wer, was, wo, wann, warum
/veːr vaːs voː van vaˈʁʊm/word by word
The English phrase "who, what, where, when, why" is translated into German as wer, was, wo, wann, warum.
These are the five basic question words used to ask for specific information.
Which one should you use?
While wo means 'where' (location), German distinguishes between wo (where/at a location) and wohin (where to/direction) and woher (where from/origin).
How does it change in a sentence?
The word wer changes its form based on grammatical case (nominative wer, genitive wessen, dative wem, accusative wen).
How do you pronounce it?
/veːr vaːs voː van vaˈʁʊm/
Did you know?
Examples in context
- Wer ist der neue Mitarbeiter?Who is the new employee?
- Wem gehört das Auto?Whose car is it?
- Was machst du beruflich?What do you do for a living?
- Wo ist das nächste Restaurant?Where is the nearest restaurant?
- Wann beginnt die Vorstellung?When does the performance start?
- Warum hast du den Job gewechselt?Why did you change jobs?
