German grammar › A2
Questions — Fragen
Level A2 · yes / no vs W-questions · wer, wen, wem · welcher · womit / damit
How do German questions work?
There are two kinds. Yes / no questions start with the verb: Kommst du? Information questions start with a W-word (who, what, where …), then the verb: Wann kommst du?
When you use them
- Asking for information: Wo wohnst du?
- Checking something: Hast du Zeit?
- Asking about people and things: Mit wem sprichst du?
Pattern
Verb + subject …? · W-word + verb + subject …?
What changes
the order — the verb comes first or second, before the subject
Examples
- Du kommst. → **Kommst** du? — You’re coming. → Are you coming?
- **Wann** kommst du? — When are you coming?
Remember: A question never starts with subject + verb — swap them: du kommst → kommst du?
Watch out: wer = who, wo = where: Wer ist das? · Wo ist das?
Builds on: Word order — the verb in position 2.
Yes / no → VERB first · W-question → W-word + VERB
Kommst du …? · Wann kommst du …?
The two question structures
- Kommst du morgen?
- Hast du Zeit?
- Bist du müde?
Put the conjugated verb first.
- Wann kommst du?
- Warum lernst du Deutsch?
- Wo wohnst du?
Question word → verb → subject.
Who? — the case decides the word
wer changes just like a pronoun
- wer — who · nominative
- wen — whom · accusative
- wem — to whom · dative
- wessen — whose · genitive
- Wer kommt? — Who is coming? → subject → nominative
- Wen siehst du? — Whom do you see? → direct object → accusative
- Wem hilfst du? — Whom are you helping? → helfen + dative
Essential W-question words
- was — what
- wann — when
- wie — how
- warum — why
- wieso — why
- weshalb — why / for what reason
Where? — three different questions
- wo? — where? · location — Wo bist du?
- wohin? — where to? · destination — Wohin gehst du?
- woher? — where from? · origin — Woher kommst du?
welcher — which?
welcher behaves like a der-word
- welcher — masculine nominative
- welche — feminine / plural
- welches — neuter nominative / accusative
welcher Mann? · welche Frau? · welches Auto?
- Welcher Mann kommt? — masculine nominative
- Welchen Mann siehst du? — masculine accusative
- Mit welchem Mann? — mit + dative
was für ein — what kind of?
In was für ein, the noun’s case comes from its real role in the sentence — it is not automatically accusative just because the phrase contains “für”: Was für ein Auto hast du? · Was für einen Film siehst du?
wo- compounds — asking about things
preposition + what? → wo(r) + preposition
- Womit? — with what? · wo + mit
- Worüber? — about what? · wor + über
- Worauf? — on what / what for? · wor + auf
consonant → wo + mit = womit · vowel → add r: wo + auf → worauf
da- compounds — answering about things
A wo- question is often answered with da-
- Womit?: damit — with it / with that
- Worüber?: darüber — about it / that
- Worauf?: darauf — on it / for that
Things → wo- / da- compounds · People → preposition + wer-form
Womit arbeitest du? · Mit wem sprichst du?
- Mit wem sprichst du? — Who are you speaking with?
- Womit schreibst du? — What are you writing with?
- Ich schreibe damit. — I write with it.
Final full picture
Summary
- yes / no — finite verb first (Kommst du?)
- W-question — W-word + verb + subject (Wann kommst du?)
- person — the case changes wer (wer · wen · wem · wessen)
- location — where (wo)
- destination — where to (wohin)
- origin — where from (woher)
- which — declines like a der-word (welcher · welche · welches)
- what kind — case comes from the sentence role (was für ein …)
- things — wo- question / da- answer (Womit? → damit)
- before a vowel — add r (wo + auf → worauf)
Person? → wer / wen / wem · Place? → wo / wohin / woher · Thing + preposition? → wo- compound
And yes / no questions simply start with the finite verb.
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