To ask "when?" in German you use wann. That part is easy. The genuinely tricky part — the thing that trips up nearly every English speaker — is that wann is a question word and only a question word. English "when" does double duty: it asks questions (When are you coming?) and it links clauses (I was happy when I was young). German splits these jobs across three words. wann does the asking; als and wenn do the linking. Get this boundary wrong and you will say sentences that sound, to a German ear, like a question grammar pasted into the middle of a statement.
wann: the basic time question
As a W-word, wann triggers the same verb-second order as every other question word: wann first, finite verb second, subject third.
Wann kommst du?
When are you coming? (wann first, verb 'kommst' second)
Wann fängt der Film an?
When does the film start? (separable verb: 'fängt' second, prefix 'an' at the end)
Wann hast du Geburtstag?
When is your birthday? (literally 'when do you have birthday' — German uses haben here)
To ask for a clock time specifically, German prefers um wie viel Uhr ("at what o'clock") rather than bare wann, because wann can be answered with a day, a season, or a vague "later," whereas um wie viel Uhr pins down the hour.
Um wie viel Uhr treffen wir uns?
At what time are we meeting? (asks for a clock time specifically, not just 'when')
The wann family: seit wann, bis wann, ab wann
wann combines with prepositions to ask about the boundaries of a time span. These are written as two separate words and front together as a unit, just as German never strands a preposition.
| Question phrase | Asks | Answered with |
|---|---|---|
| seit wann | since when (start point, still ongoing) | seit + dative: seit Montag |
| bis wann | until when (end point) | bis: bis Freitag |
| ab wann | from when on (future start point) | ab + dative: ab morgen |
Seit wann lernst du Deutsch?
Since when have you been learning German? (note the German present tense — see below)
Bis wann musst du das abgeben?
By when do you have to hand that in? (asking for a deadline)
A subtle but important point hides in seit wann: German answers it with the present tense for an action still going on (Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Deutsch, "I've been learning German for two years"), where English uses the present perfect ("have been learning"). The question itself is in the present, too — Seit wann lernst du …?, not a perfect. This catches English speakers who reach for hast … gelernt.
Duration and frequency: wie lange, wie oft
Two more time questions live under wie ("how") rather than wann, but they belong in any time-question toolkit. Both are written as two words.
Wie lange dauert der Flug?
How long does the flight take? (wie lange = duration)
Wie oft gehst du ins Fitnessstudio?
How often do you go to the gym? (wie oft = frequency — answer: 'Dreimal pro Woche.')
The contrast is worth holding onto: wann asks for a point on the timeline, seit/bis/ab wann ask for the edges of a span, wie lange asks for the length of a span, and wie oft asks for frequency. English uses "when / since when / how long / how often" in parallel, so the meanings transfer — only the form (two German words, kept together at the front) needs attention.
The real trap: wann is NOT the conjunction "when"
This is where the page earns its keep. In a statement, English "when" introduces a subordinate clause: I was happy when I was young. German never uses wann for this. It uses als (a single, completed event in the past) or wenn (a repeated event, or a present/future condition).
| English "when" | German | Use |
|---|---|---|
| asking a question | wann | direct and indirect questions only |
| one event, in the past | als | "Als ich jung war …" (when I was young) |
| repeated event / present / future / condition | wenn | "Wenn ich Zeit habe …" (whenever / if I have time) |
Wann warst du jung?
When were you young? (a real question → wann)
Ich war glücklich, als ich jung war.
I was happy when I was young. (single past stretch → als, NOT wann)
Immer wenn es regnet, bleibe ich zu Hause.
Whenever it rains, I stay home. (repeated event → wenn, NOT wann)
The mental test is simple and reliable: "Is this a question?" If you can put a question mark on the when-clause on its own (When are you coming?), it's wann. If the when is gluing two statements together (…, when I was young), it is never wann — choose als or wenn. Run this test first, every time, before you even think about als vs wenn.
wann survives in indirect questions
The one place wann appears outside a direct question is the indirect question — a question reported inside a main clause. Here wann stays as the linking word, but the clause goes verb-final (no inversion, no question mark):
Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommt.
I don't know when he's coming. (indirect question — wann stays, but verb 'kommt' goes to the end)
Kannst du mir sagen, wann der Zug abfährt?
Can you tell me when the train leaves? (indirect question — verb-final 'abfährt')
This is not an exception to the "wann = question" rule — it's the rule confirming itself. An indirect question is still a question, just embedded. The buried when still means "at which point in time?", so it stays wann. You will only ever swap in als/wenn when the when is doing the work of an ordinary statement-linker.
Common Mistakes
Using wann as the conjunction "when" in a statement — the third corner of the als/wenn/wann confusion, and the single most common time-word error.
❌ Ich war glücklich, wann ich jung war.
Wrong — this is a statement, not a question, so use als (single past): 'Ich war glücklich, als ich jung war.'
✅ Ich war glücklich, als ich jung war.
I was happy when I was young.
Using wann for a repeated/conditional "when."
❌ Wann ich Zeit habe, lese ich.
Wrong — repeated/conditional 'when' is wenn: 'Wenn ich Zeit habe, lese ich.'
✅ Wenn ich Zeit habe, lese ich.
When(ever) I have time, I read.
Keeping question word order in an indirect wann-clause.
❌ Ich weiß nicht, wann kommt er.
Wrong — an embedded question is verb-final: 'Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommt.'
✅ Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommt.
I don't know when he's coming.
Answering seit wann with the perfect tense, copying English.
❌ Ich habe seit zwei Jahren Deutsch gelernt.
Wrong for an ongoing action — German uses the present: 'Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Deutsch.'
✅ Ich lerne seit zwei Jahren Deutsch.
I've been learning German for two years.
Writing the wann family as one word.
❌ Seitwann wartest du hier?
Wrong — seit wann is two words: 'Seit wann wartest du hier?'
✅ Seit wann wartest du hier?
Since when have you been waiting here?
Key Takeaways
- wann asks "when?" — in direct questions (Wann kommst du?) and indirect ones (…, wann er kommt) only.
- For a clock time, prefer um wie viel Uhr over bare wann.
- The time-question family: seit wann (since when), bis wann (until when), ab wann (from when on), wie lange (how long), wie oft (how often) — all written as two words and kept together at the front.
- wann is never the linking "when" in a statement. Ask "Is this a question?" first; if not, use als (single past) or wenn (repeated/conditional).
- Answer seit wann with the German present tense for an ongoing action, not the perfect.
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- als vs wenn vs wannB1 — How to choose among the three German words for 'when': wann for questions, als for a single past event, wenn for repeated past, present, future, and conditions.
- Temporal Conjunctions: als, wenn, während, bevor, nachdem, bis, seitB1 — The time conjunctions all send the verb to the end, but each marks a precise relationship — and the als/wenn split for the past is one of the top intermediate errors.
- Indirect QuestionsB1 — When a question is embedded inside a main clause, it becomes a subordinate clause: yes/no questions take ob, w-questions keep their W-word, and both go verb-final with a comma and no question mark.
- Adverbs of TimeA2 — German time adverbs — heute, morgen, jetzt, bald, oft, immer, damals — plus the morgen/der Morgen/morgens puzzle, the habitual -s adverbs (montags, abends), and why time comes before place.
- Telling TimeA2 — How to tell time in German, including the trap that makes English speakers miss appointments: halb drei means 2:30, not 3:30.
- 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.