wer
/veːr/
The German word for "who" is wer.
Depending on the grammatical role the person plays, such as being the direct object or the indirect object, the form will change from wer to other variations.
Meaning: who? (interrogative pronoun) (pron)
Which one should you use?
While wer is the standard form, it is specifically used when "who" is the subject of the sentence in the nominative case. Use wen when the pronoun is the object of a sentence, and use wem when the pronoun is the indirect object of a sentence.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Swiss German, wär can be used as a regional variant of wer. In Austrian German, wos is sometimes used informally instead of wer.
How do you pronounce it?
/veːr/
Did you know?
- The German word wer is an ancient relative of the English word 'where', both sharing a common ancestral root in the Proto-Indo-European language family.
- When used in a relative clause rather than a question, wer can function like 'whoever', turning a specific question into a general statement.
- Unlike English, where 'who' and 'whom' are often used interchangeably in speech, Germans strictly distinguish between wer, wen and wem in standard communication.
Examples in context
- Wer ist im Haus?Who is in the house?This example shows how to use wer to ask about a person's presence in a house.Tatoeba #1391366 by Dejo, translation #370685 by saeb
- Wer ist der Typ?Who is that guy?This example shows how to use wer to ask about the identity of a person.Tatoeba #2289317 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #2270205 by _undertoad
- Wer war im Auto?Who was in the car?This example shows how to use wer to ask about a person's presence in a car.Tatoeba #8056655 by Luiaard, translation #2647773 by CK
- Wer ist der Direktor dieses Unternehmens?Who is the director of this company?
- Wer war das?Who was that?
- Wer ist das?Who is that?
- Wer hat dich eingeladen?Who invited you?
- Wem hast du das Buch gegeben?To whom did you give the book?
- Wer hat was gesagt?Who said what?
- 3250 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Julian and Sarah are talking about a mysterious phone call.
- JulianWer hat gerade angerufen?Who just called?
- SarahIch weiß es nicht.I don't know.
- JulianWer ist das denn?Who could that be?
- SarahVielleicht ist es dein Bruder.Maybe it's your brother.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “who” translations and entries wer, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries wer, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
