
I don't know what you're talking about!
When combining with a preposition that starts with a vowel, the letter "-r-" is added between wo and the preposition:
German
English
Ich weiss nicht, woran er erkrankte.
I don't know what made him sick.
Pronominal adverb: "da" + preposition (damit, darüber, ...)
Da + preposition is acting as a pronoun that refers to something mentioned before, together with a preposition. We could translate da as the English word "it":
German
English
Ich habe ihm davon erzählt.
I told him about it.
Wir haben gestern darüber gesprochen.
We talked about it yesterday.
When combined with a preposition that starts with a vowel, the letter "-r-" is added between da and the preposition.
Quiz
1/3
Choose the correct adverb: ___ bist du zur Schule gekommen?
0
correct answers.