Two question types, one inversion rule.

In a yes/no question the conjugated verb moves to position 1 and the subject shifts to position 2 — verb-first inversion. For example, the statement "Du kommst." (You are coming.) becomes "Kommst du?" (Are you coming?). Another example: "Du hast Zeit." → "Hast du Zeit?" (Do you have time?). Intonation rises at the end. This is the same inversion older English used ("Comest thou?") — the rule survives intact in German, and no dummy auxiliary like English "do/does" is needed.

The nine core W-question words are: Wer (who — person, subject), Was (what — thing, subject or object), Wann (when — time), Wo (where — static location), Wohin (where to — destination), Woher (where from — origin), Warum (why — reason), Wie (how — manner or degree), and Welcher (which — selection from a set, declines like a der-word). In a W-Frage the question word takes position 1 and the conjugated verb takes position 2, followed by the subject in position 3. Example: "Wo wohnst du?" (Where do you live?), "Warum lernst du Deutsch?" (Why are you learning German?).

All three ask about "where" but with different motion: "Wo" asks about a static location ("Wo bist du?" — Where are you?); "Wohin" asks about movement toward a destination ("Wohin gehst du?" — Where are you going?); "Woher" asks about movement away from an origin ("Woher kommst du?" — Where are you from?). English uses one word "where" for all three, which is the main source of confusion for English speakers. The same motion-vs-static distinction is what drives the dative-vs-accusative split with two-way prepositions in German.

Welcher follows the der-word (strong) declension — its endings mirror the definite article exactly. Nominative: welcher Mann, welche Frau, welches Kind, welche Kinder. Accusative: welchen Mann, welche Frau, welches Kind, welche Kinder. Dative: welchem Mann, welcher Frau, welchem Kind, welchen Kindern. If you already know "der/die/das/die", you already know welcher — the endings are the same. Example: "Welchen Film siehst du?" (Which film are you watching? — accusative masculine), "Mit welchem Bus fährst du?" (Which bus are you taking? — dative masculine).

German fuses a preposition with "wo-" (or "wor-" before vowels) when asking about things: "Wofür interessierst du dich?" (What are you interested in?), "Womit schreibst du?" (What are you writing with?), "Worüber sprichst du?" (What are you talking about?). When the referent is a person, keep the preposition separate and use the appropriate case of "wer": "Für wen kaufst du das?" (For whom are you buying that?), "Mit wem gehst du?" (With whom are you going?). Rule: thing → wo(r)+preposition; person → preposition + wen/wem.

In an embedded question the question word (W-word) or "ob" — for embedded yes/no — stays at the front of the subordinate clause and the conjugated verb moves to the very end, exactly like in any other subordinate clause. Examples: "Ich weiß nicht, wann er kommt." (I don't know when he's coming.) and "Ich frage, ob du Zeit hast." (I'm asking whether you have time.) The "ob" introduces embedded yes/no questions, equivalent to English "whether/if". The main-clause verb stays in position 2 as usual; a comma separates the two clauses.

"Doch" is the answer to a negative yes/no question where the expected answer "Ja" would be ambiguous. If someone asks "Kommst du nicht?" (Aren't you coming?) and you ARE coming, you say "Doch!" — not "Ja". "Ja" after a negative question can sound like you're agreeing with the negative ("Yes, I'm not coming"), whereas "Doch" unambiguously contradicts the negative premise. This distinction has no direct equivalent in English, where "Yes" answers both positive and negative questions. "Doch" is one of the most practically important words for A1 learners.

Colloquially yes: "Du kommst?" with rising intonation is understood in casual speech, but it signals surprise, incredulity, or a request for confirmation rather than a neutral question. In standard written and formal spoken German, verb-first inversion ("Kommst du?") is required for a proper yes/no question. Using statement word order with rising intonation is a register marker — natural in fast informal conversation but not acceptable in writing or formal contexts. The same pattern exists in many languages as a colloquial shortcut.