Who What When Where Why
Vocabulary
| wer | who |
| was | what |
| wann | when |
| wo | where |
| warum | why |
| wie | how |
| seit wann | since when |
| Präsident | President |
| Jura | law |
| studiert haben | to have studied |
| so viel | so much |
| amerikanische | American |
| Politik | politics |
| interressant | interesting |
Dialog
Karin: Markus, kannst du mir sagen wer der neue Präsident von Amerika (USA) wird?
Markus: Der neue amerikanische Präsident heißt Barack Obama.
Karin: Und was hat er an der Universität studiert?
Markus: Ich glaube, er hat Jura studiert.
Karin: Wo kommt er her?
Markus: Er ist auf Hawaii geboren und war Senator für Illinois.
Karin: Seit wann weißt du so viel über die amerikanische Politik?
Markus: Das weiß ich auch nicht. Ich finde sie eben sehr interessant.
Karin: Markus, can you tell me who the next US president is going to be?
Markus: The new American president’s name is Barack Obama.
Karin: And what did he study in college?
Markus: I think, he studied law.
Karin: Where does he come from?
Markus: He was born in Hawaii and he was the Senator of Illinois.
Karin: Since when do you know so much about American politics?
Markus: I don’t know. I just think it’s very interesting.
Grammar
You’ve already learned that you can pose a question by switching the word order in a regular sentence, as follows:
| Das ist deine Tasche. | That is your bag. |
| Ist das deine Tasche? | Is that your bag? |
Now, with these words, you can ask more specific questions about items. Generally speaking, the question word will go to the beginning of the sentence, followed by the verb and the object. Here are some examples:
| Wer ist der deutsche Kanzler? | Who is the German Chancellor? |
| Was heißt “Friede”? | What does “Friede” mean? |
| Was hast du gesagt? | What did you say? |
| Wann sollen wir uns treffen? | When do you want to meet? |
| Wo hast du studiert? | Where did you study? |
| Warum ist es so kalt? | Why is it so cold? |
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