German question words specify the information needed; some change with grammatical case.

die Schwester
der Brief
das Deutsch

The idea

Distinguish wo for location, wohin for destination and woher for origin. Use wer for a subject, wen for an accusative object and wem for a dative object, followed by the finite verb.

Patterns to compare
Form / MusterBeispiel / Gegensatz
Personwer / wen / wem
Sachewas
Ort / Ziel / Herkunftwo / wohin / woher
Zeit / Grund / Artwann / warum / wie

Examples

  • Wer wartet draußen?
  • Was brauchst du?
  • Wo wohnt deine Schwester?
  • Wohin fahrt ihr morgen?
  • Woher kommt dieser Brief?
  • Warum lernst du Deutsch?

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Watch out

Choose a question word for the grammatical role as well as the meaning. Helfen takes dative, so ask Wem hilfst du?; distinguish location wo from destination wohin.

Try it yourself

  1. ___ fährt der Bus? Zum Bahnhof. (Wo / Wohin)

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    Wohin

    “Wohin” asks for the destination. Zum Bahnhof describes where the bus is going; wo would ask where it is located.

  2. ___ wohnt sie? In Mainz. (Wo / Wohin)

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    Wo

    Answer: “Wo”. This describes an existing location, not entry into a new position.

  3. ___ hilfst du? Meinem Bruder. (Wer / Wem)

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    Wem

    Answer: “Wem”. This complement is dative; its article, pronoun or adjective must show that case.

Use it today

Build two new sentences from “Wer wartet draußen?”. Change the information in the first position, then check where the finite verb belongs.