adverb
from where
A1
Woher is an interrogative adverb meaning 'from where'. It asks about origin or source (e.g., 'Woher kommst du?'). It’s not inflected, not a preposition, and typically appears at the sentence start in questions or after verbs in embedded clauses. Use it to ask origin, provenance, or cause.
Examples
Die Polizei fragte, woher die Teile stammten, weil Zeugen den Wagen beschrieben.
The police asked where the parts had come from because witnesses described the car.
Woher kommst du?
Where do you come from?
Details
Mnemonics
picture an arrow pointing from a location back to you
wo + here (from where)
Notes
Pronominal adverb used to ask about origin; often followed by a verb in main clause.