wo, wohin or woher?
a1English asks „where“ all three times; German separates place, destination and origin: wo asks about a place with no movement (dative), wohin about the destination of a movement (accusative), woher about the starting point.
wo
Asks where something is or happens. The answer is in the dative: in der Stadt, auf dem Tisch, bei meiner Schwester.
Wo wohnst du?Where do you live?
wohin
Asks about the destination of a movement. The answer is in the accusative: in die Stadt, auf den Tisch. The „hin“ may slide to the end: Wo gehst du hin?
Wohin fährst du am Wochenende?Where are you going at the weekend?
woher
Asks about the starting point; the answer uses „aus“ or „von“. Here too the „her“ can go to the end: Wo kommst du her?
Woher kommst du?Where are you from?
The mistake
Wo gehst du?
Wohin gehst du?
„gehen“ is a movement, so the question is about the destination. „wo“ only asks about a place where someone stays.
Rule of thumb
hin points away from the speaker, her points towards them: Geh hin! Komm her! The same logic sits inside hingehen and herkommen.
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