Lesson 7: Forming Questions in German and Interrogatives

In German, questions can be formed in two ways depending upon what kind of answer you are looking for. If you're looking to elicit some information, questions begin with an interrogative. A list of them can be seen below:

Wann when
Was what
Wo where
Wie how
Welche + noun which
Wieviel + singular noun how much
Wie viele + plural noun how many

If your question seeks to elicit a yes or no response, then the question starts with a verb:

Hast du Zeit?
Do you have time?

Spielen sie heute Golf?
Are they playing golf today?

Lesson 6: Haben -- to have

The German verb, haben, translates as to have in English. It is one of the most important German verbs and should be memorized in all its tenses. It is presented below in the present tense -- study it, learn it, and memorize it.

This verb is important in early conversational German. In the upcoming lessons, I'll post some basic conversations that will showcase the use of this verb as a way of learning and using important expressions. Also, this verb is used in many idiomatic expressions where in English one might use "to be" -- for example:

Ich habe Hunger.
I'm hungry.

See the chart below for its conjugation in the present tense:

ich habe I have
du hast you have (familiar, singular)
er hat he has
sie hat she has
es hat it has

wir haben we have
ihr habt you have (familiar, plural)
sie haben they have

Sie haben you have (formal, singular or plural)