How to Ask Questions in German
Being able to craft questions in German is a must-have skill, whether your goal is to become fluent in the language or you’re just getting ready for a trip. In this article, we’ll dive into the essentials of “How to Ask Questions in German”, covering everything from the basic ‘yes-no’ questions to the more complex ‘wh-questions’. Ready? Let’s get started!
Forming a Question in German
Great, now that we have set the stage, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of forming questions in German.
First things first, let’s understand the basic sentence structure in German. A typical German sentence follows the Subject-Verb-Object order (SVO), much like in English. For example, “Der Hund (the dog) spielt (plays) Ball (ball)” translates to “The dog plays ball” in English.
- ๐ฉ๐ช “Der Hund (subject) spielt (verb) Ball (object)“
- ๐บ๐ธ “The dog (subject) plays (verb) ball (object)“.
However, while both German and English typically use the SVO order, they form questions differently. In English, we often use auxiliary verbs (do, does, did) to form questions, for example, “Are you tired?”. In German, questions are formed by moving the verb to the start of the sentence without the use of auxiliary verbs. For example, “Du bist mรผde” (You are tired) becomes “Bist du mรผde?” (Are you tired?).
Yes-No Questions in German (Ja-Nein Fragen)
Now, let’s start with the simplest form of questions: yes-no questions i.e. “Ja-Nein Fragen”. These are questions that expect an answer of either ‘yes’ (ja) or ‘no’ (nein).
To make a simple “yes or no” question in German, you use the following pattern:
Conjugated Verb + Subject + Object.
This means you just move the verb to the start of the sentence. So, “Du bist mรผde” (You are tired) changes to “Bist du mรผde?” (Are you tired?).
Yes-No questions are the most common type of question, and these questions can usually reply to this type of question with a simple “yes” (ja) or “no” (nein).
Ist der Mann krank? – Ja.
Is the man sick? – Yes.
Ist die Frau hier? – Nein.
Is the woman here? – No.
Naturally, if you’re aiming for a more dynamic and conversational tone, you can mirror the question in your reply but revert to the standard word order, placing the verb after the subject. For instance:
Ist der Mann krank? – Ja, der Mann ist krank.
Is the man sick? – Yes, the man is sick.
Ist die Frau hier? – Nein, die Frau ist nicht hier.
Is the woman here? – No, the woman is not here.
Wh-Questions in German (W-Fragen)
Wh-Questions are question words used to ask for information. In English, these words usually start with “wh-“, hence the name “Wh-Questions”. Similarly, in German, these are referred to as W-Fragen, and are very similar to their English counterparts but with a few additional ones, like ‘woher’ (where from) and ‘wohin’ (where to).
A list of the most frequently used ‘W-Fragen’ or question words in German is given in Table 1.1:
was | what |
warum | why |
wo | where |
woher | where from |
wohin | where to |
wie | how, what like |
wann | when |
welche | which |
wer | who |
wie viele | how much |
wie viel | how many |
To ask a question using the “Wh-Questions” in German (i.e. W-Fragen), you typically use the following pattern:
Question Word + Conjugated Verb + Subject + Object
For “W-Fragen”, the question word comes at the start of the sentence, followed by the verb, subject, and then object.
So, if you have a statement like “Du siehst mรผde aus” (You look tired), the question form would be: “Warum siehst du mรผde aus?” (Why do you look tired?).
Here, “Warum” (Why) is the question word, followed by the verb “siehst” (look), the subject “du” (you), and then the object “mรผde” (tired).
Wo (Where)
This means ‘where’ in English. It is used to ask about locations or places.
๐ฉ๐ช Wo ist das Badezimmer?
๐บ๐ธ Where is the bathroom?
๐ฉ๐ช Wo hast du dein Handy gelassen?
๐บ๐ธ Where did you leave your phone?
๐ฉ๐ช Wo arbeitest du?
๐บ๐ธ Where do you work?
๐ฉ๐ช Wo wohnst du?
๐บ๐ธ Where do you live?
๐ฉ๐ช Wo kann ich parken?
๐บ๐ธ Where can I park?
Woher (Where from)
This translates to ‘where from’ in English. It is used to ask about the origin of something or someone.
๐ฉ๐ช Woher kommst du?
๐บ๐ธ Where are you from?
๐ฉ๐ช Woher hast du das?
๐บ๐ธ Where did you get that?
๐ฉ๐ช Woher weiรt du das?
๐บ๐ธ How do you know that?
๐ฉ๐ช Woher hast du diese Idee?
๐บ๐ธ Where did you get that idea?
๐ฉ๐ช Woher kommt dieser Lรคrm?
๐บ๐ธ Where is that noise coming from?
Wohin (Where to)
This means ‘where to’ in English. It is used to ask about destinations. Example: Wohin gehst du?
๐ฉ๐ช Wohin gehst du?
๐บ๐ธ Where are you going?
๐ฉ๐ช Wohin mรถchtest du reisen?
๐บ๐ธ Where do you want to travel?
๐ฉ๐ช Wohin sollen wir das stellen?
๐บ๐ธ Where should we put this?
๐ฉ๐ช Wohin fรคhrt dieser Bus?
๐บ๐ธ Where does this bus go?
๐ฉ๐ช Wohin willst du zum Abendessen gehen?
๐บ๐ธ Where do you want to go for dinner?
Wie (How)
This translates to ‘how’ or ‘what like’ in English. It is used to ask about manner, quality, or condition.
๐ฉ๐ช Wie geht es dir?
๐บ๐ธ How are you?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie alt bist du?
๐บ๐ธ How old are you?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie heiรen Sie?
๐บ๐ธ What is your name?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viel kostet das?
๐บ๐ธ How much does that cost?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie lange dauert das?
๐บ๐ธ How long does it take?
Was (What)
This is the German word for ‘what’. It is used to ask about objects, things, or ideas.
๐ฉ๐ช Was machst du?
๐บ๐ธ What are you doing?
๐ฉ๐ช Was ist das?
๐บ๐ธ What is that?
๐ฉ๐ช Was mรถchtest du trinken?
๐บ๐ธ What would you like to drink?
๐ฉ๐ช Was hast du gesagt?
๐บ๐ธ What did you say?
๐ฉ๐ช Was denkst du darรผber?
๐บ๐ธ What do you think about that?
Wann (When)
This is the German word for ‘when’. It is used to ask about time.
๐ฉ๐ช Wann kommst du zurรผck?
๐บ๐ธ When are you coming back?
๐ฉ๐ช Wann fรคngt der Film an?
๐บ๐ธ When does the movie start?
๐ฉ๐ช Wann hast du Geburtstag?
๐บ๐ธ When is your birthday?
๐ฉ๐ช Wann sollen wir uns treffen?
๐บ๐ธ When should we meet?
๐ฉ๐ช Wann ist das Geschรคft geรถffnet?
๐บ๐ธ When is the store open?
Wie viel (How much)
This translates to ‘how many’ in English. It is used to ask about the quantity of countable nouns.
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viel kostet das Buch?
๐บ๐ธ How much does the book cost?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viel Zeit hast du?
๐บ๐ธ How much time do you have?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viel Geld hast du dabei?
๐บ๐ธ How much money do you have with you?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viel Zucker mรถchtest du im Kaffee?
๐บ๐ธ How much sugar would you like in your coffee?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viel kostet ein Ticket?
๐บ๐ธ How much does a ticket cost?
Wie viele (How many)
This means ‘how much’ in English. It is used to ask about the quantity of uncountable nouns.
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viele Geschwister hast du?
๐บ๐ธ How many siblings do you have?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viele รpfel mรถchtest du?
๐บ๐ธ How many apples would you like?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viele Personen kommen zur Party?
๐บ๐ธ How many people are coming to the party?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viele Stunden hast du geschlafen?
๐บ๐ธ How many hours did you sleep?
๐ฉ๐ช Wie viele Bรผcher hast du gelesen?
๐บ๐ธ How many books have you read?
Warum (Why)
This translates to ‘why’ in English. It is used to ask for reasons or explanations.
๐ฉ๐ช Warum bist du traurig?
๐บ๐ธ Why are you sad?
๐ฉ๐ช Warum bist du zu spรคt?
๐บ๐ธ Why are you late?
๐ฉ๐ช Warum hast du das gemacht?
๐บ๐ธ Why did you do that?
๐ฉ๐ช Warum lernst du Deutsch?
๐บ๐ธ Why are you learning German?
๐ฉ๐ช Warum hast du nicht angerufen?
๐บ๐ธ Why didn’t you call?
Welche (Which)
Some question words in German, like “welche” (which), need to be declined according to the gender, number, and case (Nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) of the noun they refer to.
Table 1.2 illustrates the various declensions of the German word “welche,” which translates to “which” in English:
Cases | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | welcher | welche | welches | welche |
Accusative | welchen | welche | welches | welche |
Dative | welchem | welcher | welchem | welchen |
Genitive | welches | welcher | welches | welcher |
- Nominative case:
- ๐ฉ๐ช Welcher Stift ist deiner?
- ๐บ๐ธ Which pen is yours?)
- Accusative case:
- ๐ฉ๐ช Welchen Stift hast du gewรคhlt?
- ๐บ๐ธ Which pen did you choose?
- Dative case:
- ๐ฉ๐ช Mit welchem Stift schreibst du?
- ๐บ๐ธ With which pen are you writing?
- Genitive case:
- ๐ฉ๐ช Die Farbe welches Stifts gefรคllt dir am besten?
- ๐บ๐ธ The color of which pen do you like the most?
Wer (Who)
In German, “welcher” is not the only question word that is declined. The word “wer” (who) also changes according to the case, but it does not consider gender or number.
Table 1.3 illustrates the various declensions of the German word “wer,” which translates to “who” in English:
Cases | Singular |
---|---|
Nominative | wer (who) |
Accusative | wen (who, whom) |
Dative | wem (to whom) |
Genitive | wessen (whose) |
- Nominative case:
- ๐ฉ๐ช Wer ist das?
- ๐บ๐ธ Who is that?
- Accusative case:
- ๐ฉ๐ช Wen siehst du?
- ๐บ๐ธ Who do you see?
- Dative case:
- ๐ฉ๐ช Wem hast du das Buch gegeben?
- ๐บ๐ธ To whom did you give the book?
- Genitive case:
- ๐ฉ๐ช Wessen Buch ist das?
- ๐บ๐ธ Whose book is this?
This article has provided a comprehensive overview of question construction in German. Thank you for reading.