In this lesson for beginners, we'll look at what are often also called "question words." Actually, they are mostly either interrogative pronouns/interrogative adverbs or relative pronouns/relative adverbs, depending on the usage. 

Let's begin with the word was and look at how it can be used in both interrogative and declarative sentences. In addition to meaning "what," was can also be translated in certain sentences as "something," "anything," or "that which."

Was machst du denn noch in deiner Freizeit? Joggst du gerne?

What else do you do in your spare time then? Do you like to go jogging?

Caption 8, Nicos Weg: Was macht dir Spaß?

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Und was man dabei auch bemerkt hat, ist, dass da kaum Eis ist...

And what you've also noticed is that there's hardly any ice...

Caption 29, WWF Deutschland Klimawandel hautnah:Was sind die Auswirkungen?

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The word wer may look like the English word "where," but it means "who" in German. Here is an example used in a question and also in a very common structure in which it means "anyone who" or "whoever." 

Wer friert uns diesen Moment ein?

Who will freeze this moment in time for us?

Caption 2, Andreas Bourani: Auf uns

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Wer unnötige Begegnungen vermeidet, hilft allen, die sich in den Krankenhäusern um täglich mehr Fälle kümmern müssen.

Those who avoid unnecessary social interaction will help all of those in the hospitals who are having to take care of more cases every day.

Captions 49-50, Coronavirus: Fernsehansprache von Angela Merkel

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The word wer serves as a pronoun and is therefore different in the accusative and dative cases. Whereas many people rarely use "whom" in English, the words wen and wem are not optional in German!

Weißt du, wen ich gestern getroffen habe?

Do you know who I ran into yesterday?

Caption 9, Deutsch mit Eylin: Menschen beschreiben

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Mit wem willst du denn Valentinstag feiern?

Who do you want to celebrate Valentine's Day with?

Caption 32, Nicos Weg: Feste und Feiertage

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The German word for "where" is wo. You may have already learned the variations woher and wohin in order to ask people where they are from and where they are going.

Sag mir doch zuerst einmal, wo das Bundesland liegt.

First of all, tell me where the state is located.

Caption 14, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Nordrhein-Westfalen

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Wohin muss man in Deutschland zuerst gehen, wenn man heiraten möchte?

Where do you first have to go in Germany if you want to get married?

Caption 3, Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Einbürgerungstest

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Not to be confused with wenn, which can also mean "if," wann is the interrogative adverb for "when." It refers solely to time and not to probability. You can find a lesson on the difference here. 

Wann kommt der nächste Bus?

When is the next bus coming?

Caption 23, Deutsch mit Eylin: Fragewörter

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The word wie has several meanings, because in addition to "how" it also can be translated as "such as" or "like."

Hier Daniel Müller am Apparat. Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen?

Daniel Müller speaking. How can I help you?

Caption 54, Berufsleben: das Vorstellungsgespräch

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Ich liebe meine Freunde und wie wir miteinander sind.

I love my friends and how we are together.

Caption 12, AnnenMayKantereit: Ozean

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And finally we come to warum. Note that even though the word darum exists, it is only rarely translated as "because!" That would be too easy. 

Warum ist denn hier nicht abgeschlossen?

Why isn't this locked here?

Caption 1, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt

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Further Learning
Next week we will look at how to say "whatever," "however," "whoever," and "whenever" in German. For now, notice how these question words are integrated into various sentences on Yabla German and watch Eylin's video Deutsch mit Eylin: Fragewörter.

Among the first words you learn in German are langsam (slow) and schnell (fast). Let's take a look today at some more detailed terms related to driving tempos.

Boote müssen sich von den Meeressäugern fernhalten und sie müssen langsam fahren.

Boats must stay away from the marine mammals and they must drive slowly.

Captions 28-29, Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten: Schwangere Schwertwale im Pazifik

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Wenn die Straße frei ist, abends oder nachts, dann kann man sicherlich schon mal schnell fahren.

If the street is empty, evenings or at night, then you can certainly drive fast sometimes.

Captions 33-34, AutoMotoTV: Schnell fahren auf der Autobahn

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As you see above, langsam fahren is "to drive slowly," and schnell fahren is "to drive quickly." The adverbs langsam and schnell can also be expressed in comparative and superlative forms: langsamer fahren and schneller fahren ("to drive slower" and "to drive faster"), as well as am langsamsten fahren and am schnellsten fahren ("to drive slowest" and "to drive fastest").

The related noun for "slow driving" is das Langsamfahren, and for "fast driving" das Schnellfahren. A person who drives quickly is called der Schnellfahrer or die Schnellfahrerin. 

... fahren wir Schritttempo, wir dürfen uns dort überall bewegen,

... we drive at walking speed, we are allowed to go everywhere there,

Caption 72, Rollendes Vergnügen: Segway-Touren

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The term das Schritttempo means "walking speed" and Schritttempo fahren means "to drive very, very slowly." The street sign for this is usually used in areas with a lot of pedestrians or where children are at play. It's a white sign with a red circle, in which the words SCHRITT FAHREN appear in black capital letters.

Ich kann jetzt auch bremsen und anhalten.

I can now also brake and stop.

Caption 40, Fahrschule: Wie man die Kupplung bedient

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The verb bremsen means "to stop," and has the related noun die Bremse ("the brake"). Just like in English, this is more commonly seen in the plural form die Bremsen ("the brakes").

Im Falle einer Bedrohung können sie plötzlich schnell beschleunigen.

In the event of a threat, they can suddenly accelerate quickly.

Caption 72, Die Top Ten: Die 12 freundlichsten Meerestiere der Welt

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The verb beschleunigen is "to accelerate", and its direct antonym is entschleunigen—"to decelerate."

Cool, gib Gas, schnapp ihn dir!

Cool, step on the gas, get him!

Caption 74, Großstadtrevier: St. Pauli rettet HSV

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The phrase Gas geben is an expression that literally means "to give gas," but is similar to the English idiom "to step on the gas," which is how you make a motor vehicle accelerate.

Further Learning
Search for some other adjectives and adverbs for "slow" (such as träge and schleppend) and "fast" (such as zügig and rasant) on Yabla German. To learn some more driving terms, watch the videos Schnell fahren auf der Autobahn and Wie man die Kupplung bedient.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next lesson and send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.

The verb erklären has two very different meanings, as does its noun form die Erklärung. One word having multiple meanings seems to happen more often in German than in English, if only for the fact that the German language has far fewer words than English. With fewer words in a language, it's more likely that a single word will have multiple meanings than in a language with a larger vocabulary!

The most common meaning of erklären is "to explain":

Kann jemand erklären, was ein Binnenhafen ist?

Can someone explain what an inland port is?

Caption 27, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Nordrhein-Westfalen

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Wir erklären euch, wie man in Deutschland Ostern feiert.

We'll explain to you how you celebrate Easter in Germany.

Caption 3, Cettina und Sabine: Ostern

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And the same applies to its noun form, die Erklärung:

Vielleicht gibt's eine einfache Erklärung für seine Angst.

Perhaps there's a simple explanation for his fear.

Caption 62, Großstadtrevier: Von Monstern und Mördern

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Es braucht Erklärungen, um die Brutalität und Banalität des Unrechts zu verstehen.

Explanations are required to grasp the brutality and banality of this injustice.

Caption 19, DDR zum Anfassen: Ganz tief im Westen

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However, the second most common meaning of the verb erklären (and its noun equivalent die Erklärung) is as follows:

Kein Problem mehr für die Bewohner vor Ort, erklären sie stolz.

No problem anymore for the local residents, they declare proudly.

Caption 20, 30 Jahre: Menschen für Menschen

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Ich erkläre hiermit, dass Sinus einem Tierheim übergeben wird.

I hereby declare that Sinus will be handed over to a shelter.

Caption 70, Yabla Gerichtshof: Das verzogene Hündchen

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Note that the noun die Erklärung, when used with the meaning "declaration," is often paired with another noun as the latter half of a compound noun:

Jetzt also die Liebeserklärung an das Meer.

So now, the declaration of love for the sea.

Caption 26, Herbert Grönemeyer: stellt sein neues Album vor

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Eine entsprechende Absichtserklärung zwischen der People's Bank of China und der Deutschen Bundesbank wurde am vergangenen Freitag in Berlin unterzeichnet.

A corresponding declaration of intent between the People's Bank of China and the German Federal Bank was signed last Friday in Berlin.

Captions 3-4, Frankfurt wird Handelszentrum: für die chinesische Währung Yuan

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There are a number of German verbs nouns for "declare," such as the rather obvious deklarieren and the less obvious verkünden. Some nouns using die Erklärung as "to declare," such as die Kriegserklärung, also have words with similar meanings, such as die Kampfansage. Both of these words mean "declaration of war," something we've all seen far too much of in the last several years.

Further Learning
Luckily, in real-world usage, it's usually quite easy to tell by the context in which the words are used if the meaning "to explain" (explanation) or the meaning "to declare" (declaration) is intended. For details of the verb's conjugation, see this video about erklären on Yabla German.

Today we will look at a unique, but somewhat confusing German word: the conjunctive adverb zwar. Mainly confusing because it doesn’t have a single equivalent in English, it’s a word that can be used to create more expressive German sentences — a great word to know!

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First of all, zwar can be used when making a clarification. Where we would use "namely," "that is," or "indeed" in English, in German you often see the phrase und zwar.

Zu seinem einhundertfünfundneunzigsten Geburtstag hat der Philosoph seine Geburtsstadt Trier erobert, und zwar gleich in fünfhundertfacher Ausführung.

For his one hundred ninety-fifth birthday, the philosopher has conquered his birth city of Trier, namely, in the form of five hundred duplicate copies.

Captions 3-5, „Mini-Marxe“: In Trier

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Wir beobachten aber auch, dass sich die Welt verändert, und zwar in rasantem Tempo.

We also observe, however, that the world is changing, and indeed at a rapid pace.

Caption 17, Angela Merkel: Gemeinsame Pressekonferenz mit Barack Obama

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Heute kochen wir ein niedersächsisches Gericht, und zwar eine Hochzeitssuppe.

Today we are cooking a Lower Saxon dish: namely, a wedding soup.

Captions 2-3, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Niedersachsen

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Secondly, zwar can be used to express limitations or contradictions. In these sentences, zwar is in the limiting first statement, which is then followed by a contradictory statement beginning with an adverb like aber, allerdings, or doch. Let's have a look:

Die Raumordnung kann zwar nicht alle Konflikte lösen, aber sie kann als eine neutrale, übergeordnete Größe vieles steuern und anstoßen.

Spatial planning may not be able to resolve all conflicts, but as a neutral, superordinate variable, it can control and initiate many things.

Captions 53-54, Bundesregierung DE: Wie geht Raumordnung?

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Sie darf zwar nicht so lange draußen bleiben wie die Rentiere, aber dafür kann sie alles essen, was der Boden so hergibt.

Admittedly, she's not allowed to stay outside as long as the reindeer, but instead, she can eat everything the ground may happen to yield.

Captions 33-34, Im Zoo: Tiere im Winter

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Das Telefon klingelt zwar ab und zu, aber meistens höre ich nichts.

The phone does ring every now and then, but most of the time I don't hear anything.

Captions 32-33, Marius Müller-Westernhagen: Der Mann auf der Mauer

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Köln ist zwar die Stadt mit den meisten Einwohnern, aber die Landeshauptstadt ist Düsseldorf.

Although Cologne is the city with the most inhabitants, the state capital is Düsseldorf.

Captions 19-20, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Nordrhein-Westfalen

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As you can see, there is not a single equivalent for this in English, but the meaning is essentially that of "although." Additionally, zwar adds emphasis to a statement.

Further Learning
Now that you have a sense of how zwar is used, try integrating it when you speak German. There are many more examples on Yabla German that you can look at as well.