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In English, we often just use the word "where" for everything. In German, the question word changes depending on whether you are asking about an origin or a destination.

### Asking about origin: woher

When asking where someone or something is coming from, use **woher** (where from). To answer that you come from a specific country or city, use the preposition **aus** (from / out of).

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### Asking about destination: wohin

When asking where someone is going, use **wohin** (where to). This question word pairs closely with verbs of motion, such as **gehen** (to go), **fahren** (to drive), and **reisen** (to travel).

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To state that you are traveling to a specific country or city, use the preposition **nach** (to / towards).

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### Vacations and modes of travel

You can also use **wohin** and **nach** with other modes of transport, like the verb **fliegen** (to fly).

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When you talk about taking a vacation (**der Urlaub**) or visiting someone, you are typically describing an action happening at a fixed location, rather than movement toward a destination. For fixed locations in countries and cities, use the preposition **in**.

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Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Subordinate clauses for reasons (weil)

Question	Answer
where from	woher
Where do you come from?	Woher kommst du?
Spain	Spanien
I come from Spain.	Ich komme aus Spanien.
Where is the train coming from?	Woher kommt der Zug?
where to	wohin
to go	gehen
Where are we going today?	Wohin gehen wir heute?
Are you going into the hotel?	Gehen Sie in das Hotel?
Where is the bus driving to?	Wohin fährt der Bus?
to travel	reisen
Where are you traveling to?	Wohin reisen Sie?
to / towards	nach
France	Frankreich
I am driving to France.	Ich fahre nach Frankreich.
Italy	Italien
We really like traveling to Italy.	Wir reisen sehr gern nach Italien.
to fly	fliegen
Where are your parents flying to?	Wohin fliegen deine Eltern?
Are you flying to Spain tomorrow?	Fliegt ihr morgen nach Spanien?
No, we are not flying to Spain.	Nein, wir fliegen nicht nach Spanien.
the vacation / the holiday	der Urlaub
We are taking a vacation in France.	Wir machen Urlaub in Frankreich.
The vacation is unfortunately expensive.	Der Urlaub ist leider teuer.
Is he visiting us in Italy?	Besucht er uns in Italien?
at home	zu Hause
I am at home.	Ich bin zu Hause.
Where are you? — I am at home.	Wo bist du? — Ich bin zu Hause.
home (as a direction)	nach Hause
I am going home.	Ich gehe nach Hause.
Where are you going? — Home.	Wohin gehst du? — Nach Hause.
to go on holiday	Urlaub machen
We are going on holiday in Italy.	Wir machen Urlaub in Italien.
Are you going on holiday in Spain?	Machst du Urlaub in Spanien?
to ski	Ski fahren
We are skiing.	Wir fahren Ski.
I like skiing.	Ich fahre gern Ski.

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