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### Forming yes/no questions

English uses helping verbs like "do" or "does" to ask questions (e.g., "Does the dog drink water?"). German is much simpler: just move the main verb to the front!

This is called **verb-first** word order. To turn a statement into a question, place the conjugated verb in the very first position, followed immediately by the subject.

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### Answering with ja and nein

To answer a question, start with **ja** (yes) or **nein** (no). Place a comma after the yes/no word, and then follow up with a normal statement. In your statement, the verb goes safely back into the second position.

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### Using pronouns in answers

When answering questions, replace nouns with pronouns so you don't repeat yourself. Remember that German pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace:

- Replace masculine **der** nouns with **er**
- Replace feminine **die** nouns with **sie**
- Replace neuter **das** nouns with **es**

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### Asking with adjectives

This verb-first rule applies to all verbs, including forms of "to be". You can easily use this structure to ask if things are right (**richtig**) or wrong (**falsch**).

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Yes/No questions

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Subordinate clauses for reasons (weil)

Question	Answer
to drink	trinken
the water	das Wasser
Does the dog drink water?	Trinkt der Hund Wasser?
yes	ja
Yes, he often drinks water.	Ja, er trinkt oft Wasser.
Do you also drink water?	Trinkst du auch Wasser?
no	nein
the coffee	der Kaffee
No, I drink coffee.	Nein, ich trinke Kaffee.
the tea	der Tee
Do you drink tea?	Trinken Sie Tee?
Yes, I like drinking tea.	Ja, ich trinke gern Tee.
to ask	fragen
Is he asking the child?	Fragt er das Kind?
Yes, he is asking it.	Ja, er fragt es.
to understand	verstehen
Does the woman understand the child?	Versteht die Frau das Kind?
Yes, she understands it.	Ja, sie versteht es.
right	richtig
Is it right?	Ist es richtig?
wrong	falsch
No, it is wrong.	Nein, es ist falsch.
Is he doing something wrong?	Macht er etwas falsch?
No, he is doing it right.	Nein, er macht es richtig.
Is the coffee good?	Ist der Kaffee gut?
Yes, it is very good.	Ja, er ist sehr gut.