I. YES-NO Questions
1. elicit a yes or no answer & begin with the conjugated verb (rest of sentence follows normal word order rules)
Spielt die Frau jeden Morgen in der Stadt Tennis? Does the woman play tennis in the city every morning?
the noun subject normally appear directly after the conjugated verb (see above), however there are some exceptions:
if the verb element includes a reflexive pronoun
→ Freut sich deine Mutter auf deinen Besuch? Does your mother look forward to your visit?
if the subject is to be emphasized by an adverbial modifier .
→ Hat denn tatsächlich deine Freundin mit dir Schluss gemacht? Did your girlfriend really break up with you?
THE WORD ORDER DOES NOT CHANGE FOR SUBJECT PRONOUNS (du, er, etc.)
→ they will always follow directly after the conjugated verb!!!
Freust du dich auf den Besuch deiner Mutter? Are you looking forward to your mothers visit?
Hast du denn tatsächlich mit deiner Freundin Schluss gemacht? Did you really break up with your girlfriend?
2. In conversation, yes-no questions are frequently posed as statements followed by (tag questions) nicht wahr?, nicht? oder oder? (right?, isn't it?, don't you?, haven't' they?, etc.) → colloquial
Er hat bestimmt seine Hausaufgaben schon wieder vergessen, oder? He for sure forgot his homework again, don't you think?
Das hast du schon gewusst, nicht wahr? You already knew that, right?
Das neue Lied von Andreas Bourani ist doch super, nicht? The new song by Andreas Bourani is great, isn't it?
3. German uses the particle doch to provide a yes answer to a question posed negatively.
Hast du keinen Kaffee gemacht? Doch! Did you not make any coffee? Of course I did!
II. Interrogative Questions
- intended to elicit content in the answer
- they start with a question-word/interrogative word
- conjugated verb follows immateriality after the question-word/interrogative word
- rest of question follows normal word order
1. wer (who) has a masculine case forms only, but is used to refer to people of either gender.
was (what) has only one form, which is both nominative and accusative. It can also be used in the accusative with the accusative preposition. In the dative is is used with außer & seit). It can be used in either the accusative or dative with the two-way
prepositions (e.g. hinter, zwischen). In the genitive its use is limited: wegen
Wer hat den Stift gestohlen? Who stole the pen?
Wer soll das Haus sauber machen? Who's supposed to clean the house?
Wen hast du heute in der Stadt gesehen? Whom did you see in the city today?
Wem hast du das gesagt? Who did you tell that to?
Wessen Hut trägt meine Frau? Whose hat is my wife wearing?
Was bedeutet apple auf Deutsch? What does this apple mean in German?
Was willst du am Wochenende machen? What do you want to do on the weekend?
Für wen hast du das gemacht? For whom did you do that?
Mit wem warst du auf dem concert? With whom did you go to the concert?
Wegen was bist du so traurig? (On the account of what / why) are you so sad?
Rest - coming soon - completed soon!
2. Wo-compunds
Woran denkst du gern?
Wovon träumst du?
Womit hast du Probleme?
Wor.über denkst du oft nach?
3. Welch-
4. Was für (ein)
Was für ein Mensch bist du? What kind of person are you?
Wann beginnt das Konzert? When does the concert start?
Um wieviel Uhr gehst du auf? What time are you going to bed?
Wann dürfen wir nach Hause? When are were allowed go home?
Wie alt ist seine Katze? How old is his cat?
Wo liegt München? Where is Munich located?
Wohin sollen wir heute Abend gehen? Where should go tonight?
Zu welcher Zeit lebte Kant? At what time did Kant live?
In welcher Straße wohnst du? On what street do you live?