Question word 'was' (what, thing)

What it is. was means what. You use it to ask about a thing, an idea, or an action - anything that is not a person.

Word order. was goes in position 1 and the conjugated verb follows in position 2:

• Was machst du? - What are you doing?
• Was ist das? - What is that?
• Was kostet der Kaffee? - How much (what) does the coffee cost?

Asking about activities. A very common A1 use is Was machst du? / Was macht ihr? to ask what someone is doing. The answer is a normal statement: Ich lerne Deutsch.

Common mistakes. Use was for things and wer for people - do not mix them up (Was kommt? would ask about a thing, Wer kommt? about a person). Keep the position-2 verb rule: Was du machst? is wrong; it must be Was machst du?. Note the fixed combination was für ein … ("what kind of …"), which is a separate pattern you will meet later.

'was' (what) asks about a thing or an action.

Use 'was' to ask about a thing or an action; the verb follows directly.

'was' fragt nach einer Sache oder Handlung.