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_____ sind denn die Kinder gelaufen?

a) Wohin b) Wo

Is it true that both choices can be used here? "Wohin" would mean "Where have the children run to?", and "wo" would mean "Where did the children run?"

boaten
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2 Answers2

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Yes. It's true.

Wo asks for a position and needs the dative case

Wo sind die Kinder gelaufen?
Hinter dem Baum.

Wohin (=nach wo) asks for a direction and needs the accusative case

Wohin sind die Kinder gelaufen?
Hinter den Baum.

Apart: the opposite to wohin is woher (=von wo), asking for the origin. Of course, you need to take another verb then.

Woher sind denn die Kinder gekommen?

Em1
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Yes, although a) is clearly wanted in your case, "Wo sind die Kinder gelaufen?" does make sense as well (Where did the children run? In the park. On the track. In the gym.)

Ingmar
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    Why do you say a) is clearly wanted? – boaten Sep 29 '14 at 16:04
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    @boaten My guess is that the emphatic denn gives the question a sense of increduility that favors a question of "where'd the kids run off to?" over the second interpretation, "Where did the kids go running?" (-In the park.) However, I'm interested to see Ingmar's take on this. – Noktasizi Sep 29 '14 at 16:17
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    @boaten: This is a grammar exercise, right? To inquire where the children ran to seems much more natural to me. Also, for the "denn" to make sense for option b) you would have to have talked about them running (Die Kinder waren heute laufen. Wo sind sie denn gelaufen? Im Park.) – Ingmar Sep 29 '14 at 19:29