Questions in German Grammar

Questions, also known as interrogative sentences, are used to get information about something. There are two different kinds of questions: closed questions, also called yes/no questions or Entscheidungsfragen in German; and open questions, also called w-questions or Ergänzungsfragen in German. The structure of open and closed questions is different.

Closed Questions

Closed questions or, Entscheidungsfragen in German, are questions that we can answer with the words “yes” or “no”.

Example:

In these questions, the finite verb comes first followed by the subject. The rest of the sentence (object, time, place, etc.) come in the same order as they would in a main clause.

Open Questions

Open questions, or Ergänzungsfragen in German, are questions that use an interrogative pronoun or question word. We cannot answer open questions with “yes” or “no”.

Example:

Gestern habe ich dir das Buch gegeben.

The interrogative pronoun comes at the beginning of the sentence followed by the finite verb and then the rest of the sentence.

If we’re asking about an object with a preposition, the preposition comes before the question word.

Example:

Für wen ist das Geschenk?

If we’re asking about the subject, the finite verb takes the third person singular.

Example:

Typical German Question Words

The chart below provides an overview of typical question words in German and their usage along with English translations and examples.

German	English	Usage – asking about…	Example
wer	who	subject (person)	Wer hat dir das Buch gegeben? – Der Lehrer.
wem	whom/ who	dative object, indirect object (person)	Wem hast du das Buch gegeben? – Meiner Freundin.
wen	whom/ who	accusative object, direct object (person)	Wen habt ihr gesehen? – Unseren Trainer.
was	what	subject or object, if not a person/action	Was ist das? – Das ist ein Handy. Was habt ihr gesehen? – Einen Regenbogen.Was machst du da? – Ich lese.
wessen	whose	possession/belonging	Wessen Auto ist das? – Das ist Toms Auto.
wo	where	place (position)	Wo ist der Bahnhof? – Gleich um die Ecke.
wohin	where (to)	place (direction)	Wohin geht ihr? – Wir gehen zum Bahnhof.
woher	where (from)	place (origin)	Woher kommst du? – Ich komme aus Deutschland.
wann	when	time	Wann habt ihr gefrühstückt? – Um 7 Uhr.
wie	how	manner (adjective)	Wie geht es dir? – Gut.
warum weshalb wieso	why	reason for an action	Warum kommst du so spät? – Weil der Zug Verspätung hatte.
wozu wofür	what	purpose of an action	Wozu brauchst du die Schere? – Ich möchte ein Bild ausschneiden.
welche(r/s)	which	selection	Welches Auto gefällt dir besser? – Das rote.

Questions with Wo + Preposition: woran, wofür, womit

If in English we often use what with prepositions in questions. In standard German, we contract wo and the preposition to make wo-compouns. We can also use prepositions with was, but this is very colloquial and casual.