Questions & Answers about Worauf wartest du jetzt noch?
What does worauf represent in this sentence, and why can’t we just say auf was?
worauf is a pronominal adverb (interrogative pronoun + preposition) that replaces auf + accusative object. German prepositional verbs like warten auf require a prepositional object in the accusative case. While you can say „Auf was wartest du…?“ in colloquial speech, worauf (one word) is the standard, more idiomatic form in written and formal spoken German.
Why does the verb wartest come before the subject du? Isn’t the verb supposed to be at the end in questions?
German questions with a question word (W-word) use verb-second word order. The W-word (worauf) takes the first position, so the finite verb (wartest) moves into the second slot, and the subject (du) follows in the third slot. In yes/no questions (no question word), the verb would come first.
Which case does the prepositional verb warten auf govern?
warten auf always takes the accusative. If you were to replace worauf with a noun, you’d say „Ich warte auf den Bus.“ (den Bus = accusative).
What nuance does noch add in „Worauf wartest du jetzt noch?“? Could we omit it?
noch here means “any longer” or “still.” It adds impatience or surprise: “What are you still waiting for now?” Without noch, „Worauf wartest du jetzt?“ simply asks “What are you waiting for right now?”—it loses the sense of “already enough time has passed.”