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 Ja/Nein Questions right now. These questions are different than specific answer questions; ja/nein questions can be answered by a simple Ja or Nein.

What's the word order of a Ja/Nein question? Examine the following Ja/Nein Question - Answer couplets:

Spielt er Gitarre heute abend? Ja, er spielt Gitarre heute abend? Besucht sie Freunde? Nein, sie spielt Basketball.. Bringst du CDs? Ja, ich bringe CDs. Schreibt das Mädchen eine Deutscharbeit? Nein, sie schreibt eine Englischarbeit.. Geht ihr nach Hause? Ja, wir gehen nach Hause. Spielen Sie Volleyball nach der Schule? Nein, ich spiele Fußball.

For yes/no questions, the finite verb is the first element of question and the subject immediately follows it. And to answer a yes/no question, the only thing you need to do is INVERT the subject and the verb; that is, put the subject of the verb first in the sentence and the verb in the second position.

Summary of word order in a Ja/Nein Question:

First Position	Second Position	3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. Position	Final Position
Finite Verb	Subject	Everything Else	Other verbal elements To be examined later

Of course, all questions should end with a question mark.

Compare with statements/assertions:

First Position	Second Position	3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. Position	Final Position
Subject	Verb	Everything Else	Other verbal elements To be examined later

Statements/Assertions	Ja/Nein Questions
Der Junge spielt gern Gitarre. Das Mädchen schreibt eine Deutscharbeit. Wir gehen morgen ins Kino. Das Kind trinkt ein Glas Milch.	Spielt der Junge gern Gitarre? Schreibt das Mädchen eine Deutscharbeit? Gehen wir morgen ins Kino? Trinkt das Kind ein Glas Milch?

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 Schreibst du eine Arbeit? - (informal address) Schreiben Sie eine Arbeit? - (formal address)	First Person - Singular Ja, ich schreibe eine Arbeit. Ja, ich schreibe eine Arbeit.
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 Hört ihr Musik? - (informal address) Hören Sie Musik? - (formal address)	First Person - Plural Ja, wir hören Musik. Ja, wir hören Musik.
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 Geht der Junge heute abend ins Kino?	Third Person - Singular Ja, 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 Gehen die Jungen ins Kino?	Third Person - Plural Ja, die Jungen gehen heute abend ins Kino.

Aufgabe

• Transformation - Sentences into Ja/Nein Questions

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