Yes or no and information questions

01 / Understand

Choose the kind of answer you need

A useful question begins with an information need. Do you need confirmation that someone is here, or do you need the person's location? Ist er hier? allows a yes or no answer. Wo ist er? asks for a place. Choosing the question type before arranging words helps you avoid grammatically correct questions that request the wrong information. Imagine what a helpful reply would contain, then choose a structure that invites that reply.

In English, question formation often requires do or does. German normally uses the conjugated verb itself in the opening structure. A simple present action question does not need an added equivalent of do. Keep the subject and verb agreement from the statement you are transforming. If you change the addressee from familiar du to formal Sie, that is a separate change requiring another verb form. Work with one intended person and one intended answer at a time while the patterns are new.

02 / Understand

Build a yes or no question

Start with a short statement such as Du hast Zeit. Its conjugated verb is hast, and its subject is du. To ask whether that statement is true, say Hast du Zeit? The conjugated verb opens the question and the subject follows. With sein, compare Sie sind hier and Sind Sie hier? when Sie means formal you. The question changes the communicative purpose while keeping the person and content stable.

With a modal, the conjugated modal comes first and its infinitive remains at the end. Kannst du kommen? asks whether a familiar listener can come. Do not move the infinitive to the front simply because it expresses the main action in English. Identify which verb carries the person ending. A short answer such as Ja may be sufficient in conversation, but practice full replies too: Ja, ich kann kommen. The fuller answer makes the changed speaker perspective visible.

03 / Understand

Ask what, who and when

For information questions, useful words include was, what, wer, who, and wann, when. Was lernst du? asks about the thing being learned. Wann kommst du? asks about time. In these examples, the question word or phrase comes first, followed by the conjugated verb and then the subject. An answer should fill the missing information rather than merely repeat the question word. The adverb heute can answer wann, but it does not identify what someone studies.

When wer itself is the subject, the structure is different in an important way: Wer kommt? already contains its subject in the question word. There is no need to add er or sie. For a person as the direct object, use wen, as in Wen siehst du? This is a case distinction, not a difference between formal and familiar address. For a first conversation, master wer as a subject and recognize wen as the question word for the person receiving the action.

04 / Understand

Distinguish location, origin and destination

English where can hide several intentions. German makes a useful distinction among wo, where at, woher, where from, and wohin, where to. Wo bist du? asks where someone is. Woher kommst du? commonly asks where someone comes from. Wohin gehst du? asks for a destination. These words help the listener know whether to name a current place, an origin or the endpoint of movement.

Do not choose the word merely because a verb involves motion. A question can ask where an activity happens, where a journey begins or where it ends. Focus on the missing relationship. If the intended answer is “here,” a location question is appropriate. If the intended answer is “to Berlin,” you need a destination question. This lesson keeps the replies short because prepositions and place names introduce further grammatical patterns. Learn the three question words as a meaningful contrast, then expand the answers as your vocabulary grows.

05 / Understand

Ask how with wie and keep the question phrase together

The question word wie often asks how, as in Wie geht es dir?, which asks how a familiar person is. Useful combinations can contain several words. The phrase wie lange asks how long and wie viel asks how much. The entire question phrase occupies the opening position before the conjugated verb. Counting words instead of phrases would give the wrong explanation of why a verb is not visually the second word.

Begin by learning a few complete expressions whose meaning you need. Wie heißen Sie? asks a formally addressed person's name. German expresses this with heißen, rather than mechanically translating each word of What is your name? The familiar question is Wie heißt du? Both request the same kind of information while adjusting address and agreement. Question words are productive tools, but many everyday questions also have established wording. Store the useful expression and understand enough of its structure to change the person accurately.

06 / Understand

Keep a direct question separate from a reported one

A direct question such as Wo wohnt er? has question order. If it becomes part of a larger sentence, the order changes: Ich weiß, wo er wohnt. The second clause reports the information rather than asking the listener directly. Its conjugated verb is at the end. You can recognize this difference without trying to produce long sentences immediately. First find the clause boundary and identify whether the words form the question being asked or an embedded piece of information.

A yes or no question can be embedded with ob, whether: Ich weiß nicht, ob er kommt. The direct version is Kommt er? In the longer sentence, kommt ends the dependent clause. This exception to the pattern of starting a yes or no question with the verb has a clear reason: the clause type has changed. Do not learn both orders as interchangeable alternatives. Attach each pattern to its communicative job, and keep your own initial questions direct until the embedded contrast is familiar.

07 / Understand

Practice listening for the missing information

To answer well, listen first for the question word and then for the verb and subject. The question word wann directs you toward a time, wo toward a location and wer toward a person. The rest of the sentence tells you whose time, location or identity matters. A correct noun from the lesson can still be an unhelpful answer if it fills the wrong slot. Match the reply to the question's intention before checking details of the verb.

For retrieval practice, write six intentions without German models: ask whether a friend has time, ask where the friend is, ask when the friend is coming, ask where the friend is going, ask a formal listener's name, and ask who is coming. Produce the German aloud and then check one decision at a time. Return later and answer your own questions from another speaker's perspective. This moves the skill from recognizing a question word to maintaining a short exchange with a coherent purpose.

See it in a sentence

Notice the difference

Common mistakes

From understanding to using

Make your own example.

Try these without answer choices. Say your answer aloud or write it below, then compare your reasoning with the model.