Breakdown of Gehst du gern spazieren?
du
you (informal singular)
gern
gladly, like to
spazieren gehen
to go for a walk
Questions & Answers about Gehst du gern spazieren?
Why are there two verbs in this sentence (gehst and spazieren)?
The phrase for 'to go for a walk' is spazieren gehen. When you use this combination in the present tense, you conjugate gehen (gehst for du) and put it at the start of the question. The other verb, spazieren, stays in its basic dictionary form (infinitive) and gets pushed to the very end of the sentence.
How does gern translate to 'like'?
In English, we use the verb 'to like' followed by an activity. In German, you usually express this by using the action verb plus the adverb gern (gladly). So, Gehst du gern...? literally means 'Do you gladly go...?', which is the natural way to ask 'Do you like going...?'.
Why does the sentence start with Gehst instead of a word for 'Do'?
German doesn't use helper words like 'do' or 'does' to make questions. To form a simple yes/no question, you just move the conjugated verb (gehst) to the very first position in the sentence.
How would I say this in the Perfekt (past) tense using sein, like we are learning in this lesson?
Because gehen is a verb of motion, it uses sein (to be) as its helper verb in the past tense. To ask 'Did you like going for walks?', you use the helper verb Bist and move the past participle of gehen (gegangen) to the end: Bist du gern spazieren gegangen? Notice that spazieren stays in its basic form right before gegangen.
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