was

Meaning

Pron

1. (interrogative) what
2. (relative) which; referring to the entire preceding clause
3. (relative) that, which; referring to das, alles, etwas, nichts, and neuter substantival adjectives
4. (colloquial, relative) that, which; referring to neuter singular nouns, instead of standard das
5. (colloquial, indefinite) something, anything; instead of standard etwas

Det

what; what kind of

Adv

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, colloquial) clipping of etwas
2. (colloquial, interrogative, poetic) why, what for; often expressing a personal concern about the matter

Concepts

what

that

which

whatever

something

what’s

as for

nothing whatever

what did you say

how

what

huh

nothing

oh

Synonyms

das

wie

welches

welcher

welche

dasjenige

der

wer

die

warum

diejenige

wie bitte

welchen

derjenige

👨

irgendein

irgendetwas

je

oha

Quantum

sie

👩

solange

was für ein

welch

wem

wen

weshalb

wessen

wieviel

woher

zu

was denn

was ein

welch ein

was sagtest du

was für eine

was von

aber

welche Sache

ach

als

bezüglich

bitte

damit

daß

dem

den

denen

es

etwas

für

Translations

wat

quoi

qué

che

que

que

cosa

che cosa

quid

ne

ماذا

o que

τι

ce qui

Dialects

Zürich

was

Appenzell Innerrhoden

was

Zürich

wo

Graubünden

was

Appenzell Innerrhoden

wa

Fribourg

was

Appenzell Ausserrhoden

was

Lucerne

wo

Basel-Landschaft

waas

Basel-Stadt

was

Zürich

wass

Appenzell Ausserrhoden

wo

Bern

was

Basel-Landschaft

wo

Basel-Landschaft

was

Basel-Landschaft

wa

Basel-Landschaft

waaseli

Lucerne

was

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Pronounced as (IPA)

/vas/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German: waz

Inherited from Old High German: waz

Cognate with Bavarian: was

Cognate with Lower Silesian: woas

Cognate with Dutch: wat

Cognate with English: what

Cognate with Danish: hvad

In summary

From Middle High German waȥ, from Old High German waȥ, from Proto-West Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷod. Cognate with Dutch wat, Low German wat, English what, Danish hvad, Icelandic hvað.

Sentences

Haben Sie was gesagt ?

Did you say something?

Was hätte ich denn sonst machen sollen ?

What else should I have done?

Du hast keine Ahnung , was er von dir hält !

You have no idea what he thinks of you!

Was aber ist die richtige Richtung ?

But what is the right direction?

Es ist eine Schande , was passiert ist .

It's a shame what happened.

Du solltest nicht alles glauben , was im Fernsehen gezeigt wird .

You should not believe everything that is shown on TV.