Breakdown of Worauf wartest du? Auf deinen neuen Stoff?
du
you (informal singular)
neu
new
dein
your (informal)
der Stoff
the fabric / the material
warten auf
to wait for
worauf
what on / what for
Questions & Answers about Worauf wartest du? Auf deinen neuen Stoff?
Why do we use worauf here instead of auf was to mean "for what"?
In German, when you ask a question using a preposition (like auf) and an inanimate object or concept (like "what"), you generally don't say auf was. Instead, you combine wo + the preposition to make a "wo-compound." So, "for what" becomes worauf. If you were waiting for a person, you would use auf wen instead.
Why is there an r in worauf?
When forming a wo-compound, if the preposition starts with a vowel, we add an r in the middle so it is easier to pronounce. Since auf starts with an "a", wo + auf becomes worauf instead of woauf.
Doesn't auf usually mean "on"? Why is it translating to "for" here?
Prepositions often don't translate word-for-word between English and German. The verb warten (to wait) specifically pairs with the preposition auf to mean "to wait for." It helps to memorize warten auf together as a fixed phrase!
Why is it deinen neuen Stoff instead of dein neuer Stoff?
The phrase warten auf always requires the following noun to be in the accusative case. Since Stoff (fabric) is a masculine noun (der Stoff), the word for "your" takes the accusative masculine ending to become deinen, and the adjective "new" takes the -en ending to become neuen.
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