Adverbs of place indicate position and answer the question “where?” (wo?) Adverbs of direction provide information about direction and answer the question: “where from?” (woher?) or “where to?” (wohin?).
Adverbs help us explain the circumstances at which a verb is done, but they can also be used to describe other adverbs and adjectives. In German, we differentiate between adverbs of place (Lokaladverbien), adverbs of time and frequency (Temporaladverbien), adverbs of cause (Kausaladverbien), and adverbs of manner (Modaladverbien).
Adverbs of place are used to demonstrate where something is done. The same way that prepositions of place do, adverbs of place answer to the questions “Wo? Woher? Wohin?” (Where? Where from? Where to?), but unlike prepositions, adverbs do not modify nouns, so we do not need to worry about gender or case. Adverbs modify verbs (or adjectives and other adverbs).
Adverbs can be placed at the very beginning of the sentence for emphasis, but remember that putting something other than the subject in position one will create inverted word order. In the middle of a sentence, adverbs are typically placed behind the verb, before the direct object, and after the indirect object. They will also precede prepositional phrases. If different kinds of adverbs appear in one sentence, we usually put adverbs of time/frequency first, then adverbs of cause, then adverbs of manner, and lastly, adverbs of place.
Examples:
Unsere Sitzplätze sind hinten. Our seats are in the back.
Wir kommen oft hierher. We often come here.
Notice how in the second example, the adverb of frequency “oft” preceded the adverb of place “hierher”. Below are some examples of common adverbs of place.
Wo? Wohin? Woher?
It is important to keep in mind that adverbs do not modify nouns, so we will not have to deal with genders and cases. Adverbs modify verbs. However, they can answer the same three “where” questions as prepositions of place, and that will, in fact, require some modification of the adverb.
Examples:
Wo spielen die Kinder? Die Kinder spielen draußen. (I cannot say “raus” here.)
Where do the kids play? The kids play outside.
Wohin gehst du? Ich gehe raus.
Where are you going? I’m going outside.
Woher kommen die Ameisen? Die Ameisen kommen von draußen.
Where are the ants coming from? The ants are coming from outside.
Adverbs are words that we use to include additional information or to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Locative adverbs, or adverbs of place and direction, will help us to talk about a location or a specific movement from or to a location. These adverbs will answer the question, Where? Wo?. They will point out a specific location.