MFLE
Verbs in questions
The grammatical term for questions is the interrogative, a term which is again used as a useful form of shorthand.
As in English, the simplest way to ask a question in German is simply to turn the subject and the verb round:
| Bist du müde? | Are you tired? |
| Hat er eine Schwester? | Does he have a sister? |
| Spielst du Tennis am Wochenend? | Are you playing tennis at the weekend? |
NB: Note that there is only one way to ask the simple form of the question in German. There is no equivalent in German of asking a question with 'do' in it; nor an equivalent of asking a question with a part of the verb 'to be' plus '-ing'.
Questions with 'what', 'where', 'when' etc
These sorts of questions are formed in exactly the same way in German as in the examples above - the subject and the verb are turned round.
| Wie heißt du? | What are you called? |
| Was machst du? | What are you doing? |
| Wo wohnst du? | Where do you live? |
| Wann kommt der Bus? | When does the bus come? |