Day 4: Asking questions

the W-words · wo / woher / wohin · yes-no questions · V2 properly · ja / nein / doch · 25 min

Two pieces of good news today, and they are both things English makes harder than German.

① German has no do. English cannot ask "Where live you?" — it has to borrow the empty verb do. German just asks. Wo wohnst du? Delete do from your head and today gets much easier.

② German has a third answer word. Doch fixes a hole English speakers do not even know they have. Section 6.

1. The W-words

Almost every German question word starts with W — and it is pronounced v.

⚠️ wer is not "where". wer = who, wo = where. Your eye will get this backwards for a week because of the English shapes. Drill the pair: Wer bist du? (who are you) ↔ Wo bist du? (where are you)

2. ★ Three "where"s, and German makes you pick

English has one main where and shoves the direction into the rest of the sentence. German splits it into three, and using the wrong one is a real error.

Wo wohnst du? — Where do you live? (position)Woher kommst du? — Where are you from? (origin)Wohin gehst du? — Where are you going? (destination)

★ This split is not decoration. German cares about position-vs-direction all the way through the language — it is the same distinction that decides a case ending on Day 16. Getting wo / wohin into your ear now makes that day much cheaper.

Both halves can also split off and go to the end, and you will hear this constantly:Wo kommst du her? · Wo gehst du hin? Same meaning, more casual.

3. The two question shapes

① W-question — the verb stays in slot 2

The W-word takes slot 1, the verb takes slot 2, the subject follows. Exactly the V2 rule from Day 3 — a question does not break it.

② Yes-no question — the verb moves to the front

Drop the W-word and push the verb into slot 1:

⚠️ No do, and no rising intonation on its own. English can turn a statement into a question with tone alone ("You live in Berlin?"). German moves the verb. Say Du wohnst in Berlin? with a rising tone and you sound surprised, not curious.

4. ★★ V2 — the rule behind all of it

In a normal German statement, the conjugated verb is the second element. Whatever you put first, the verb comes next, and the subject gets pushed behind it.

"Element" means one chunk of meaning, not one word.

All five are correct German. All five mean roughly the same thing — moving a chunk to the front just puts the emphasis there, the way English uses stress or "It's today that…".

⚠️ The one thing you cannot do is have two elements before the verb. Heute ich lerne Deutsch. ❌ — this is the single most common English-speaker error in German, and it survives to B1 unless you kill it now.

The test: count the chunks before your verb. If the answer is more than one, fix it.

5. Dialogue

Anna: Woher kommst du? — vo-HAIR KOMST dooAlex: Ich komme aus Kanada. Und du? Wo wohnst du?Anna: Ich wohne in Hamburg.Alex: Wohnst du gern in Hamburg? — VOHNST doo gairn — Do you like living there?Anna: Ja, sehr gern! Warum lernst du Deutsch?Alex: Meine Großmutter kommt aus Österreich.Anna: Wie interessant! Wann fährst du nach Österreich?Alex: Im Sommer. — im ZOM-muh — In the summer.Anna: Sprichst du auch Französisch?Alex: Nein, leider nicht. — nine, LYE-duh nikht — No, unfortunately not.

★ Count the chunks before each verb. Every single sentence obeys V2, including the questions. There are no exceptions hiding in there.

6. ★ ja, nein — and doch

English has two answer words. German has three, and the third one has no English equivalent at all.

doch = "yes, actually" — it contradicts a negative question or statement.

⚠️ After a negative question, "Ja" is ambiguous-to-wrong in German. — Hast du keine Zeit? (Don't you have time?) — Ja ❓ leaves the listener guessing. Doch = I do have time. Nein = correct, I don't.

★ This is the fix for a hole English genuinely has. "Aren't you coming?" — "Yes"… yes you are, or yes you aren't? English cannot tell you. Doch can.Use it out loud this week; it is the fastest way to sound like you have actually lived there.

7. Exercises

A. wo, woher, or wohin?

1. ___ kommst du? — Aus Japan.
2. ___ wohnst du? — In Köln.
3. ___ gehst du? — Nach Hause.
4. ___ ist mein Buch? — Hier.

B. wer or wo?

1. ___ ist das? — Das ist Anna.
2. ___ ist Anna? — In der Schule.

C. Turn each statement into a yes-no question.

1. Du lernst Deutsch. 2. Sie kommt aus Berlin. 3. Er ist Student. 4. Sie sind Lehrerin.

D. ⚠️ Fix the word order.

1. Heute ich lerne Deutsch.
2. Wo du wohnst?
3. Warum du lernst Deutsch?
4. Morgen wir gehen nach Berlin.

E. ja, nein, or doch?

1. Kommst du mit? — ___, gern!
2. Sprichst du kein Englisch? — ___! Natürlich spreche ich Englisch.
3. Hast du keine Zeit? — ___, leider nicht.

F. Write the question for each answer.

1. ___ — Ich heiße Anna.
2. ___ — Ich bin 30 Jahre alt.
3. ___ — Ich komme aus der Schweiz.
4. ___ — Weil ich in Wien arbeite. (weil = because)

8. Today's 10 sentences (flashcards)

1. Wer ist das? — Who is that? (vair ist DASS)
2. Was ist das? — What is that? (vass ist DASS)
3. Wo wohnst du? — Where do you live? (voh VOHNST doo)
4. Woher kommst du? — Where are you from? (vo-HAIR KOMST doo)
5. Wohin gehst du? — Where are you going? (vo-HIN GAYST doo)
6. Wann kommt der Bus? — When does the bus come? (van KOMT dair BOOS)
7. Warum lernst du Deutsch? — Why are you learning German? (va-ROOM LAIRNST doo DOYTCH)
8. Wie viel kostet das? — How much does that cost? (vee FEEL KOS-tet dass)
9. Sprechen Sie Deutsch? — Do you speak German? (SHPREKH-en zee DOYTCH)
10. Doch! — Yes I do! (contradicting) (dokh)

9. 📲 Upload to LangNote

Upload section 5 (the dialogue) and section 8 → study language German.

★ Tomorrow is sein and haben — the two verbs that break the rules you learned on Day 3, and the two you will use more than all the others combined.

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