In German, there are two ways to ask questions- (i) Ja/Nein Frage: Your answer can be ja, nein, doch, etc. (ii) W-frage: You should explain your answer in more than one word. Here I will be explaining about W-Frage in detail.
As the word W-Frage suggests, it is used to ask question using words starting with “W” like Was, Warum, Wie, Wo, etc. As we need to answer these questions without use of yes or no (open ended question), it is also known as Ergänzungsfragen.
Table of Contents
Most Common German W-Frage for A1 Level
Was- what
For example: (i) Was bist du von Beruf?/ Was sind Sie von Beruf? (What is your profession?)
(ii) Was machst du?/ Was machen Sie? (What are you doing?)
(iii) Was ist das? (What is this?)
Warum- why
For example: (i) Warum antwortest du nicht? (Why don’t you answer?)
(ii) Warum lernst du Deutsch?(Why are you learning German?)
(iii) Warum schläfst du nicht? (why are you not sleeping?)
Wann- when
For example: (i) Wann hast du geburtstag? (When is your birthday?)
(ii) Wann hast du zeit? (When do you have time?)
(iii) Wann kommst du? (When are you coming?)
Wer- who
For example: (i) Wer bist du? (Who are you?)
(ii) Wer kommt heute? (Who’s coming today?)
(iii) Wer kommt aus Indien? (Who is from India?)
Wie- How
For example: (i) Wie geht es dir? (How are you doing?/ How are you?)
(ii) Wie alt bist du? (How old are you?)
(iii) Wie lautet Ihre Telefonnummer? (What is your phone number?)
Wo- where
For example: (i) Wo wohnst du? (Where do you live?)
(ii) Wo bist du? (Where are you?)
(iii) Wo lernst du Deutsch? (Where do you learn German?)
Welche- which (Welcher, Welches: depending upon Cases)
For example: (i) welche sprachen sprichst du? (Which languages do you speak?)
Welcher Film ist das? (Which film is this?)
Wessen- whose
For example: (i)Wessen Telefon ist dieses? (Whose phone is this?)
(ii) Wessen auto ist das? (Whose car is this?)
Other W-Frage
- Wen- whom
For example: (i) Wen liebst du? (Whom do you love?)
(ii) Wen hast du angerufen? (Whom did you called?)
- Woher- From where
For example: (i) Woher kommst du? (Where do you come from?)
(ii) Woher hast du meine Nummer? (Where did you get my number?)
- Wie Viel- how much Wie viele- how many
For example: (i) Wie viel kostet das? (How much that costs?)
(ii) Wie viele Sprachen sprichst du? (How many languages do you speak?)
- Wohin- where to
For example: (i) Wohin gehst du? (Where are you going?)
(ii) Wohin fährst du? (Where are you driving to?)
- Wie oft- how often
For example: (i) Wie oft gehst du ins kino? (How often do you go to the cinema?)
(ii) Wie oft machst du sport? (How often do you exercise?)
Verb Position Word Order in W-Frage
While making questions using W-Frage, question word will be at starting of the sentence. In case of preposition, you will be using preposition in question word as well. Similar to English, question first at first position will be followed by conjugated verb at the second position.
For example: Wo bist du? [Wo- W frage (1st position), bist- conjugated verb (2nd position)]
Uses of W-Frage
| W Frage | Uses (Asking For) |
| was warum wann wer wie wo welche wen woher wie viel wohin wie oft Wessen | Subject/object (not person) or actions Reason Time Subject (Person) Manner(adjective) location Choice Akkusative/ direct object Origin Quantity Direction Frequency Belonging |
Some Useful German Study Resources
Netzwerk A1 Kursbuch Full Solution
Netzwerk A2 Kursbuch Full Solution
Best Podcasts for learning German
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