ABSTRACT
There are three ways of forming a question in German. They are: subject-verb inversion, intonation or question mark, and interrogatives. Simple ‘yes/no’ questions (i.e. those that can be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, e.g. ‘Are you going out tonight?’) are formed by inverting the order of the subject and the verb. Alternatively, but less commonly, the sentence can be left as it is, and in the written language, a question mark is added. In addition, specific interrogatives can be used, such as ‘who?’, ‘what?’, ‘where?’, ‘why?’ and so on, which are immediately followed by the verb. When used with prepositions, the interrogatives immediately follow, which means that there is no splitting of interrogative and preposition, unlike in English. This chapter is designed for both classroom use and independent study, providing step-by-step approach to questions and multiple exercises for the students to rehearse and practice themselves.
