wer or wo?

A trap for the ear: German wer sounds like English *where* but means *who*. The word for a place is wo.

A trap for the ear: German wer sounds like English where but means who. The word for a place is wo.

wer

Asks for a person in the nominative. The other cases: wen (accusative), wem (dative), wessen (genitive).

Wer hat angerufen?Who called?

Asks about a place. For direction it is wohin, for origin woher.

Wo ist der Bahnhof?Where is the station?

Wer ist mein Schlüssel?

Wo ist mein Schlüssel?

The wrong sentence asks which person the key is. The word for a place is „wo“.

Picture it: wer has the r of „Person“, wo has none - and a place is not a person.

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