German Language Blog

In order to be able to ask questions in German it is not necessary that you know a particular sentence structure for questions. There are several easy ways to start off your question formation.

I. Intonation

One way of asking questions in German easily is intonation. Just like in English, and probably in many other languages too, you can simply indicate that you are asking a question by raising your voice slightly at the end of a sentence (statement), instead of lowering it.

Compare:

Du denkst and die Reise. – You are thinking about the trip.

Du denkst and die Reise? – Are you thinking about the trip?

II. The tag “nicht wahr”

Another way of forming questions in German is by adding the tag nicht wahr to your statement – which equals English “do you?”, “doesn’t it”, “are you”, etc.

1. Du denkst an die Reise, nicht wahr? – You are thinking about the trip, aren’t you?

2. Du bist nicht müde, nicht wahr? – You are not tired, are you?

3. Du magst Kaffee, nicht wahr? – You like coffee, don’t you?

4. Du magst keine Äpfel, nicht wahr? – You don’t like apples, do you?

III. Inversion

A third and easy way to form questions on German is inversion. All you have to do is to reverse the word order of the subject noun or pronoun and the conjugated form of the verb. In English inversion is used all the time, e.g. with the addition of the auxiliary verb do/does.

Compare:

They (do) eat pie. -> Do they eat pie?

She (does) like/s apples. -> Does she like apples?

Here are some German sentences:

1a) Du gehst nach Hause. – You are going home.

1b) Gehst du nach Hause? – Are you going home?

2a) Sie spricht Deutsch. – She speaks German.

2b) Spricht sie Deutsch? – Does she speak German?

3a) Sie fahren nach Hamburg. – They are going to Hamburg.

3b) Fahren sie nach Hamburg? – Are they going to Hamburg?

4a) Er trink Bier. – He is drinking beer.

4b) Trinkt er Bier? – Is he drinking beer?

Exercise:

Now it is your turn. See whether you can use inversion to provide the questions for the following statements. Good luck!

1)   Das Ticket kostet 250 Euro. (The ticket costs 250 Euros.)

2)   Das ist der Terminal für internationale Flüge. (This is the terminal for international flights.)

3)   Die Flugnummer steht auf dem Ticket. (The flight number is indicated on the ticket.)

4)   Es gibt Toiletten auf dieser Etage. (There are bathrooms on this floor.)

5)   Der Flug dauert zwei Stunden. (The flight is two hours long.)

6)   Das Abendessen ist mitinbegriffen. (The evening meal is included.)

Today I want to introduce a German tradition to you, that takes place in May. I´m talking about the so called Maibaum (maypole).

A Maibaum is a decorated tree or at least stock of tree that is usually aufgerichtet (erected) on May the 1st. In some regions it is already put up on the eve of May the 1st. Mostly it is combined with a traditional celebration on the Dorfplatz (village square). First of all in Baden-Württemberg, Bayern (Bavaria) and Österreich (Austria).
The tradition is widespread in many regions in Central and Northern Europe. But in Skandinavien (Scandinavia) it normally takes place in Mittsommer (midsummer). In Switzerland they don´t have the tradition of the Maibaum.

Maibaum in the south of Germany, decorated with emblems and a collar.   

The tree

Maypoles are normally big decorated trees that are put up on a central place in a village or town at a feastful Veranstaltung (event). Depending on the region, or even the village, the decoration of the tree could be totally different.
Either a new tree is chopped down every year, or the same trunk is being used for a couple of years and only the “Krone” (crown) gets a new decoration. In Ostfriesland for example, the trunk is stored under water and fetched again for May.
Normally the people peel the trunks and decorate them with colorful Girlanden (festoons), fir sprigs or crepe paper.
On the upper end, the tree is normally crowned with a Kranz (collar) and the green tree top. The trees have a height of 20 – 25 m. But sometimes they reach even 50 m. Depending on the local tradition, the maypoles stay until the end of the month or until autumn.

Der Liebesmaien

Beside the big maypoles, there is also the tradition of so called “Liebesmaien” or “Maien”. These are smaller trees, mostly Birken (birch trees), that are put up by single men. They install the tree at the houses of their girlfriends (or their wannabes) to show them their love. The answer is normally a crate of beer or a dinner. At least if the answer is positive. But here again, the traditions are different from region to region. In my region for example they say, if you put up a “Maien” three years for the same girl, you have to marry her. I did it two times when I was young

After all I think the Maibaum is a nice tradition and it´s nice to tour around the villages and have a look at the different trees.

Do you have something like the Maibaum in your country or region as well? It would be nice to learn about similar traditions! Tell us by using the comment field.

Some vocabulary to this post:
Der Maibaum – maypole
aufrichten – to erect
Der Dorfplatz – village square
Bayern – Bavaria
Österreich – Austria
Skandinavien – Scandinavia
der Mittsommer – midsummer
die Veranstaltung – event
die Krone – crown
die Girlande – festoon
der Kranz – collar
die Birke – birch trees

I have just come across a very nice poem and it made me almost cry because I find it is such a soothing piece of work. Every one of us will sooner or later find him- or herself in a difficult situation where we feel alone, and maybe this poem will let you know that there is always someone who will guard you. Enjoy.