Interrogative pronouns
These are pronouns which are used in asking question. In German, as in English, there are two kinds of interrogative pronouns, those referring to people and those referring to things. As you would expect in German, there are 4 cases. There is no plural form to these.
| Referring to people | Refering to things | |||
| Nom | wer | who | was | what |
| Acc | wen | whom | was | what |
| Gen | wessen | whose | wessen | of what |
| Dat | wem | to whom | (wem) | (to what) (rarely used) |
The dative form for things is rarely used because it would normally be required after a preposition, when it is replaced by wo- plus preposition, or wor- where the preposition begins with a vowel. For example:
Womit schreibst du? - What are you writing with?
The construction is used with prepositions whatever the case when the pronoun refers to a thing.
Examples:
(People)
Wessen Buch ist das? - Whose book is that
Wer wohnt in dieser Wohnung? - Who lives in this flat?
Wen sah er gestern? - Whom did he see yesterday?
Mit wem sprach sie? - To whom was she speaking?
Wem hast du geholfen? - Who did you help? (helfen takes the dative)
(Things)
Was liegt auf dem Tisch? - What is on the table?
Worauf liegt das Buch? - On what is the book?
Was kann er sehen? - What can he see?
Woran denkst du? What are you thinking of?