Here are some examples of w-questions:Wann fängt der Film an? When does the film start?
Warum essen Sie kein Brot? Why don’t you eat bread?
Wie viel kostet das? How much does it cost?
Wer hat gerade angerufen? Who just phoned?
Wie hast du das gemeint? How did you mean that?Points to watch out for- wie‘how’ can also correspond to the English ‘what’ when referring to
names, telephone numbers and addresses:
Wie ist Ihr Name? Wie ist deine Adresse?
What is your name? What is your address?
Wie ist Ihre Handynummer?
What is your mobile telephone number? - wo‘where’ indicates position or location, whereas woher‘where from’
andwohin‘where (to)’ express movement:
Wo ist das Brandenburger Tor?
Where is the Brandenburg Gate?
Woher kommt Lisa eigentlich?
Where does Lisa actually come from?
Wohin hast du das Buch gelegt?
Where did you put the book? - was für‘what kind of ’ can be followed by the nominative, accusative
or dative case:
Was für ein Mann ist er?(nom.)
What kind of man is he?
Was für einenWagen hat er? (acc.)
What kind of car does he have?
Mit was für einemStift schreibst du?(dat.)
What kind of pen are you writing with?
The question wordswerandwelcher
Question words normally do not change in German. Two important excep-
tions are wer‘who’ and welcher‘which’, ‘what’ as their endings can vary.128 Unit 17: Forming questions