"Dort" and "Da"?

[steelafan36]

Ok....they both mean there. How do you use them??

[Kobukuro]

The sentences...

Dort auf der Straße steht ein rotes Auto.

and

Da auf der Straße steht ein rotes Auto.

actually mean the same, but the fist one is more polite . I hope this helps a bit!

[steelafan36]

Hi there.

Ok, so Dort is formal and Da is informal?

[Kobukuro]

Mark,

I really don't want to confuse you again, but as far as I know there is no common rule for the usage of "da" and "dort".

Some people think, that the usage is like:

hier = here
da = there
dort = over there

But there was a study about the "da-dort-problem" in the German language, which shows that, in whole Germany every one is using these words in a total different way.

http://www.philhist.uni-augsburg.de/de/ ... c/?drucken

I use "hier = here" and "da" for informal and "dort" for a more formal nuance of "there". If I want to say "over there" I say "da/dort drüben".

[steelafan36]

ooooooh!! Ok I got it now! Thanks!!