was denkst du?
In German, 'what do you think' is expressed as was denkst du?
This phrase is a question used to ask for someone's opinion or thoughts about a specific topic.
Which one should you use?
The form was denkst du? is used when addressing a single person informally. If you are addressing a group of people informally, you should use was denkt ihr? instead. For formal situations, the phrase changes to was denken Sie?
How does it change in a sentence?
The default form was denkst du? uses the informal singular pronoun du. The formal version uses the pronoun Sie and the corresponding verb form denken. When asking a group of people informally, the phrase becomes was denkt ihr?
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often try to translate 'what do you think about…' literally as was denkst du über…, but in German, it is more natural to use Was hältst du von…? when asking for an opinion on a topic.
Did you know?
- The verb used in Was hältst du von…? literally translates to 'what do you hold of…'. This 'holding' metaphor is how Germans express having an opinion on a subject.
- In a professional German setting, using the informal was denkst du? instead of the formal was denken Sie? can be seen as a significant social blunder, even if you are friendly with colleagues.
- The word du shares the same ancient roots as the archaic English 'thou'. Both words evolved from a common Proto-Indo-European ancestor to serve as singular, informal pronouns.
Examples in context
- Und was denkst du?And what do you think?This example shows how to use the phrase in a sequence.Tatoeba #12772001 by mhr, translation #12771900 by Tom9358
- Tom, was denkst du?Tom, what do you think?This example shows how to address a specific person using the phrase.Tatoeba #6642038 by Felixjp, translation #3819885 by CK
- Nun, was denkst du?Well, what do you think?This example shows how to start a sentence with the phrase.Tatoeba #11084587 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #7548146 by Hybrid
- Was denkst du über den neuen Film?What do you think about the new film?
- Was denkst du über das Konzert gestern?What do you think about the concert yesterday?
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hannah and Felix are choosing a movie to watch.
- HannahIch will diesen Film sehen. Was denkst du?I want to watch this movie. What do you think?
- FelixDer sieht langweilig aus.That looks boring.
- HannahWir können auch eine Komödie nehmen.We could also take a comedy.
- FelixDas ist eine gute Idee!That is a good idea!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries du, was, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
