Questions and Getting to Know People: W-Fragen

W-Fragen are questions with a question word: wer, was, wo, woher, wohin, wann, warum, wie. They all start with W, hence the name. German W sounds like English “v”: Wer ist das? A first conversation starts with questions like these: Wie heißt du? Woher kommst du? Wo wohnst du?

This lesson covers three things. First: what each word asks. Second: where the verb goes, in a W-Frage it is always in second position. Third: the three look-alikes wo, woher and wohin, where most mistakes happen.

Anna and Max meet on the first day of a language course. All eight question words of this lesson come up in their conversation. Listen and read the translations under each line.

Each word has its own job: it asks about a person, a thing, a place, a time or a reason. Each tile shows the word, a question with it and a typical answer.

Keep wer and was apart: wer is only for people, was is for things. Wer ist das? Das ist Anna. Was ist das? Das ist ein Buch.

In a W-Frage the question word comes first, the conjugated verb second, then the subject. In a question without a question word (a Ja/Nein-Frage, answered with “yes” or “no”) the verb comes first.

W-Frage: verb in position 2

Wo wohnst du?

Ja/Nein-Frage: verb first

Wohnst du in Berlin?

A typical mistake is to put the subject before the verb, as in a statement: Wo du wohnst? The verb stays right behind the question word: Wo wohnst du? If the question word is itself the subject, the verb after it is third person singular: Wer wohnt hier? Wer kommt aus Spanien? With sein the verb agrees with the other word: Wer ist das? Wer bist du? In a W-Frage the voice usually falls at the end, in a Ja/Nein-Frage it rises.

Three words about place, and the ones that trip learners most. wo — where you are, woher — where you come from, wohin — where you are going.

Prepositions come in triples. Cities and countries without an article: in Berlin (where), aus Berlin (where from), nach Berlin (where to). People: bei Anna (where), von Anna (where from), zu Anna (where to). Home is two fixed phrases: zu Hause answers wo, nach Hause answers wohin. Countries with an article, for example die Türkei, follow a different pattern, which is a separate topic. von der Arbeit and vom Bahnhof are fixed chunks for now: the article changes with the noun, which comes later.

An answer is often shorter than the question: naming the asked part is enough. Three words need ready-made patterns.

weil sends the verb to the end of its clause: Weil ich hier arbeite. Not Weil ich arbeite hier. When the weil clause comes second, a comma goes before it: Ich lerne Deutsch, weil ich hier arbeite. The pattern is enough for now, such clauses are covered in more detail later.

Four more words join the eight, and you need them in the first weeks: price, duration, choice and the question “to whom?”.

Welcher changes with gender, like an article: welcher Kurs (m.), welche Sprache (f.), welches Buch (n.), welche Kurse (pl.). Cases come later, for now learn these phrases whole, including Wem gehört das Buch?

Six places where learners trip most often. The wrong version comes first, the right one below it.

Ready-made questions for the course, the office and the street. Learn them whole. The first two phrases come in both the du and the Sie form: du with friends and peers, Sie with officials.

You can ask about a person, a thing, a place, a time and a reason and keep a first conversation going. Three checks for any question:

1. Word: wer — a person, was — a thing, wo — a place, woher — where from, wohin — where to, wann — a time, warum — a reason, wie — how.
2. Order: question word, verb, subject. Without a question word the verb comes first.
3. Place: in, aus, nach for cities, bei, von, zu for people; zu Hause and nach Hause.

Training: 30 exercises

To make the questions automatic, do the training with 30 exercises: choose the word, build the question and type the form, with an explanation after every answer.