A fun and easy guide to all types of German question words

Asking yourself “How do I use an interrogative pronoun?” Good job, you just did. “How” is one of them.

Interrogative pronouns are nothing but basic question words like “who”, “where”, “when” and others.

As a new language learner, you’ll probably have a million questions, especially if you’re learning a grammatically complex language like German.

Some commonly asked grammar questions are:

• Where do German adjectives go in a sentence?
• Which German pronouns are there?
• How do possessive adjectives change with case and gender in German?

We answer all of these questions in their respective articles but did you notice how all of them begin with a different question word? So if you’d like to ask any grammar questions in German, it’s important to know the right German interrogatives - and we’ll explain them all.

What are interrogative pronouns/words? 

Interrogative pronouns are question words. In German, they’re called “Fragewörter” or “W-Fragen”, as they all start with a “W”.

Keep in mind that question words tend to be used differently in other languages. We like to translate questions literally and use the same question word that we use in our mother tongue but some questions are just worded a little differently. 

This can make it harder to pose certain questions. For example, in English, we ask “what’s your name?”, while in German, we ask “Wie ist dein Name?” (How is your name?)

Similarly, in English, we ask “What is your question?” but in German, we ask “Wie lautet deine Frage?” (How is your question?).

These are just slight variations of posing the same question, and the good news is everyone will still understand you, just like you’d understand if someone asked you “which is your question?”. It just sounds a little unusual.

That’s why it’s best to learn certain questions as whole phrases like you’d learn a new expression.

Notable differences between English and German question words

• Some question words work the same in German and English. These are, “what” (was), “when” (Wann), and “how” (wie).
• “Who” (wer), “where” (wo), “why” (warum), and “which” (welches) have some differences, as the following table shows.

How to ask questions in German

Here’s an overview of all German question words and how to pronounce them, before we go into each one of them in detail.

Was?

Meaning: What

• “What” is “was” in German.
• Sometimes Germans use “how” (wie) to pose questions that are used with “what” in English, just because the question is expressed slightly different.

Wann?

Meaning: When

• “When” is “wann” in German.
• It functions just like the English question word.

Wie?

Meaning: How

• “How” is “wie” in German.
• It functions just like the English question word.

Wer?

Meaning: Who

• “Wer” (who) asks for a person.
• Depending on the case you are asking for, it turns into “wer” (nominative), “wen” (accusative), “wem” (dative) or “wessen” (genitive).

Wo? Wohin?

Meaning: Where

• “Where” is “wo” in German.
• If you’re asking for a direction or a destination, you use the German question word “wohin” (where to).

Warum? Wieso? Weshalb? Wozu? Weswegen?

Meaning: Why

• “Why” is “warum” in German.
• There are 5 variations that only vary slightly in meaning.
• Note that multiple translations would work and “warum” and “wieso” work in all cases.

Welcher? Welche? Welches? 

Meaning: Which

• “Which” is “welcher/welche/welches” in German.
• It has to be declined, so it changes gender and case depending on the noun it goes with.

This is how “which” changes based on gender:

This is how “which” changes based on cases.

Never stop asking questions

Remember this song from German Sesame Street? 

Das neue Sesamstraße Intro mit Lena Meyer-Landrut

We introduced it in our guide on German pronouns. This is a newer, funkier version but the message stays the same: 

Who? How? What? What for? Due to what? Why? Who doesn’t ask stays stupid! 

Now that you know all the German interrogative words, make sure you put them to use and ask all the questions. Especially if you’re taking a German class, we encourage you to ask as many questions as possible. That’s the only way to learn.

And if you’re still wondering which German question words to use when you’re asking someone for their name or where they’re from, you’ll find all the answers and much more in our fun German language blog!