Yes/no question
Ja/Nein-Frage
Yes/no questions start with the conjugated .
Structure
Verb + Subjekt + … ?
verb + subject + … ?
Details
- Part of Speech
- Sentence Structure
- Word Type
- Question word order
- Register
- Standard
Explanation
What it is. A yes/no question (Entscheidungsfrage) is a question you can answer with ja or nein. "Are you coming?", "Do you have time?" - these expect a yes or no.
Word order. The rule is simple: the conjugated verb comes first, in position 1, and the follows in position 2:
- Kommst du mit? - Are you coming along?
- Hast du Zeit? - Do you have time?
- Sprichst du Englisch? - Do you speak English?
You can think of it as the statement Du kommst mit with the and swapped to make Kommst du mit?.
No "do". English uses a helper "do/does" to form questions ("Do you speak…?"). German has no such helper - you simply move the to the front. Saying Tust du kommen? is wrong.
Common mistakes. Do not keep the first: Du kommst? is only a casual echo question, not the standard form. Keep the right ending for the (du → kommst, er → kommt), since only the order changes, not the . Answer with Ja, … or Nein, … followed by a normal statement.
About Yes/no question
Yes/no questions start with the conjugated .
There is no 'do'-auxiliary as in English; just put the in position 1.
Entscheidungsfragen beginnen mit dem finiten .
Caution
There is no helper like English 'do' - just move the verb to the front: 'Kommst du?' not 'Tust du kommen?'.