Fragen auf Deutsch - Questions in German - Syntax

In German as in English there are statements and assertions that follow a certain word order:

1. Der Junge spielt gern Gitarre.
2. Das Mädchen schreibt eine Deutscharbeit.
3. Wir gehen morgen ins Kino.
4. Das Kind trinkt ein Glas Milch.

What about questions? Questions are a type of sentence in German and English. Questions, however, instead of stating a fact or making an assertion, are in need of information. Questions are asked so that information can be given; the answers are in the form of statements of fact/assertions. Every question has an answer, and every statement of fact has a corrolary question; that is, you can make a question that can be answered by any statement of fact/assertion. This unit examines how questions are formed in German and how they are answered in German. Make sure you understand all of this. Many of your essays in the CyberGerman© Schreibprogramm are created by answering a series of interrelated questions.

There are two kinds of questions in German:

• Those that demand a specific answer - specific answer questions.
• Those that demand either a Ja or a Nein - yes or no question.

Let's look at specific answer questions first. These questions are always introduced by a question word or expression. Here are some of these questions words. They demand a specific answer.

Examples of specific question and answer couplets.

• Wer ist das?
  Das ist der Johann.
• Wie heißt das Mädchen da?
  Das Mädchen da heißt Ulrike.
• Wo wohnst du?
  Ich wohne auf dem Land.
• Wohin gehst du?
  Ich gehe ins Eiscafe.
• Woher kommt er?
  Er kommt aus Hamburg.
• Was machst du nach der Schule?
  Ich spiele Schach.

Questions beginning with these question words demand specific answers; they cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. Click the examples above and see how these question words can be answered. Remember, questions that begin with hte above question words demand specific answers!

Aufgabe

For each question below, choose the best answer.

The above exercise gave one word/phrase answers to the questions. The CyberGerman Schreibprogramm©, however, will insist you write COMPLETE German sentences when you answer German question.

Study the chart below on how to answer questions in German. This table applies to both kinds of questions, specific-answer and yes/no questions.

Frage	Antwort
Second Person - Singular Was machst du? - (informal address) Was machen Sie? - (formal address)	First Person - Singular Ich spiele Gitarre. Ich spiele Gitarre.
If a question is posed in the second person - du/Sie - then you would answer in the first person - ich. Of course the verb must always agree with the subject.
Second Person - Plural Was macht ihr? - (informal address) Was machen Sie? - (formal address)	First Person - Plural Wir spielen Gitarre. Wir spielen Gitarre.
If a question is posed in the second person plural - ihr/Sie - then you would answer in the first person plural - wir.
Third Person - Singular Wann geht der Junge ins Kino?	Third Person - Singular Der Junge geht heute abend ins Kino.
If a question is posed in the third person singular - er/sie/es - then you would answer in the third person singular - er/sie/es. In the answer the SAME VERB AND SUBJECT ARE USED ALMOST ALL THE TIME. The only concern, as in the every sentence you write or speak, is the Word Order of the sentence. The same holds true for third person - plural: the verb form remains the same and the subject also stays the same:
Third Person - Plural Wann gehen die Jungen ins Kino?	Third Person - Plural Die Jungen gehen heute abend ins Kino.

The following animation summarizes the transformation that takes place when a question is answered.

Aufgaben

• Wer sind diese Personen? Woher kommen sie?
• Was machen sie? Wann machen sie das?

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