Fragesätze (Questions)
German forms questions in two ways: with a question word (Wo wohnst du?) or by putting the verb first (Wohnst du in Berlin?). German has no auxiliary like English do for questions: the conjugated verb itself moves in front of the subject.
Question words
| Question word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| wer | who | Wer ist das? |
| wen | who, whom (accusative) | Wen besuchst du? |
| wem | who, to whom (dative) | Wem gehört die Tasche? |
| wessen | whose | Wessen Jacke ist das? |
| was | what | Was machst du? |
| womit, wofür, worauf … | with what, for what, on what … | Womit schreibst du? |
| wo | where | Wo wohnst du? |
| wohin | where (to) | Wohin fährst du? |
| woher | where from | Woher kommst du? |
| wann | when | Wann beginnt der Film? |
| seit wann | since when, how long | Seit wann lernst du Deutsch? |
| bis wann | until when | Bis wann bist du hier? |
| warum, wieso, weshalb | why | Warum lachst du? |
| wie | how | Wie heißt du? |
| wie lange | how long | Wie lange dauert der Kurs? |
| wie oft | how often | Wie oft trainierst du? |
| wie viel, wie viele | how much, how many | Wie viele Kinder hat sie? |
| welcher, welche, welches | which | Welches Kleid gefällt dir? |
| was für ein | what kind of | Was für ein Auto hast du? |
English where has three German equivalents: wo asks about a location, wohin about a direction and woher about an origin. wer, wen, wem and wessen are the four case forms of who; see nominative, accusative and dative.
With a preposition, was becomes wo- + preposition (wor- before a vowel): Womit schreibst du? (What are you writing with?), Worauf wartest du? (What are you waiting for?). English puts the preposition at the end of the question; German puts it at the front. For people, the preposition goes before wen or wem: Mit wem sprichst du? (Who are you talking to?)
Some English what questions use wie in German: Wie heißt du? (What's your name?), Wie ist das Wetter? (What's the weather like?), Wie bitte? (Pardon?).
Common mistake
Wo gehst du? is wrong; correct: Wohin gehst du?
For a direction (where to), German uses wohin; wo asks only about a location. In speech the word is often split: Wo gehst du hin?
Common mistake
Wenn kommst du? is wrong; correct: Wann kommst du?
English when has three German equivalents. In questions it is always wann; wenn (if, when, whenever) and als (when, for a single event in the past) are conjunctions that send the verb to the end: Wenn es regnet, bleiben wir zu Hause.
Questions with a question word
The question word comes first, the conjugated verb second and the subject third. With a modal verb, the Perfekt, the future or a separable verb, the second part of the verb goes to the end.
Wo wohnst du?Where do you live?
Warum isst du so schnell?Why are you eating so fast?
Wann hat er das Auto gekauft?When did he buy the car?
Wie lange könnt ihr den Atem anhalten?How long can you hold your breath?
Wann kommt der Zug an?When does the train arrive?
Common mistake
Wo du wohnst? is wrong; correct: Wo wohnst du?
English uses do (Where do you live?). German has no do: the conjugated verb comes directly after the question word, before the subject.
When wer or was asks about the subject itself, there is no other subject. The verb follows directly and takes the er/sie/es form, even when the expected answer is plural. (With sein and a plural noun, the verb agrees with that noun: Wer sind diese Leute?)
Wer spielt Tischtennis?Who plays table tennis?
Wer kommt heute? – Anna und Tom.Who's coming today? – Anna and Tom.
Wer ist nach Hamburg gefahren?Who went to Hamburg?
Was ist passiert?What happened?
welcher, was für ein and wie viele
These question words are usually followed by a noun, and the noun can be the subject or the object of the question.
welcher (which) asks about one from a known group and takes the endings of der, die, das: welcher Computer, welche Jacke, welches Kleid; in the masculine accusative it becomes welchen. was für ein (what kind of) asks about the type and takes the endings of ein; in the plural and with uncountable nouns it is just was für: Was für Musik hörst du? In was für ein, für does not make the noun accusative; ein takes the ending the noun's role needs: Was für ein Hund ist das? (subject, nominative), Was für einen Hund hast du? (object, accusative). wie viel is used with uncountable nouns, wie viele with plurals.
Welches Kleid gefällt dir?Which dress do you like?
Welchen Film möchtest du sehen?Which film would you like to see?
Was für eine Wohnung suchen Sie?What kind of flat are you looking for?
Was für Bücher liest du gern?What kind of books do you like reading?
Wie viel Zeit haben wir?How much time do we have?
Wie viele Kinder hat sie?How many children does she have?
Yes/no questions
For a yes/no question, the conjugated verb comes first and the subject second. With a modal verb, the Perfekt or the future, the modal or auxiliary verb comes first and the main verb goes to the end.
Kommst du heute zur Party?Are you coming to the party today?
Mag Anna Karotten?Does Anna like carrots?
Hast du dir die Zähne geputzt?Have you brushed your teeth?
Ist er zwei Stunden geschwommen?Did he swim for two hours?
Werden wir unsere Wörterbücher brauchen?Will we need our dictionaries?
Common mistake
Tust du Deutsch sprechen? is wrong; correct: Sprichst du Deutsch?
German does not use an auxiliary like do in questions. The conjugated verb itself moves to the front: Sprichst du …?
Answering with ja, nein and doch
To contradict a negative question, German uses doch instead of ja: where English answers Yes, I am, German says Doch. Nein agrees with the negative question (Nein, ich habe keinen Hunger – No, I'm not), and ja would be unclear.
Hast du Hunger? – Ja. / Nein.Are you hungry? – Yes. / No.
Hast du keinen Hunger? – Doch, ich habe Hunger.Aren't you hungry? – Yes, I am.
Kommst du nicht mit? – Doch!Aren't you coming? – Yes, I am!
Indirect questions
When a question depends on another clause, for example after Weißt du, … (Do you know …) or Ich weiß nicht, … (I don't know …), the question word works like weil or dass and the conjugated verb goes to the end: Weißt du, wo er wohnt? English changes the word order in a similar way: Where does he live? → Do you know where he lives? A yes/no question becomes a clause with ob (whether, if): Ich weiß nicht, ob er kommt. More on the page about word order.
Check yourself
Written by: Fatih Ün, German teacher · Last updated: