German W-questions: wer, was, wo, wann, wie, warum — and the word order

Rule

A W-question is an open question: it starts with a question word — almost all of them begin with w — and it cannot be answered with ja or nein. The order is fixed: question word (position 1) – conjugated verb (position 2) – subject – everything else.

In a yes/no question the conjugated verb itself opens the sentence (Kommst du morgen?); add a question word and the verb moves into position 2 (Wann kommst du?).

One exception to "subject third": if the question word is the subject (wer, was), no extra subject follows and the verb stands in the 3rd person singular — Wer kommt heute? Was passiert hier?

Three groups cover almost everything at A1:

• People and things: wer (subject), wen (accusative object), wem (dative object), was.
• Place and time: wo (position), wohin (direction), woher (origin), wann.
• Manner and reason: wie, warum. wieso and weshalb mean the same as warum and behave identically.

wie often forms a fixed pair with a second word: wie alt, wie lange, wie oft, wie weit, wie spät, wie viel, wie viele. Use wie viel with uncountable nouns in the singular (wie viel Zeit) and wie viele with countable plurals (wie viele Kinder).

With two verb parts, the bracket is formed by the conjugated verb in position 2 and the second part at the end: Was möchtest du trinken? Wann fängt der Kurs an? Wen hast du getroffen?

To ask about a person after a preposition, the preposition stands in front of wen or wem and decides the case: mit, zu, von, bei, nach, aus take wem; für, ohne, gegen, um take wen — Mit wem fährst du? Für wen ist das? For a thing, German fuses the preposition into a wo(r)- compound instead: Womit? Wofür? Worauf? — auf was exists in speech, but it is colloquial.

Two question words let you narrow things down. welcher / welche / welches picks one item out of a known set and takes the same endings as der (Welcher Zug? Welchen Zug nimmst du?). was für ein asks what kind of thing it is and takes the endings of ein in the singular; in the plural and with uncountable nouns the ein simply disappears: Was für Bücher liest du? Was für Musik hörst du? The für is not a preposition here, so it does not force the accusative — the case comes from the role in the sentence: Was für ein Mann ist das?

Inside a longer sentence (Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommt) the verb jumps to the end — that belongs to subordinate clauses.

Examples

• Wie heißt du? — What's your name?
• Woher kommst du? — Where are you from?
• Wo wohnt deine Familie? — Where does your family live?
• Wann fängt der Kurs an? — When does the course start?
• Warum lernst du Deutsch? — Why are you learning German?
• Wen hast du gestern getroffen? — Who did you meet yesterday?
• Wem gehört diese Jacke? — Who does this jacket belong to?
• Wie lange wartest du schon? — How long have you been waiting?
• Welchen Zug nimmst du? — Which train are you taking?
• Mit wem fährst du nach Berlin? — Who are you going to Berlin with?

Quick table

Common mistakes

• ❌ Wann du kommst? → ✅ Wann kommst du? — the conjugated verb stays in position 2, directly after the question word; the subject follows it.
• ❌ Wer hast du eingeladen? → ✅ Wen hast du eingeladen? — wer asks for the subject, wen for the accusative object.
• ❌ Wo fährst du am Wochenende? → ✅ Wohin fährst du am Wochenende? — wo asks for a position; a direction needs wohin.
• ❌ Auf was wartest du? → ✅ Worauf wartest du? — for things the preposition fuses with wo(r)-; auf was is colloquial only. For people it stays separate and sets the case: Auf wen wartest du?
• ❌ Wie viele Zeit hast du? → ✅ Wie viel Zeit hast du? — wie viel goes with uncountable nouns in the singular, wie viele with countable plurals.