# was

was is a German pronoun meaning “what”.

## In other languages

- Русский: вопросительное местоимение: что?
- Українська: що

## Pronoun

1. _interrogative_ what
   - Was machst du heute? — What are you doing today?
2. _relative_ which; referring to the entire preceding clause
   - Sie tanzte gut, was er bewunderte. — She was a good dancer, which he admired.
3. _relative_ that, which; referring to das, alles, etwas, nichts, and neuter substantival adjectives
   - Das ist alles, was ich weiß. — That's all that I know.
4. _colloquial · relative_ that, which; referring to neuter singular nouns, instead of standard das
   - Siehst du das weiße Haus, was renoviert wird? — Do you see that white house, which is being renovated?
5. _colloquial · indefinite_ something, anything; instead of standard etwas
   - Ich hab was gefunden. — I've found something.

## det

1. _archaic_ what; what kind of
   - [...] denen Thieren und Gewächsen aber, von was Arten und Geschlechten selbige auch nur immer seyn mögen, [...]

## Adverb

1. _colloquial · interrogative · poetic_ why, what for; often expressing a personal concern about the matter
   - Was bist du heute so stumm? — Why are you so silent today?

## Interjection

1. eh?, huh? (tag question)
   - Ganz schön kalt, was? — Pretty cold, eh?

## Examples

- Was hat das mit mir zu tun? — Where do I come in?
- Ich weiß, was ich zu tun habe. — I know what to do.
- Wer bist du und was willst du? — Who are you and what do you want?
- Er weiß nicht, was er tun soll. — He doesn't know what to do.
- Ist es das hier, was du willst? — Is this what you want?

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Sources: Meanings and forms from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR).
URL: https://wordwide.space/de-en/wort/was