wer's Full Declension: wessen, wem, wen
wer's Full Declension: wessen, wem, wen
"Who" isn't just wer — like every German noun phrase, the question word for a person changes shape depending on its grammatical case, echoing the fossilized English who/whom/whose split.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
wer/wen/wem/wessen ≈ English's fading who/whom/whose
Wer kommt? (nom.) Wen siehst du? (acc.) Wem hilfst du? (dat.) Wessen Buch ist das? (gen.)
Who is coming? / Whom do you see? / Whom are you helping? / Whose book is this?
English used to fully decline "who" for case too — who (subject), whom (object), whose (possessive) — and technically still does, though "whom" is fading from casual speech ("Who did you see?" is now common instead of "Whom did you see?"). German never let this slide: wer changes for all four cases exactly the way der/die/das does — wer (nominative), wen (accusative), wem (dative), wessen (genitive). If you can still feel the difference between "who" and "whom" in formal English, you already have the instinct for this German pattern; you just need to add a fourth form (wessen) that English also has ("whose") but rarely thinks of as part of the same set.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Wer kommt? | vair komt | Who is coming? (nominative) |
| Wen siehst du? | vayn zeest doo | Whom do you see? (accusative) |
| Wem hilfst du? | vaym hilfst doo | Whom are you helping? (dative) |
| Wessen Buch ist das? | VES-en bookh ist dahs | Whose book is this? (genitive) |