FormFragewort (Position 1) + konjugiertes Verb (Position 2) + Rest
Meaning and usage
Was, wer, wie, wann and warum are question words. They start a W-question. The conjugated verb comes next, in second position. After that come the other parts of the sentence. For example, Was trinkst du? means What do you drink? and Wann kommt der Bus? means When does the bus come? Use this pattern to ask for information, not for a yes or no answer. The common mistake is to put the verb later, as in Du trinkst was?, which is a different kind of question and not the neutral W-question.
Examples 5
Warum antwortest du nicht auf meine Nachrichten?
Why don't you answer my messages?
Wann geben Sie mir mein Buch zurück?
When will you give me back my book?
Was soll ich den Kindern jetzt sagen?
What should I tell the kids now?
Warum seid ihr zu allen so nett?
Why are you so nice to everyone?
Wer von euch hat eine jüngere Schwester?
Which of you has a younger sister?
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Was du am Morgen?
Show answer
Correct answer: trinkst
After the question word Was, the conjugated verb comes in second position. With du, the verb is trinkst.
- Trinke is the ich form, not the du form.
- Trinken is the infinitive or plural form, not the du form.
- Trinkt is the er/sie/es or ihr form, not the du form.
In this topic: Questions
- Kommst du …? Yes/no question: verb first
- Was, wer, wie, wann, warum …? W-questions: question word first, verb second
- wo, wohin, woher where: position, destination, origin
- welcher, welche, welches Which: welch- takes the endings of der, die, das
- wie viel, wie viele how much, how many
- …, oder? statement + oder? = isn't it? right?
- Was für ein …? what kind of
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.