Yes/No Questions and W-Questions

Yes/no questions: the verb goes first

To turn a German statement into a yes/no question, you do not need an extra word like English "do". You simply move the verb to the very front and let the subject follow it. Du kommst aus Italien (You come from Italy) becomes Kommst du aus Italien? (Do you come from Italy?).

That is the whole rule: verb first, subject second, everything else after. It works with every verb you have learned so far — sein, haben, regular verbs and stem-changing verbs alike. English actually keeps a trace of this pattern with "to be" (Are you tired?), so Bist du müde? should feel familiar. The only new habit is doing it with all verbs: Trinkst du Kaffee? — literally "Drink you coffee?"

• Kommst du aus Italien?

  Do you come from Italy?

• Bist du müde?

  Are you tired?

• Habt ihr Zeit?

  Do you (plural) have time?

• Spricht er Deutsch?

  Does he speak German?

  Stem-changing verbs keep their changed form in questions.

W-questions: asking for information

When you want information rather than a yes or no, you start with a question word. Almost all of them begin with w, which is why they are called W-questions. The core set: wer (who), was (what), wo (where), wann (when), wie (how) and warum (why).

The word order is: question word first, verb second, subject third. Wo wohnst du? (Where do you live?) — wo, then wohnst, then du. Note the false friends carefully: wer means who (not "where"), and wo means where (not "who"). English speakers mix these up constantly at first, so it is worth drilling the pair until the confusion disappears.

• Wer ist das?

  Who is that?

• Was machst du?

  What are you doing?

• Wo wohnst du?

  Where do you live?

• Wann beginnt der Kurs?

  When does the course begin?

• Warum lernst du Deutsch?

  Why are you learning German?

Three words for "where": wo, woher, wohin

German splits English "where" into three precise words. Wo asks about a location — where something is. Woher asks about origin — where someone comes from. Wohin asks about direction — where someone is going.

So you ask Wo wohnst du? (Where do you live?), Woher kommst du? (Where do you come from?) and Wohin fährst du? (Where are you going?). Getting these three right is a favourite test point at A1, and the logic is simple: -her points towards the speaker (origin), -hin points away (destination), and plain wo stays put (location). Match the question word to the verb: wohnen goes with wo, kommen with woher, fahren and gehen with wohin.

• Woher kommen Sie?

  Where do you come from?

• Wohin fährst du?

  Where are you going?

• Wo ist der Bahnhof?

  Where is the station?

"wie" combinations you need every day

The word wie (how) appears in several fixed questions that belong to any first conversation. Wie heißt du? / Wie heißen Sie? asks for a name — literally "How are you called?". Wie alt bist du? asks for age — "How old are you?". Wie geht es Ihnen? is the standard "How are you?". And wie viel asks about quantity and price: Wie viel kostet das Buch? (How much does the book cost?).

Learn these as ready-made chunks rather than building them word by word — native speakers say them as single units, and exams expect you to recognise and produce them instantly. Together with the verb-first rule and the W-words, you now have everything you need to keep a basic conversation moving: ask, answer, ask back.

A final tip for the listening side: German questions rise in melody at the end of a yes/no question, but usually fall at the end of a W-question — just like English. Even when you miss a word, the first word of the sentence plus the melody will tell you what kind of answer is expected, which buys you precious thinking time in a real conversation or an exam.

• Wie heißen Sie?

  What is your name?

  Literally: "How are you called?"

• Wie alt bist du?

  How old are you?

• Wie viel kostet das Buch?

  How much does the book cost?