LinguaW-questions: question word first, verb second
Almost all German question words start with w, which is why they are called W-questions: wer (who), was (what), wo (where), woher (where from), wohin (where to), wann (when), wie (how), warum (why). The pattern never changes: the question word opens the sentence, the verb comes second, and the subject follows the verb: Wo wohnst du?, Was lernt ihr?, Wann kommt Paul?. Careful with a false friend: wer sounds like English “where”, but it means who; “where” is wo. And German has three “where” words: wo for the place, woher for the origin, wohin for the direction.
| Question word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| wer | who | Wer ist das? |
| was | what | Was trinkst du? |
| wo | where | Wo arbeitet Lisa? |
| woher | where from | Woher kommt ihr? |
| wohin | where to | Wohin reist ihr? |
| wann | when | Wann spielt ihr? |
| wie | how | Wie heißt sie? |
| warum | why | Warum lachst du? |
Was machst du gerade? – Ich koche.What are you doing right now? – I’m cooking.
Yes–no questions: the verb goes first
A question without a question word is answered with yes or no, and in German it starts with the verb. The subject comes second: Du kommst morgen. → Kommst du morgen? Ihr lernt jetzt. → Lernt ihr jetzt? There is no helper like English do: the verb itself moves to the front. The voice rises at the end, while in a W-question it usually falls. The short answers are ja (yes) and nein (no), often followed by the full sentence: Ja, ich komme morgen.
Spielst du gern Tennis? – Ja, sehr gern.Do you like playing tennis? – Yes, very much.
ja, nein – and doch
German has a third answer word. When a question contains nicht (not) and you want to answer “yes, I do”, ja sounds odd – you say doch: Kommst du nicht? – Doch, ich komme! (= Yes, I am coming!). nein agrees with the negative: Kommst du nicht? – Nein, ich komme nicht. Two more words make questions precise: jetzt (now) and gerade (right now, at the moment): Was machst du gerade? And for tomorrow there is morgen: Arbeitest du morgen?
Du lernst nicht? – Doch, ich lerne jetzt.You’re not studying? – Yes, I am, I’m studying now.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| wer | who | Wer ist die Frau dort? Who is the woman over there? |
| was | what | Was lernt ihr? What are you (all) learning? |
| wann | when | Wann kommst du? When are you coming? |
| warum | why | Warum lernst du Deutsch? Why are you learning German? |
| wohin | where to | Wohin fährt der Bus? Where is the bus going? |
| doch | yes (after a negative question) | Spielst du nicht? – Doch! Aren’t you playing? – Yes, I am! |
| jetzt | now | Ich habe jetzt Zeit. I have time now. |
| morgen | tomorrow | Morgen spielen wir Fußball. Tomorrow we are playing football. |
| gerade | right now, at the moment | Sie telefoniert gerade. She is on the phone right now. |
| die Frage | question | Ich habe eine Frage. I have a question. |
| die Antwort | answer | Die Antwort ist richtig. The answer is correct. |
Exercises
This lesson has 11 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 3
- build the sentence: 2
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
You want to know when the film starts. Which question word do you need?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.