German question words (Fragewörter) follow the V2 word order rule: the question word occupies Position 1, followed immediately by the conjugated verb in Position 2 (Wem gehört das?). When asking about people, things, choices, or qualities, German interrogative pronouns also decline directly for case.
1. wer (Who) vs. was (What)
wer — Always for People, Declines in All 4 Cases
Even when you expect multiple people in the answer, wer always takes a singular verb (Wer kommt heute?):
| Case | Question Word | English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | wer | who (subject) | Wer ist das? (Who is that?) |
| Accusative | wen | whom (direct object) | Wen hast du gesehen? (Whom did you see?) |
| Dative | wem | to/for whom (indirect object) | Wem gehört der Schlüssel? (To whom does the key belong?) |
| Genitive | wessen | whose | Wessen Auto ist das? (Whose car is that?) |
Look at that third example: because gehören (to belong to) governs the Dative, the question word must be wem (Wem gehört der Schlüssel?), never *Wer or *Wen. And notice wessen never changes its ending regardless of the noun’s gender (wessen Tasche, wessen Haus, wessen Kinder).
was — For Things, Actions & Ideas
was does not change between Nominative and Accusative:
- Nominative: Was ist passiert? (What happened?)
- Accusative: Was machst du? (What are you doing?)
Prepositions + wer vs. was (wo(r)- Compounds)
- Asking about a person: Keep preposition + wen / wem:
- Mit wem sprichst du? (Whom are you speaking with?)
- Für wen ist der Kaffee? (Who is the coffee for?)
- Asking about a thing/concept: Standard German combines
wo-+ preposition (inserting-r-if the preposition starts with a vowel):- Womit schreibst du? (What are you writing with? — colloquial: Mit was)
- Wofür interessierst du dich? (What are you interested in?)
- Worauf wartest du? (What are you waiting for?)
See Pronominal Adverbs (da- & wo-) for the full compound list.
2. welcher / welche / welches (“Which”)
Use welcher when selecting one specific item out of a defined set. It takes the exact same endings as der / die / das (and dieser):
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | welcher | welche | welches | welche |
| Accusative | welchen | welche | welches | welche |
| Dative | welchem | welcher | welchem | welchen |
| Genitive | welches / welchen | welcher | welches / welchen | welcher |
- Welcher Zug fährt nach Hamburg? (Masculine Nominative — der Zug)
- Welchen Tee empfehlen Sie? (Masculine Accusative — der Tee)
- In welchem Hotel übernachten wir? (Neuter Dative — das Hotel)
3. was für ein / eine / ein (“What Kind of”)
Use was für ein when asking about type, category, or characteristics rather than picking from a shelf. Only ein declines to match the noun’s gender and case; was für stays fixed (and ein drops completely before plural or uncountable nouns):
- Was für ein Auto fährst du? (Neuter Accusative — das Auto)
- Was für einen Film schauen wir? (Masculine Accusative — der Film)
- Was für eine Wohnung suchst du? (Feminine Accusative — die Wohnung)
- Mit was für einem Stift schreibst du? (Masculine Dative — der Stift)
- Was für Musik hörst du gern? / Was für Bücher liest du? (Uncountable / Plural → no ein)
Notice also that in Indirect Questions, all of these question words become subordinate clause introducers that push the conjugated verb to the end: Weißt du, wem der Schlüssel gehört?
Common Mistakes to Avoid
| Mistake | Why It Happens | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| *Wer gehört das Handy? | Using English “who” regardless of verb case | Wem gehört das Handy? (gehören + Dative → wem.) |
| *Wessen Autos ist das? | Adding Genitive -s to the noun after wessen |
Wessen Auto ist das? (wessen replaces the article; the following noun stays Nominative/Accusative.) |
| *Mit was fährst du zur Arbeit? (in formal/exam writing) | Avoiding the wo- compound | Womit fährst du zur Arbeit? (Use wo(r)- for things in standard German.) |
| *Was für ein Film schauen wir? | Forgetting masculine Accusative on ein | Was für einen Film schauen wir? (der Film is the Accusative object of schauen.) |