Accusative Prepositions with Da- & Wo-Compounds

You have seen words like “dafür”, “dadurch” or even “wofür” in your German learning and aren’t quite sure how to use them. I have decoded these words and in this lesson I will share this knowledge with you.

More Lessons About Da- & Wo-Compounds

Click the links below to see the other lessons in this series.

Da- & Wo-Compounds Basics: How to Form & Use Them

Accusative Prepositions with Da- & Wo-Compounds

Dative Prepositions with Da- & Wo-Compounds

Two-Way Prepositions with Da- & Wo-Compounds

Da- & Wo-Compounds Overview

In a previous lesson I explained how da- and wo-compounds work in general in German. If you haven’t seen that lesson yet, please go read that first, as today’s lesson assumes you already know everything from that lesson.

If you don’t feel like reading that right now, here is a quick rundown of the idea.

Take a preposition and add da- in front of it to say something like “for that” or “around that”. Add wo- instead of da- to get something like “for what” or “around what”. If the preposition starts with a vowel, add an R between da- or wo- and the preposition. In many instances, these words take on new translations instead of just the preposition translation plus “that” or “what”. 

Which Accusative Prepositions Can Become Da- & Wo-Compounds?

Today we are going to tackle how to use the accusative prepositions in da- and wo-compounds. These include: dafür, darum, dadurch and dagegen along with their question word counterparts wofür, worum, wodurch and wogegen.

You can’t use da- and wo-compounds with ohne, bis, entlang or wider, so we will ignore those. If you just want to learn about the accusative prepositions in German without the da- and wo- attached, click here.

Meanings of Da- & Wo-Compounds with Accusative Prepositions

In the image below you will see a quick rundown of each preposition and its combination options. The first column is what the preposition generally translates to in English. The second is the da-compound and its translation followed by the third column, which is the same, but for wo-compounds.

dafür & wofür - for that & for what

First up we have “für”, which means for and is often used when explaining the reason for doing something. This is why we often see “dafür” and “wofür” translated as “that’s why” and “what for” or “why”. For example:

Wofür brauchst du die Schaufel? -
Why do you need the shovel? (For what do you need the shovel?)

Ich baue einen neuen Zaun hinter meinem Haus. Ich benutze die Schaufel dafür. -
I am building a new fence behind my house. I need it for that.

You can, of course, also use it with more traditional translations. For example:

Wofür kämpfst du? -
For what are you fighting?

Ich kämpfe für Menschenrechte. -
I fight for human rights.

Wie lange kämpfst du schon dafür? -
How long have you been fighting for that?

Seit meiner Geburt. -
Since my birth.

darum & worum - not as simple as you think

“Um” is a bit more complicated than “für”, as the translation is not used as “around that” and “around what”. The most common use of “darum” is actually an answer to “warum”, not “worum”. You don’t necessarily even have to ask the question “warum” in order to use “darum”. For example:

Mein Chef kommt heute Nachmittag, um mein neues Projekt zu sehen. Darum räume ich mein Büro auf. -
My boss is coming this afternoon to see my new project. That’s why I am cleaning up my office.

Mein Schatz ist ein Jäger. Darum liebe ich alles, was grün ist. -
My darling is a hunter. That’s why I love everything that is green.

Worum gehört die Hülle? -
Around what does the shell belong?

Er bestand die Prüfung, worum ich ihn beneide. -
He passed the test, which is why I envy him.

“Worum” is not a very commonly used wo-compound. If you do encounter “worum”, it will likely be used in the phrase “Worum geht’s?”, which is a slightly formal sounding phrase that means something like “What’s it about?”

This is used to respond to someone when they reach out to you and you want to know why. You can also use this phrase to ask about the context of a book. For example:

Worum handelt das Buch? -
What is the book about?

Das Buch handelt sich um ein kleines deutsches Mädchen. -
The book is about a small German girl.

dadurch & wodurch - through that & through what (literally and figuratively)

The preposition “durch” is generally translated with “through”. When used as a da- or wo-compound, the meaning is closer to “by means of” and “by which means” respectively. It also explains why you can use “dadurch, dass” as a sort of two-part conjunction, which I covered in my subordinating conjunction lesson.

Wodurch wurde das Lagerfeuer gelöscht? -
By what means was the campfire put out?

Wir haben das Feuer mit Erde bedeckt. Dadurch wurde das Lagerfeuer gelöscht. -
We covered the fire with dirt. Thereby the fire was put out.

Wie kann ich meine Deutschkenntnisse verbessern? -
By what means can I improve my German skills?

Ich bin Mitglied im Herrn Antrims Deutschlerner Club. Dadurch verbessere ich meine Deutschkenntnisse. -
I am a member of Herr Antrim’s Deutschlerner Club. I improve my German skills through that.

I also mentioned that you can use “dadurch, dass” as a conjunction to connect two clauses. Here is a quick example of that:

Man kann sehr viel Deutsch dadurch lernen, dass man Videos von Herrn Antrim schaut. -
One can learn a lot of German while watching videos from Herr Antrim.

dagegen & wogegen - against that & against what 

The last of the accusative prepositions is “gegen”, which is pretty straight forward in its translation. It doesn’t have any special meaning behind it. You can simply use “against that” and “against what” to translate “dagegen” and “wogegen”. For example:

Wogegen kämpft er? -
Against what is he fighting?

Es gibt Kinder, die jeden Tag hungrig sind. Dagegen kämpft er. -
There are children who are hungry every day. He is fighting against that.

Wogegen wirft er den Ball? -
Against what is he throwing the ball?

Er hat einen Zaun hinter seinem Haus. Er wirft den Ball dagegen. -
He has a fence behind his house. He is throwing the ball against that.

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