Questions? Flashcards
Which
Welchen
If
Wenn
Because
Da
How
Wie
Wieso
Although
Obwohl
But/However
Aber
Either
Entweder
If/Provided
Sofern
How’s it going?
Wie geht es?
Who
Whose
Wer
Wessen
What
Was
Where
Wo
Wohin
When
Wann
Why
Warum
Wieso
For what
What for
Wofür
Asking a Question in German With a W-Word
Six W-questions - Wer Who Was What Wo Where Wann When Warum Why Wie How can be asked in German to elicit more than yes/no answers. Two of the six adverbs are declineable (i.e. change with the case), whereas four are not.
Wer (Who)
“Wer” is declinable and needs to adjust to the four cases. The adjustment depends on what the question is targeting.
If you ask for the subject of a sentence (i.e. the nominative object), "wer" (who) remains as is: "Wer sitzt da?" (Who is sitting there?).
If you ask for the direct (accusative) object in a sentence, "wer" changes to "wen" (who/whom). As a mnemonic, notice how "wen" sounds similar to "den" in "den Apfel." "Wen siehst du?" (Whom do you see?) - "Ich sehe den Sohn" (I see the son).
If you ask for the indirect object, "wer" changes to "wem" (who/to whom) and adjusts to the dative case. You could ask "Wem hast du den Apfel gegeben?" (To whom did you give the apple?) and the answer could be "Dem Mann" (the man). Notice again how the declined form of "wer" ("wem") sounds like the definite article of all masculine and neuter nouns in the dative case (like "dem Mann" or "dem Kind").
Lastly, asking about ownership (genitive case), changes "wer" to "wessen" (whose). "Wessen Schuhe sind das?" (Whose shoes are these?) - "Das sind die Schuhe des Jungen" (These are the boy’s shoes). And notice once again how "wessen" (of the) and "des" (of the) include a lot of s-sounds.
Was (What)
Similar to the changes made to “wer,” “was” will decline depending on the four cases.
For both the nominative and accusative cases, "was" remains the same. It is common to ask "Wer oder was?" (who or what?), if you want to know more about the nominative object and do not know if it is a person (who) or a thing (what). You ask "Wen oder was?" (who/whom or what?), if you want to know more about the accusative object. "Was" changes to "wessen" for questions about the genitive object as in "Wessen ist sie schuldig?" (What is she guilty of?). For the dative, "was" changes to a compount of "wo(r)" + preposition. For instance, if the verb takes the German preposition "an" (on/about) as in "an etwas denken," you would ask "Woran denkt er?" (About what is he thinking?). Likewise, "hingehen" is a verb composed of "gehen" + "hin" (go + to) and you would ask "Wohin geht sie?" (To where is she going?).
Wo (Where)
In German, you can inquire about locations in several ways.
“Wo” (where) is the general question word, but if you are asking for a direction in which someone or something is moving, you may use “wohin” (where to).
Look at: “Wo ist mein Schuh?” (Where is my shoe?) and
“Wohin kommt dieser Wein?” (Where does this wine go?).
Furthermore, “Wohin” is separable into “Wo” + “hin.” For example, “Wo ist mein Schuh hin?” (Where did my shoe go?).
Note that the sound of “Wer” is similar to “Where” and that of “Wo” to “Who,” but they must not be confused. In other words: the two German questions words “Wer” (Who) and “Wo” (Where) are false cognates to English. They mean the opposite of what an English speaker would think.
Wann (When)
“Wann” (when) does not change depending on the case.
“Wann” can be used with conjunctions such as “seit” (since) or “bis” (till):
“Seit wann haben Sie für Herrn Müller gearbeitet?” (Since when have you been working for Mr. Müller?) and
“Bis wann geht der Film?” (Till when does the movie last?).
Warum (Why)
“Warum” (why) is also not declinable.
“Wieso” and “Weshalb” can be used instead of “Warum.”
For an example, take “Warum ist das Auto so alt?” = “Wieso ist das Auto so alt?” = “Weshalb ist das Auto so alt?” (Why is that car so old?).
Whom
Wen
A Question
Questions
Eine Frage
die Fragen
Why not?
Warum nicht?
