German question words almost all begin with W — the equivalent of English "wh-". This page collects every one of them in a single reference, organized by what they ask about: a person, a thing, a place, a time, a reason, a manner, or a choice. Seeing them side by side reveals the systematic patterns English speakers most often miss: the four-way case forms of "who", the three-way split of "where", and the difference between asking about a cause and asking about a purpose.
The master table
| Asks about | Word | Meaning | Case / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Person | wer | who | nominative (subject) |
| wen | whom | accusative (direct object) | |
| wem | (to) whom | dative (indirect object) | |
| wessen | whose | genitive (possession) | |
| Thing | was | what | nom./acc., does not decline |
| Place | wo | where (location) | static position |
| wohin | where to | direction toward | |
| woher | where from | direction away | |
| Time | wann | when | also seit wann / bis wann |
| wie lange / wie oft | how long / how often | duration / frequency | |
| Reason | warum, wieso, weshalb, weswegen | why (cause) | near-synonyms |
| wozu | what for (purpose) | goal, not cause | |
| Manner / amount | wie | how |
|
| wie viel | how much | uncountable | |
| wie viele | how many | countable | |
| Choice | welcher / welche / welches | which | declines like an article |
| was für ein | what kind of | ein declines for case |
Word order: W-word first, verb second
Every W-question follows the same shape: the question word goes first (it fills the Vorfeld), the finite verb comes second, then the subject and the rest. There is no "do" — German has nothing like English do-support.
Wann fängt der Film an?
When does the film start?
Warum lachst du so?
Why are you laughing like that?
Person: the wer paradigm
The biggest A2 hurdle is that "who" changes form by case. Wer is only for the subject; the object forms are different words.
Wer hat den Kuchen gebacken?
Who baked the cake?
Wen hast du gestern auf der Party getroffen?
Whom did you meet at the party yesterday?
Wem gehört dieses Fahrrad?
Whose is this bike? / To whom does this bike belong?
Wessen (whose) is rather formal and is followed directly by the noun: Wessen Auto steht da? (Whose car is parked there?).
Place: the three-way split
English "where" is overloaded. German keeps location, destination, and origin apart with three separate words.
Wo wohnst du?
Where do you live?
Wohin gehst du heute Abend?
Where are you going tonight?
Woher kommst du ursprünglich?
Where do you originally come from?
In casual speech, wohin and woher sometimes split, with hin or her moving to the end: Wo gehst du hin?, Wo kommst du her? — common and natural, especially in spoken German.
Reason: cause versus purpose
This is the distinction competitors gloss over. Warum, wieso, weshalb and weswegen all ask for a cause ("why?") and are interchangeable, differing only slightly in tone — wieso is the most conversational, weshalb / weswegen the most formal. But wozu asks for a purpose ("what for, to what end").
Warum bist du so früh aufgestanden?
Why did you get up so early?
Wozu brauchst du eigentlich drei Regenschirme?
What do you actually need three umbrellas for?
The answer to a warum question typically starts with weil (because) — a cause; the answer to a wozu question typically starts with um … zu (in order to) — a purpose.
Manner and amount: wie and its family
Wie (how) combines with adjectives to ask for a measurement, and with viel / viele to ask quantity.
Wie alt bist du?
How old are you?
Wie viele Geschwister hast du?
How many siblings do you have?
Use wie viel (one word each, written separately) for uncountable amounts (Wie viel Geld?) and wie viele for countable things (Wie viele Leute?).
Choice: welcher and was für ein
Welcher asks "which one (out of a known set)" and declines like the definite article. Was für ein asks "what kind of" and declines the ein part.
Welches Kleid gefällt dir besser, das rote oder das blaue?
Which dress do you like better, the red one or the blue one?
Was für ein Auto möchtest du dir kaufen?
What kind of car do you want to buy?
Questioning a prepositional verb
When a question targets a verb's fixed preposition and the object is a thing, German fuses wo- with the preposition into a wo-compound (worauf, womit, wovon). This is covered fully on its own page; just recognize the pattern: Worauf wartest du? (What are you waiting for?).
Why English speakers stumble
Three habits cause most errors. First, do-support: English forms questions with "do/does/did" (What do you want?), and learners try to import a German equivalent that does not exist — the verb itself moves to second position. Second, the wer case: English "who/whom" is largely collapsed in everyday speech, so learners use wer for everything, including objects. Third, the where split: English "where" forces no choice, so learners say wo when they need wohin or woher. Drilling the three-way table fixes the last one quickly.
Common Mistakes
❌ Was du willst?
Incorrect — the finite verb must come second: Was willst du?
✅ Was willst du?
What do you want?
❌ Wer hast du gestern getroffen?
Incorrect — the object needs the accusative wen, not wer.
✅ Wen hast du gestern getroffen?
Whom did you meet yesterday?
❌ Wo gehst du heute Abend?
Incorrect — a destination needs wohin, not wo.
✅ Wohin gehst du heute Abend?
Where are you going tonight?
❌ Wie viel Bücher hast du gelesen?
Incorrect — countable nouns take wie viele, not wie viel.
✅ Wie viele Bücher hast du gelesen?
How many books have you read?
Key Takeaways
- All W-words sit first; the finite verb comes second. No "do".
- 'Who' has four forms by case: wer (nom.), wen (acc.), wem (dat.), wessen (gen.).
- 'Where' splits three ways: wo (location), wohin (destination), woher (origin).
- Cause vs purpose: warum / wieso / weshalb / weswegen ask why (cause); wozu asks what-for (purpose).
- wie viel (uncountable) vs wie viele (countable); welcher (which, declines) vs was für ein (what kind of).
Now practice German
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- W-Questions (Wer, Was, Wo, Wann, Warum, Wie)A1 — Information questions put the W-word in first position and the verb second — exactly like a statement with a question word fronted, and with no 'do' helper.
- Interrogative Pronouns: wer and wasA1 — How to ask 'who' and 'what' in German, including the four case forms of wer and the wo-compounds that replace 'preposition + was'.
- wo, wohin, woher (Location vs Direction)A2 — German splits English 'where' into three question words — wo (location), wohin (direction to), woher (origin) — and the choice is tied directly to case and the aus/nach system.
- warum, wieso, weshalb, wozu (Why)A2 — German has four 'why' words. warum/wieso/weshalb ask for a cause (answered with weil), while wozu asks for a purpose (answered with um…zu) — a cause/purpose split English's single 'why' hides.
- Questions: Complete ReferenceA2 — A one-page map of the entire German question system — yes/no via verb-first, W-questions via W-word plus V2, indirect questions verb-final, tags, and the answer words ja/nein/doch — all built from the same V2 machinery.