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There are two types of questions:
1. yes/no-questions which can be answered
by a simple “yes” or “no”
2.
questions that start with question
words (where, when, who, how many etc.)
| statement: |
|
Er |
wohnt |
in Dublin. |
| yes/no-question: |
|
Wohnt
|
er |
in Dublin? |
| question with a
question word: |
Wo |
wohnt
|
er? |
|
1. yes/no-questions
In a yes/no-question, the
conjugated verb
(= the verb whose ending has to correspond with the
subject) is always the first element of
the question, it is followed by the
subject
(= who or what performs the
action in the sentence) e.g.
Kommt
er aus Irland?
|
Does he
come from Ireland? / Is he coming from Ireland?
|
Wohnen
Sie in Dublin?
|
Do you
live in Dublin? / Are you living in Dublin?
|
Lernst
du Deutsch?
|
Do you
learn German? / Are you learning German?
|
Studieren
Anna und Tim in Berlin?
|
Do Anna
and Tim study in Berlin? / Are Anna and Tim studying in Berlin?
|
Heißt
sie Annette?
|
Is she
called Annette?
|
Ist
es kalt?
|
Is it
cold?
|
2. questions with
question words
In these type of questions the
question word(s) is (are) placed
before the
conjugated verb, e.g.
Woher
kommt
er?
|
Where
does he come from? / Where is he coming from?
|
Wo
wohnen
Sie?
|
Where do
you live? / Where are you living?
|
Was
lernst
du?
|
What do
you learn? / What are you learning?
|
Wer*
studiert in Berlin?
|
Who studies in Berlin? / Who is studying in Berlin?
|
Wie
heißt
sie?
|
What is
she called?
|
Wie kalt
ist
es?
|
How cold
is it?
|
*In this question,
you want to find out what the subject is.
common question words are:
wer (who)
wo (where)
woher (where .... from)
wohin (where .... to)
wann (when)
seit
wann (since when)
wie (how)
wie viel (how much)
wie viele (how many)
warum (why)
was (what)
But be careful, in some instances a different question word is
used in German:
What is your name?
- Wie ist dein Name?
What is she
called? - Wie heißt
sie?
What is your phone
numer? - Wie ist Ihre
Telefonnummer?
What semester are
you in? - In welchem
Semester sind Sie?
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