65. How to make Questions in German

65.  How to make Questions in German

Now that we have seen how to manipulate verbs in the present tense in German, we can very simply learn how to turn these verbs around (literally!!!) & make a question. Let's look at how this works...

Klaus singt gut  =   Klaus sings well, is singing well, does sing well. It is important here to understand that English has 3 forms of the present tense but German has only one form. English speakers learn along the way how to use each of these forms and a brief explanation for this is ..

Klaus sings well =  the plain form, is used in a general statement - he is not necessarily singing now.

Klaus is singing well  =  the continuous  or immediate form, action is happening right now.

Klaus does sing well  =  the emphatic form .... can be used to correct a statement 'he doesn't sing well.'

When making a question in English, we reverse the statement and use 2 of the forms above  ....

Does Klaus sing well? (general - notice how verb & subject split) or Is Klaus singing well? (right now)

The plain form in English is rarely used with the exception of the verbs to be & have ( are you sick, have you any wool?)

So in German, to make a question all we do is reverse the verb and subject to make a question ..

   

Klaus singt gut ...   Singt Klaus gut?   =  Does Klaus sing well  or  Is Klaus singing well?

Sacha lernt Mathe ...   Lernt Sacha Mathe?   Erika schwimmt oft  ....  Schwimmt Erika oft?

Also we often make questions using  how, when, where, why, what & who(m) ....

German has the equivalents  wie (how), wann (when), wo (where), warum (why), was (what) and wer (who). These are called interrogative adverbs and they start the question followed by the verb ...

Wie kommst du zur Schule (to school)?   Wann kommst du nach Hause? (home) Wo schwimmst du normalerweise? (normally)  Warum weint ihr? (cry - whine) Was ist das?  Wer kommt zur Party?

Next time we need to revise these verbs and their respective questions and we will do an exercise on them ...  bis bald!  ( see you soon)

Remarkable Sydney University Cricket Club Sleeveless in KDW Berlin - 300 + euros!