was ist das?
The English phrase "what is it?" is expressed in German as was ist das?
was ist das? is used to ask for the identity of an object or a situation.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, was ist das? translates to "what is that?" rather than "what is it?" in English.
Which one should you use?
In German, das (that/this) is used as a generic demonstrative pronoun for identification. In contrast, es (it) refers back to a specific neuter noun that has already been mentioned.
How does it change in a sentence?
While was ist es? is a literal translation of "what is it?", German speakers almost always use was ist das? when they want to identify objects or situations.
Did you know?
- If a German speaker is confused by a situation rather than an object, they might use was ist denn das? to add a tone of surprise or annoyance.
- While was ist das? asks for identification, Germans use the word das as a 'dummy' subject to refer to anything they cannot yet name, regardless of the object's actual grammatical gender.
- The word was shares the same ancient roots as the English word 'what', tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷod.
Examples in context
- Entschuldigen Sie, was ist das?Excuse me, what is it?
- Entschuldigen Sie, könnten Sie mir sagen, was das ist?Excuse me, could you tell me what that is?
- Darf ich fragen, was es ist?May I ask what it is?
- Hör mal, was ist das?Hey, what is it?
- Was zum Teufel ist das? Das habe ich noch nie gesehen!What the hell is that? I've never seen that before!
- Was ist das?What is that?
- Entschuldigung, was ist das?Excuse me, what is that?
Example conversation
Julia and Felix are looking at an unusual object on a park bench.
- JuliaFelix, was ist das?Felix, what is that?
- FelixIch weiß es auch nicht.I don't know either.
- JuliaEs sieht sehr seltsam aus.It looks very strange.
- FelixVielleicht ist es ein Spielzeug.Maybe it is a toy.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries das, was, CC BY-SA 4.0.
