Basic place and time questions | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Wo ist es?

   Where is it?

   Wo

   where

   ist

   is

   es

   it

   More detail

   Wo asks about location: “where”. It is a question adverb and does not change for the thing or person whose location is being asked about. For a question about a different kind of information, German uses another question word, such as wer (“who”) or was (“what”). ist is the third-person singular present form of sein, “to be”. The useful present-tense pattern is ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist. Here, ist agrees with es, not with Wo. es is a third-person singular pronoun meaning “it” here. The fixed sentence does not identify what es refers to, so its specific referent remains open; the form itself marks the grammatical class and number, not a particular object. The context sentence Wo bist du? asks about “you” and does not resolve the referent of es. Together, Wo + ist + es forms the reusable German question pattern Wo ist ...?, meaning “Where is ...?” The complete utterance is therefore “Where is it?”

2. Wo bist du?

   Where are you?

   Wo

   where

   bist

   are

   du

   you

   More detail

   Wo means “where” and asks about a place or location. It is an interrogative adverb, so it does not change for the person being asked. Compare Was (“what”), which asks about a thing or event rather than a location. bist is the second-person singular present form of sein (“to be”): ich bin, du bist, er/sie/es ist. In this sentence, it combines with du to ask about the addressee’s current location. For example, Du bist hier. means “You are here.” du is the informal singular pronoun for “you.” Its form identifies one familiar or informally addressed person; it is not the formal address form Sie, and it is not plural ihr. The verb form must agree with it: du bist, but ihr seid (“you are,” plural). Together, Wo bist du? forms a German question asking the addressed person where they are: “Where are you?” The question word comes first, followed by the finite verb bist and then the subject du, a standard word order for this type of question.

3. Was ist hier passiert?

   What happened here?

   Was

   what

   ist

   is; auxiliary in this question

   hier

   here

   passiert

   happened

   More detail

   Was means “what” here and asks about an unspecified event or occurrence. It is the German question word used when asking about a thing or situation, rather than a place (wo) or time (wie spät). Example: Was ist das? — “What is that?” ist is the third-person singular present form of sein, “to be.” Here it is the finite auxiliary in the German perfect construction. The question word Was functions as the grammatical subject, and its neuter singular form is compatible with ist. Useful forms include ich bin — “I am” and du bist — “you are.” hier means “here,” referring to the relevant location. It is an adverb and does not change form. Example: Ich bin hier. — “I am here.” passiert comes from the verb passieren, “to happen.” In this sentence it is the past participle, meaning “happened,” and it appears with the auxiliary ist. The same verb can describe an event without stating who caused it: Was ist passiert? — “What happened?” Together, Was ist ... passiert? forms a German question about an event. German places the finite auxiliary ist in the second position of this question, while the participle passiert comes at the end; hier identifies the relevant location. Thus Was ist hier passiert? means “What happened here?”

4. Wie spät ist es?

   What time is it?

   Wie spät

   what time

   ist es

   is it

   More detail

   Wie spät means “what time” in this fixed question. wie is the question word “how,” but with spät it forms the standard German way to ask for the time. Here spät means “late” within this time-expression; the combination is not asking whether someone is late. Compare the related question word wann in Wann kommst du? (“When will you come?”): wann asks when an event occurs, while wie spät asks for the clock time. ist es contains ist, the present-tense form of sein (“to be”) for a third-person singular subject. The base form is sein; for example, Es ist acht Uhr. means “It is eight o’clock.” es is the formal grammatical subject in this time expression; it does not identify a particular person or thing here. German places the finite verb before the subject in this yes/no or question-word question: Wie spät ist es? Together, Wie spät + ist es produces the complete meaning “What time is it?” The sentence asks for the current clock time, without specifying a particular event or person.

5. Wann kommst du?

   When will you come?

   Wann

   when

   kommst

   come

   du

   you

   More detail

   Wann means “when” and asks for a time. It is a question word, not a request for a reason; compare Warum (“why”) in the supplied next sentence. kommst is the form of kommen (“to come”) used with du (“you”) in the present tense. German present tense can refer to a future event when the time is clear from context, so here it expresses “will come.” The useful pattern is du kommst — “you come / you are coming.” Example: Wann kommst du nach Hause? — “When are you coming home?” du is the informal singular second-person pronoun, “you,” for addressing one person. Its subject form is du; the verb form paired with it here is kommst. Together, Wann asks for the time, kommst states the coming action, and du identifies the person who will come. In this question, the question word comes first, followed by the verb and then the subject: Wann kommst du? — “When will you come?”

6. Warum bist du zu spät?

   Why are you late?

   Warum

   why

   bist du

   are you

   zu spät

   too late

   More detail

   Warum asks for a reason: “why.” It is a question adverb and does not change for the person or number of the person being asked. Compare warum (“why”) with wann (“when”): Warum kommst du? means “Why are you coming?”, while Wann kommst du? means “When are you coming?” bist du contains the verb sein (“to be”) and the subject pronoun du (“you,” singular informal). bist is the present-tense form of sein for du; it is not the form used with ich, er, or sie. In a German yes/no question, the conjugated verb comes before the subject: Bist du müde? — “Are you tired?” Here, Warum comes first because the sentence is a question asking for a reason, followed by the verb and subject. zu spät means “too late.” spät means “late,” and zu before an adjective or adverb can mean “too,” indicating that the degree is beyond what is suitable or expected. The comparative form of spät is später (“later”): Du kommst später. — “You are coming later.” That comparative does not mean “too late” by itself. Together, Warum + bist du + zu spät forms Warum bist du zu spät? The question asks the person addressed for the reason they are late. The present-tense form bist presents the lateness as the situation being asked about now.