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Interrogative words

B2Word Order · lesson 52 of 69

Interrogative personal pronouns

wie? | who?

wat? | what?

wat voor? | what kind of?

welk(e)? \* | which?

(\*) We use _welk_ before het-nouns, _welke_ before de-nouns and plural nouns. If not followed by a noun, _welke_ is used. See also [interrogative pronouns](#/lesson/Pronouns.It01).

Interrogative possessive pronouns

wiens? | whose? (singular AND male)

wier?\* | whose? (plural AND/OR female)

(\*) Most people use the singular male form - _wiens_ \- even when referring to females. If used at all, it is used as a relative pronoun, hardly ever as an interrogative pronoun.

Interrogative adverbs

waar? | where?

wanneer? | when?

hoe? | how?

Interrogative number

hoeveel? | how much?

Interrogative adverb-prepositions

waarmee? | with what?

waarom? | why?

waardoor? | due to what?

waaronder? | under what?

waarachter? | behind what?

waarlangs? | along what?

The category of interrogative adverb-prepositions is far from complete. The word 'wat' is not used in combination with a preposition.\* Instead, we use _waar_. Moreover, we place _waar_ before the preposition and attach it to it. You can compare it with [het turning into er](#/lesson/WordOrder.09).

(\*) An exception to this rule is _wat voor_, meaning 'what kind of'.

Open questions Examples of open questions
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