Interrogative Pronouns in German – wer,was, welcher, was für ein / Interrogativpronomen

In this lesson, you will learn everything about interrogative pronouns in German, which interrogative pronouns exist in the German language, what they mean, and how they are used.

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CONTENTS

Wer and was
Welcher (welche, welches)
Was für ein

Interrogative pronouns in the German language have three names. You can find them as: Interrogativpronomen = Fragepronomen = W-Wörter

Interrogative pronouns are: wer, was, welcher (welche, welches) i was für ein (eine,ein).

Wer and was (who and what)

• Wer and was are only used as pronouns. Wer, like the English ‘who’, only refers to persons. It does not distinguish gender and it has the following forms:

Nominative wer?
Accusative wen?
Genitive wessen?
Dative wem?

For Example:

Wer hat diesen Brief geschrieben? Who wrote this letter?
Wen hast du heute gesprochen? Who(m) did you speak to today?
Wem wollten sie vorhin helfen? Who(m) did they want to help just now?
Mit wem hast du gespielt? Who(m) did you play with?
Wessen Bücher sind das? Whose books are those?
Ich kann Ihnen sagen, wer gespielt hat I can tell you who was playing

• Was corresponds to English ‘what’ and only refers to things. Its only case form is the genitive wessen?

Was bewegt sich dort im Gebüsch? – What is moving there in the bushes?
Was hat sie dir zum Geburtstag geschenkt? – What did she give you for your birthday?
Wessen schämst du dich? – What are you ashamed of?
Weißt du, was er getan hat? – Do you know what he did?

• The genitive form wessen, whether referring to people or things, is felt to be clumsy and tends to be avoided, even in written German.
Thus Wem gehören diese Bücher? is used rather than Wessen Bücher sind das? .

• As was has no dative case form, a paraphrase has to be used in contexts where it could be needed.

For example:

Welcher Ursache kann man seinen Erfolg zuschreiben? To what cause can one attribute his success?

Nominative was?
Accusative was?
Genitive wessen?
Dative /

• Nominative wer and was are followed in most contexts by a singular verb.

Wer kommt denn morgen? Who’s coming tomorrow?
Was liegt dort in der Ecke? What’s that lying there in the corner?

However, with sein the appropriate singular or plural form of the verb is used, as in English.

For example:

Wer ist das an der Tür? – Who’s that at the door?
Wer sind diese Leute? – Who are those people?
Was ist der Vogel da? – What’s that bird there?
Was sind die längsten Flüsse der Welt? – What are the longest rivers in the world?
Wer sind diese Frauen? – Who are these women?
Was sind Sie von Beruf? – What is your profession?
Wer ist das? – Who is that?

• Was is not used in combination with most prepositions. The compound forms wo(r) + preposition, like woran, womit, wozu, …., are used instead.

These forms are like those of the prepositional adverb with da(r)–.

For example:

Womit schreibst du? –What are you writing with?
Worvon redest du? –What are you talking about?
Weißt du, worum es hier geht? – Do you know what this is about?

Some prepositions are not used in the form with wo(r)-, like: außer, gegenüber, hinter, neben, ohne, seit, zwischen.

The forms wodurch, wonach, wovon and wozu can only be used if there is no idea of movement involved.

For example:

Wodurch weiß du das? – How do you know that?
Wovon sollen wir leben? – What are we supposed to live on?
Wozu gebraucht man das? – What is that used for?

Compare: durch was? (through what?), von wo? or woher? (where . . . from?), wohin? (where . . . to?)

In colloquial German was is often used with a preposition instead of wo(r) + preposition.

For example:
Von was sollen wir leben?
Mit was schreibst du?
This usage is frequent in speech, but it is not universally considered standard, and it tends to be avoided in writing.

• Wer and was are often used in exclamations

For example:

Wer hätte so was erwartet! – Who would have expected such a thing!
Wem hat er nicht alles geholfen! – Who(m) hasn’t he helped!
Was haben wir gelacht! – How we laughed!
Was er nicht alles tut! – The things he does!

• Examples for persons:
Mit wem gehst du schwimmen?
An wen denkst du?

• Examples for things:
Wovon träumst du?
Wofür interessieren Sie sich?
Woran denkst du?

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Grammar Contents

Welcher (welche, welches) (which)

The pronouns “welcher,” “welche,” and “welches” are declined like the definite article. These interrogative pronouns are used to ask about specific people or things. When using “welcher/welche/welches,” it is typically followed by a noun and then a verb. This pronoun is used when there is a choice between multiple options and translates to “which?” in English.
Examples:
Welches Datum ist heute? – What is today’s date?
Welche Stadt liegt an der Donau? – Which city lies on the Danube?
Welches Buch liest du? – Which book are you reading?
Welcher Tag ist heute? – What day is it today?

Declension of pronoun  welcher/e/es

The neuter pronoun “welches” is used for all genders, both singular and plural, with the verb “sein.”
For example:
Welches ist der größte Berg in Schweden? – What is the largest mountain in Sweden?
Welches ist die größte Stadt Deutschlands? – Which is the largest city in Germany?
Welches sind die längsten Flüsse Frankreichs? – Which are the longest rivers in France?

Was für ein (what kind of (a))

The pronoun was für ein/eine/ein – was für is used when we ask what something is like. With welcher/e/s we ask a question when we ask someone to choose between two or more offered things. After the pronoun comes the noun, and then the verb. The indefinite article adapts to the noun.

Examples:
Was für eine Jacke kaufst du? – What kind of jacket are you buying?
Was für ein Kleid möchtest du kaufen? – What kind of dress would you like to buy?
Was für ein Auto fahren Sie? – What kind of car do you drive?

With the pronoun was für ein, eine, ein, only the indefinite article ein is declined. The plural is in all cases was für, or, when standing without a noun, was für welche (welcher, welche).

The interrogative pronoun “Was für ein,” when standing alone without a noun, has specific endings:

For example:
Welche Schuhe kaufst du? Rote oder Blaue? – Which shoes are you buying? Red or blue?
Was für Schuhe kaufst du? – What kind of shoes are you buying?

Für ein can be separated from was, so the question can be:
Was ist das für ein Buch? – What kind of book is this?
Was hat das Ganze für einen Sinn? – What is the point of all this?

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