Asking Questions about the German Christmas Market

This next segment in the Christmas Series mixes the facts about the German Christmas markets with an element of English that many non-native speakers have problems with when learning the language- namely asking questions.

When we ask questions in German, we normally do not follow the guidelines that are set in English. Typical German questions start off with a verb, followed by the subject and then the object for yes and no questions. An example:

Schickst du mir eine Bestätigung? (Will you send me a confirmation).

Schicken is the verb and du (you) is the subject.

For the W questions, they are a bit complicated for even though the question starts with one of the W words, they can follow the same pattern as yes and no questions. However the German helping verb (sein- is; haben- have) can be inserted and in most cases, the verb is shoved towards the end of the sentence. Examples:

Wann kommt Klara nach Hause? (When will Klara come home)

Wo hast du dein Treffen? (Where is your meeting)

Wieso haben wir unsere Reise abgesagt? (Why are we cancelling our trip)

Wann haben wir das Problem bemerkt? (When did we notice the problem)

Wo ist das Problem mit diesem Plan? (Where is the problem with this plan)

In the third and fourth sentence we have past tense that are in use in German, yet the meanings and grammar forms in English, yet in the second and third, we see how HABEN is used differently as with SEIN in the last sentence, which can be used either as an active form or a helping verb to support the adjective.

Pyramid Candle made of Ore Mountain wood and the mahogany huts in the background.

In English however, the structure and use of the words are different when asking questions. In fact, there are four important characteristics that make asking questions in English different than in German. They are the following:

1. There are six different ways to ask questions in English, including the typical yes/no and Golden W
2. For the Golden W questions, there are eight different words you can use, including two forms of how: How (alone) and How (plus adjective)
3. There are three helping verbs you can use, namely HAVE, DO and TO BE.
4. One can use the typical SVO sentence rule for three of the types.

Here are the tables that look at the different ways of asking questions in English:

Now that you got a crash course on the difference in asking Questions between English and German (or other languages), let’s go to the exercises:

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Activity 1: Match the statements on the left with the questions on the right.

The first Christmas market existed in 1384	What can you find to eat at the market?
The largest Christmas market in the world is located in Vienna.	When do the Christmas markets take place?
As many as 50-100 stands selling food and handcrafts can be found at a typical Christmas Market	Where can a person find the Bergparade?
Typical foods found at the market include stews with dumplings, potato pancakes, Flammlachs, and Bratwursts.	When was the first known Christmas market on record?
Miners Parades (Bergparade) can be found in Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia	What is the typical drink at the Christmas market?
At over 100 locations, Berlin has the highest number of Christmas markets in all of Germany	How many stands can you find at a typical Christmas Market?
The Christmas markets normally take place from the last week in November to December 23rd.	Why are some drinks (like the Heisse Heidi) named after people?
One can find concerts, dances, some comedy and Christmas songs at the market.	Where can you find the highest number of Christmas markets?
Mulled wine is the typical drink with wine, oranges and spices.	What can you find for entertainment at the Christmas market?
Some drinks are names after persons who were either famous or invented them.	Which Christmas market is the world’s largest?

Activity 2:  Formulate the question for each statement. (More than one variant are possible!)

1. Cologne is the most populous of the Christmas markets because more than four million people visit the market each year.
2. One can find the Nightwatchman touring the walls of the Christmas market in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
3. The Dresden Medieval Market was located near the Church of our Lady?
4. The Christkindl Pageant takes place at the beginning of the Nuremberg Christmas Market.
5. A typical Christmas market can be found in front of historic buildings and/or churches.

Activity 3: Complete the Dialog below.

Situation: A family of four is shopping for gifts at the market when, all of a sudden, one of the members loses her purse, quite possibly through pickpocketing. They report the theft to the police.

Police Officer	Victim
How can I help you?
	Yes, I have some identification.
Your name is Nancy Smith, is that correct?
	I live in Ottawa, Canada, at 23 Marion Street.
	We are here because we are visiting family here.
	We were shopping for some gifts at the market when all of a sudden, someone grabbed my purse and ran.
	It happened at 12:30pm. We were at the Käthe Wohlfahrt stand right next to the Glühwein stand.
	In my purse, I had a credit card, 100 Euros in cash, my Canadian passport and a set of keys to our rental car.
	Yes, I have contacted the bank to freeze our account.
	No, my Smartphone is here.
	Yes, my husband and kids saw it live but we could not stop him.
	We can try and describe him for you if it helps.
	Sure.

They follow the police officer to the office where another colleague has a computer program that produces a description of the thief.

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Activity 4: Translation. Formulate the question into German and then translate the question into English.

1. Der älteste Weihnachtsmarkt findet in Bautzen in Sachsen statt.
2. Man kann die Märkte in Hamburg am Fischmarkt, vor dem Rathaus, in Altona und entlang der Reeperbahn finden.
3. Ja, Mariah Careys „All I Want for Christmas” ist am Weihnachtsmarkt zu finden.
4. Ein normaler Wintermarkt beginnt erst nach Weihnachten.
5. Ein Viertel der 2500 deutschen Weihnachtsmärkte haben anschließend einen Wintermarkt.
6. Mein Lieblingsspiel am Weihnachtsmarkt ist ein Labirynth.
7. Nein, haben wir leider keinen Markt für Veganer außer in den Großstädten
8. Der kleinste Weihnachtsmarkt liegt in Mörz in Rheinland-Pfalz, westlich von Koblenz
9. Ja, Heidelberg hat sechs verschiedene Weihnachtsmärkte in der Altstadt.
10. Natürlich können wir unseren eigenen Weihnachtsmarkt erbauen.

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You can decide between doing all of the exercises or a couple of them. In either case, you should give them a shot. The answers will come on December 22nd in the Files. For now, have a wonderful holiday season and drink a good Glühwein at the market! 😉

FLF Friday Nr. 7

This next installment in the FLF series is a classic one. It was first introduced in 2009 and became one of the well-known classics. It shows that misunderstandings can have consequences, especially between English and another language, like German. The institute behind the commercial still exists today, Berlitz, an institution that emphasizes total language immersion when learning foreign languages. Enjoy the clip! 🙂