Freunde: 'wen' and 'wem' - interrogative, word order with reflexive questions | German

Starter quiz

Match the German and English.

wenigstens

⇔

at least ✓

eher

⇔

earlier, sooner, rather ✓

dick

⇔

thick, fat ✓

die Konzentration

⇔

concentration ✓

der Gegenstand

⇔

object ✓

miteinander

⇔

with each other ✓
What is missing from the following list? 'der Norden, der Süden, der Westen'

'der Osten' ✓
Match the question words.

wer

⇔

who ✓

was

⇔

what ✓

wie

⇔

how ✓

warum

⇔

why ✓

was für

⇔

what type of ✓

wo

⇔

where ✓
Sort the words below into the correct order to make a statement in German.

1

⇔

der

2

⇔

Mann

3

⇔

entschuldigt

4

⇔

sich

5

⇔

bei

6

⇔

meiner

7

⇔

Mama
Translate the following sentence into English: 'Wer hat diese Übung gemacht?'

'Who did this exercise?' ✓
Make the following statement into a question: 'Er kennt seinen Nachbarn.'

'Kennt er seinen Nachbarn?' ✓

Exit quiz

Match the German and English.

der Mann

⇔

man, husband ✓

der Blick

⇔

look, glance ✓

die Vorstellung

⇔

idea ✓

der Unterschied

⇔

difference ✓

die Bedeutung

⇔

meaning, significance ✓

der Ton

⇔

sound, tone ✓
Which of the following words can mean 'who?'

wer ✓

wie

wen ✓

wem ✓

wann
What role does the 'who' have in the following sentence? 'Mit wem verhält er sich schlecht?'

subject

direct object

indirect object ✓
Translate the following sentence into English: 'Wo stellst du dich?'

'Where do you stand?' ✓
Choose the correct word for 'who' to complete the following sentence: 'Für ______ interessiert er sich?'

wer

wen ✓

wem
Translate the following sentence into German: 'Who does he argue with?'

'Mit wem streitet er sich?' ✓

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

The interrogative pronoun 'wer' becomes 'wen' when it is a direct object in the accusative.
The interrogative pronoun 'wer' becomes 'wem' when it is an indirect object in the dative.
Use a long [e] sound with 'wer', 'wen' and 'wem'.
In questions with reflexive verbs, only subject and verb swap position. The reflexive pronoun now follows the subject.
Where a verb is usually followed by a preposition, this comes before the question word, e.g., 'Mit wem?', 'Für wen?'.

Common misconception

Questions words all have fixed spellings.

'Wer', meaning 'who', changes spelling according to its case. This also used to be the case in English, but the 'whom' form is often not used nowadays.

Keywords

Wer, wen, wem - question word meaning 'who' or 'whom' which changes according to case
Reflexive pronoun - used to indicate doing something to yourself, words like ‘myself’ and ‘yourself’