A1 · Beginner Vocabulary
Question words (die Fragewörter) unlock conversation — they let you ask for anything you don’t know. Here are the essential ones with pronunciation and audio.
Tap 🔊 to hear each word spoken in German.
The core question words
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| wer | vair | who |
| was | vas | what |
| wo | voh | where |
| wann | van | when |
| warum | va-ROOM | why |
| wie | vee | how |
| welcher | VEL-kher | which |
| wie viel | vee feel | how much |
| wie viele | vee FEE-le | how many |
Direction & case forms
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| woher | vo-HAIR | where from |
| wohin | vo-HIN | where to |
| wen | vayn | whom (accusative) |
| wem | vaym | to whom (dative) |
| wessen | VES-en | whose (genitive) |
Word order: in a question, the question word comes first, then the verb, then the subject — „Wo wohnst du?“ (Where do you live?), „Was machst du?“ (What are you doing?). The forms wen and wem come from the cases — see our German cases guide.
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