Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns (Interrogativpronomen) are used in German to ask questions about people, things, or circumstances.

Example:

Wer hat mein Buch genommen? (Who took my book?)

Was machst du am Wochenende? (What are you doing on the weekend?)

Common Interrogative Pronouns

Here are the main interrogative pronouns in German:

Pronoun	Usage	English Equivalent
wer	asking about people	who
wen	asking whom (accusative)	whom
wem	asking to whom (dative)	to whom
wessen	asking about possession	whose
welcher / welche / welches	asking which one (specific)	which
was	asking about things	what

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The pronouns wer and was are the most commonly used interrogative pronouns in German.

Welcher / welche / welches changes form depending on gender and case of the noun it refers to (see below).

Example:

Mit wem sprichst du? (With whom are you speaking?)

Welche nimmst du? (Which one are you taking?)

Wen rufst du heute Abend an? (Whom are you calling this evening?)

Declension of Interrogative Pronouns

Some interrogative pronouns are declined according to case. Here's how wer is declined:

Case	Form	Examples
Nominative	wer	Wer ist der neue Lehrer? (Who is the new teacher?)
Accusative	wen	Wen hast du gestern getroffen? (Whom did you meet yesterday?)
Dative	wem	Wem gehört dieses Auto? (To whom does this car belong?)
Genitive	wessen	Ich habe ein Handy gefunden. Wessen ist das? (I found a cell phone. Whose is this?)

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Note that was is not declined and remains the same in all cases and genders, except when used with prepositions.

When "was" is used with prepositions, it often combines with them to form a special compound word beginning with wo- or wor-, rather than standing separately.

For example:

Instead of saying Mit was schreibst du? (With what are you writing?), you would say Womit schreibst du?

Instead of Für was ist das? (What is that for?), say Wofür ist das?

As mentioned earlier, welcher is declined according to gender and case:

ㅤ	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	welcher	welche	welches	welche
Accusative	welchen	welche	welches	welche
Dative	welchem	welcher	welchem	welchen
Genitive	welches	welcher	welches	welcher

Examples:

Case	Example in German	Translation in English
Nominative	Es gibt drei Filme. Welcher läuft heute im Kino?	There are three films. Which one is playing at the cinema today?
Accusative	Ich sehe zwei Kuchen. Welchen isst du?	I see two cakes. Which one are you eating?
Dative	Wir hatten zwei Lehrerinnen. Von welcher Lehrerin sprichst du?	We had two teachers. About which teacher are you speaking?
Genitive	Ihr erinnert euch welcher (Zeiten)? Wir erinnern uns der alten Zeiten.	Which (times) do you remember? We remember the old times.