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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.”
Why is the adverb jetzt placed before noch? Could it be „noch jetzt“?
German typically orders adverbs of time (Wann? = jetzt) before adverbs of continuation/degree (in this case noch = “still/anymore”). Putting noch before jetzt („noch jetzt“) sounds awkward and changes the nuance—“still now” isn’t a common collocation.
How would you make the sentence more formal using Sie instead of du?
Simply replace du with Sie and adjust the verb form:
„Worauf warten Sie jetzt noch?“
Could I answer this question with a similar pronominal adverb? For example, „Ich warte darauf, dass…“?
Yes. You can reply: „Ich warte darauf, dass der Film beginnt.“ Here darauf (= da + auf) is the pronominal adverb referring back to “what you’re waiting for,” and dass introduces the clause explaining it.
How do you pronounce worauf wartest du jetzt noch? Any special stress?
The stress falls on the question word:
vo-RAUF WAR-test du JETZT noch?
Pronounce worauf [voʁaʊf], wartest [ˈvaʁtɛst], du [du], jetzt [jɛtst], noch [nɔx].