28.1 Interrogative Phrases of type a) in German


Normally an interrogative phrase of this type starts with a verb. In other words, we find here the same inversion of subject and verb that we have already seen in many other circumstances, like conjunctions, relative clauses and word order in a phrase.

Example  
Kommt er heute oder morgen?
= Does he come today or tomorrow?

Kann er schon schreiben?
= Does he know how to write?

 

In some cases it is possible to form an interrogative phrase without the inversion of subject and verb. But then the pronunciation of the question must be stronger than usually. Else the one listening cannot understand that it is a question.

Example  
Du weißt das nicht?
= Don't you know this? (You don't know this?)

Er hat seine Hausaufgaben noch nicht gemacht?
= He didn't do his homework yet?







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