{"id":4294,"date":"2012-09-25T14:08:41","date_gmt":"2012-09-25T14:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=4294"},"modified":"2012-09-24T23:09:03","modified_gmt":"2012-09-24T23:09:03","slug":"german-word-order-imperatives-and-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-word-order-imperatives-and-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"German word order: Imperatives and Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imperatives<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Imperatives are sentences in the command form.<\/p>\n

Setz dich! \u2013 Sit down! (2nd<\/sup> person singular; informal)<\/p>\n

Setzt euch! \u2013 Sit down! (2nd<\/sup> person plural; informal)<\/p>\n

Setzten Sie sich! \u2013 Sit down (2nd<\/sup> person; singular and plural; formal)<\/p>\n

H\u00f6r auf! \u2013 Stop that! (2nd<\/sup> person singular; informal)<\/p>\n

H\u00f6rt auf! \u2013 Stop that! (2nd<\/sup> person plural; informal)<\/p>\n

H\u00f6ren Sie auf! \u2013 Stop that! (2nd<\/sup> person; singular and plural; formal)<\/p>\n

As you can see, you have to put the verb in the first position and conjugate it according to number and gender.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are two main types of questions: yes\/no-questions and so-called w-questions \u2013 questions that start with question words, that is, why<\/em> (warum<\/strong>), what <\/em>(was<\/strong>), how<\/em> (wie<\/strong>), when<\/em> (wann<\/strong>), where<\/em> (wo<\/strong>), who<\/em> (wer<\/strong>), etc.<\/p>\n

When you want to form a yes\/no-question you simply have to invert the subject<\/span> and the full verb<\/span> of a simple sentence. Compare:<\/p>\n

Peter<\/span> spielt<\/span> Klavier. (Peter play the piano.)<\/p>\n

Spielt<\/span> Peter<\/span> Klavier? (Does Peter play the piano?)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Claudia<\/span> trinkt<\/span> Kaffee. (Claudia drinks coffee.)<\/p>\n

Trink<\/span> Claudia<\/span> Kaffee? (Does Claudia drink coffee?)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Martin<\/span> arbeitet<\/span> bei Porsche. (Martin works at Porsche.)<\/p>\n

Arbeitet<\/span> Martin<\/span> bei Porsche? (Does Martin work at Porsche?)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sabrina<\/span> isst<\/span> gerne Schokolade. (Sabrina likes to eat chocolate.)<\/p>\n

Isst<\/span> Sabrina<\/span> gerne Schokolad? (Does Sabrina like to eat chocolate?)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you want to form w-questions your sentence has to start with a question word<\/span> (warum, wer, wie was, wann, wo, etc.). The following element in your sentence has to be a conjugated full verb = finite verb<\/span>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Warum<\/span> weinst<\/span> du? (Why are you crying?)<\/p>\n

2. Wer<\/span> sagst<\/span> das? (Who says that?)<\/p>\n

3. Wie<\/span> steht<\/span> mir der Mantel? (How does the coat suit me?)<\/p>\n

4. Was<\/span> hast<\/span> du? (What do you have? \/ can also mean: What\u2019s wrong with you?)<\/p>\n

5. Wann<\/span> treffen<\/span> wir uns? (When do\/will we meet?)<\/p>\n

6. Wo<\/span> bist<\/span> du? (Where are you?)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unfortunately, most German questions contain more than one verb: a full verb<\/span> and an auxiliary verb<\/span> or modal verb<\/span>. In such cases, the auxiliary verb\/modal verb comes in the second position and the full verb comes at the end of the sentence:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. Warum hast<\/span> du mich nicht angerufen<\/span>? (Why didn\u2019t you call me? \/ Why haven\u2019t you called me?)<\/p>\n

8. Warum m\u00f6chtest<\/span> du nicht mit uns mitkommen<\/span>? (Why don\u2019t you want to accompany us?)<\/p>\n

9. Wer hat<\/span> dir das erz\u00e4hlt<\/span>? (Who told you that?)<\/p>\n

10. Wer soll<\/span> dich abholen<\/span>? (Who should pick you up?)<\/p>\n

11. Wie hast<\/span> du davon erfahren<\/span>? (How come that you have heard about that?)<\/p>\n

12. Wie kannst<\/span> du nur so etwas sagen<\/span>? (How can you say something like that?)<\/p>\n

13. Was hast<\/span> du gesagt<\/span>? (What did you say?)<\/p>\n

14. Was soll<\/span> das bedeuten<\/span>? (What does it mean?)<\/p>\n

15. Wann wird<\/span> Susanne ankommen<\/span>? (When will Susanne arrive?)<\/p>\n

16. Wann muss<\/span> ich die Arbeit einreichen<\/span>? (When do I have to hand in the paper?)<\/p>\n

17. Wo hast<\/span> du das Auto geparkt<\/span>? (Where did you park the car?)<\/p>\n

18. Wo darf<\/span> ich mich setzten<\/span>? (Where may I take a seat?)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imperatives Imperatives are sentences in the command form. Setz dich! \u2013 Sit down! (2nd person singular; informal) Setzt euch! \u2013 Sit down! (2nd person plural; informal) Setzten Sie sich! \u2013 Sit down (2nd person; singular and plural; formal) H\u00f6r auf! \u2013 Stop that! (2nd person singular; informal) H\u00f6rt auf! \u2013 Stop that! (2nd person plural…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[11971,8],"tags":[238331,238333,3364],"class_list":["post-4294","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar-language","category-language","tag-german-word-order","tag-imperatives","tag-questions"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t