German Da-Words Practice: darauf, daran, damit
Fill each gap with the right da-word and see why it is that one. Da-words are the reason a German sentence can refer back to a whole idea without naming it again. No signup required.
Are you getting used to the weather? — Yes, I am slowly getting used to it.
Gewöhnst du dich an das Wetter? — Ja, ich gewöhne mich langsam ___.
choose the correct da-word
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Build my study planWhat a da-word actually is
A da-word is a preposition with da- welded to the front of it: mit becomes damit, für becomes dafür, auf becomes darauf. It stands in for a thing you have already mentioned, so you can say "I am waiting for it" without repeating what "it" is. German uses these constantly, and English has no direct equivalent, which is why they stay unfamiliar long after they stop being difficult.
The preposition decides which da-word you need
warten auf gives darauf, denken an gives daran, sprechen über gives darüber. So the real work is knowing which preposition a verb takes — the da-word follows automatically once you do. If you are guessing between darauf and daran, the question to ask is which preposition the verb wants.
An r appears when the preposition starts with a vowel
da + auf would be "daauf", so it becomes darauf. Same for daran, darin, darüber, darum. It is purely about pronunciation — nothing grammatical is happening — but it is the difference between a form that sounds German and one that does not.
They stand in for things, never for people
"Ich warte darauf" is waiting for something. Waiting for a person is "Ich warte auf ihn" — the preposition stays and takes a pronoun. Getting this backwards is the single most common da-word mistake, and this exercise puts both kinds of sentence in front of you on purpose.