A2 Grammar · Unit 2 · Topic 8 of 46
Directional Adverbs: dahin, rein, raus, rauf, runter
About 3 minutes · examples, common mistakes, Hindi help and practice with answers
In short
Short words for direction you hear every day: there, in, out, up, down.
Stell den Koffer bitte dahin. · Komm doch rein!
Short direction words are everywhere in spoken German. They usually come at the end of the sentence or join the verb as a separable prefix.
How it works
- dahin / dorthin: (to) there. Stell den Koffer bitte dahin.
- rein (herein/hinein): in. Komm doch rein!
- raus (heraus/hinaus): out. Geh mal raus an die frische Luft.
- rauf (herauf/hinauf): up. runter (herunter/hinunter): down.
- her = towards the speaker, hin = away from the speaker. In speech, both become r-: rein, raus, rauf, runter.
Examples
- Kommen Sie rein, bitte! (Come in, please!)
- Die Kinder gehen raus in den Hof. (The children are going out into the courtyard.)
- Kannst du die Kiste runterbringen? (Can you bring the box down?)
- Das neue Café? Da wollen wir morgen hin. (The new café? We want to go there tomorrow.)
हिंदीये शब्द दिशा बताते हैं: dahin = उस तरफ़, rein = अंदर, raus = बाहर, rauf = ऊपर, runter = नीचे।
Common mistakes
Using da (there, location) for direction: ✗ Ich gehe da. ✓ Ich gehe dahin. ✓ Ich bin da.
Practice
Fill in rein, raus, rauf, runter or dahin.
- Es klopft. – ___ !
- Der Aufzug ist kaputt. Wir müssen zu Fuß in den 5. Stock ___ .
- Der Park ist schön. Gehen wir ___ ?
- Bring bitte den Müll ___ .
Show answers
Answers: 1. Rein! (Herein!) 2. rauf 3. dahin 4. raus (runter also works)