Question word 'warum' (why, reason)
Fragewort 'warum' (Grund)
'warum' (why) asks about a reason.
Structure
Warum + Verb + … ? (Grund)
Warum + verb + … ? (reason)
Details
- Part of Speech
- Question word
- Word Type
- Interrogative adverb
- Register
- Standard
Explanation
What it is. warum means why. You use it to ask about a reason or cause.
Word order. warum goes in position 1, the verb stays in position 2, then the :
- Warum lernst du Deutsch? - Why are you learning German?
- Warum bist du müde? - Why are you tired?
- Warum kommt er nicht? - Why is he not coming?
Answering "why". An answer often uses a reason word. With denn the stays normal (Ich lerne Deutsch, denn ich wohne in Berlin.). With weil the moves to the end (…, weil ich in Berlin wohne.) - but weil comes a little later in the course.
Common mistakes. Keep the directly after warum: Warum du Deutsch lernst? is wrong; say Warum lernst du Deutsch?. wieso and weshalb mean the same as warum and follow the same pattern. Do not start the answer with because alone in English style - in German you need the full reason clause.
About Question word 'warum' (why, reason)
'warum' (why) asks about a reason.
Use 'warum' to ask for a reason; the stays in position 2.
'warum' fragt nach einem Grund.
Caution
'warum' asks for a reason: 'Warum lernst du Deutsch?'. An answer often uses 'weil' or 'denn'.