Wann kommst du wieder?

Wann means when.

It is the German question word used to ask about time:

• Wann kommst du wieder? = When are you coming back?
• Wann beginnt der Film? = When does the movie start?

A common beginner mistake is confusing wann with wenn.

• wann = when? in direct or indirect questions
• wenn = if / whenever / when in certain subordinate clauses

So in this sentence, wann is simply the question word when.

In German wh-questions (questions with words like wann, wo, warum, wie), the conjugated verb usually comes right after the question word.

So the structure is:

• Wann
  • kommst
    • du
      • wieder?

This is normal German word order for this kind of question.

Compare:

• Wann kommst du wieder? = When are you coming back?
• Wo wohnst du? = Where do you live?
• Warum lernst du Deutsch? = Why are you learning German?

Kommst is the form of the verb kommen used with du.

The verb kommen means to come.
When you use du (you, informal singular), the verb changes form:

• ich komme = I come
• du kommst = you come
• er/sie/es kommt = he/she/it comes
• wir kommen = we come
• ihr kommt = you all come
• sie/Sie kommen = they / you (formal) come

So:

• du kommst = you come / you are coming

Du is the informal singular word for you.

You use du with:

• friends
• family
• children
• people your age in informal situations
• anyone you are on du terms with

If you are speaking formally to one person, you would use Sie instead:

• Wann kommen Sie wieder?

So Wann kommst du wieder? is informal and directed at one person.

Wieder usually means again or back, depending on context.

In this sentence, the most natural meaning is:

• back
• or again, in the sense of returning

So:

• Wann kommst du wieder? = When are you coming back?

German often uses wieder where English prefers back.

Examples:

• Ich bin wieder da. = I’m back again / I’m back.
• Komm bitte wieder. = Please come back.

Yes, usually it is.

Even though German uses the present tense here, it often refers to the future when the context makes that clear.

So:

• Wann kommst du wieder? literally looks like When do you come again/back?
• but in natural English it usually means When are you coming back?

This is very common in German. The present tense often covers both present and near future.

Literally, yes, but that is usually not the most natural English translation.

The best natural translations are:

• When are you coming back?
• When will you be back?

Because wieder can mean again, a very literal translation might sound like again, but in this context English normally says back.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

Vann komst doo VEE-der?

A few notes:

• w in German sounds like English v
• a in wann is short, like in want for many English speakers
• kommst has a short o
• du sounds like doo
• wieder is roughly VEE-der

A rough IPA version is: [van kɔmst duː ˈviːdɐ]

Because German does not need an extra helping verb in this sentence.

English says:

• When are you coming back?

German simply uses the main verb:

• Wann kommst du wieder?

German often does this where English uses do, are, or will.

Compare:

• Do you come? → Kommst du?
• When are you leaving? → Wann gehst du?
• When will you return? → Wann kommst du wieder?

So this is a normal difference between the two languages.

Yes. Wann kommst du zurück? is also correct and very common.

Both can mean:

• When are you coming back?

There is a slight nuance:

• wieder often means again/back in a broad sense
• zurück more specifically emphasizes returning to where you were before

In many everyday situations, they are very close in meaning.

No, that is not correct in standard German.

In a German wh-question, the conjugated verb must come right after the question word:

• Wann kommst du wieder? ✅

Not:

• Wann du kommst wieder? ❌

A good rule for beginners is:

• question word + verb + subject + rest

So:

• Wann
  • kommst
    • du
      • wieder

The basic statement would be:

Du kommst wieder.
= You are coming back / You come back.

To turn that into a yes/no question, German puts the verb first:

• Kommst du wieder? = Are you coming back?

To ask for a time, add wann at the beginning:

• Wann kommst du wieder? = When are you coming back?