WER

Wer is the German interrogative pronoun meaning "who." It is used to ask about the identity of a person and is one of the most common question words in German. The word is a cognate of the English "who" and related to Dutch wie and Icelandic hver.

Grammatically, wer is the nominative form. For other cases, different forms are used: wen for the accusative (whom), wem for the dative (to whom), and wessen for the genitive (whose). In direct questions, it appears at the beginning of the clause: Wer kommt? Wer hat das gesagt? In indirect questions, it can appear within a subordinate clause after verbs of knowing, thinking, or asking: Ich frage mich, wer kommt. Ich weiß nicht, wer das ist.

Wer normally refers to people rather than things; for objects or situations German uses was, was für, or welches. Examples: Wer ist das? (Who is that?) Wen hat er gesehen? (Whom did he see?) Wem gehört dieses Buch? (To whom does this book belong?) Wessen Auto ist das? (Whose car is that?) Wer weiß? (Who knows?)

In usage, wie and was answers are used to distinguish persons from things, with wer reserving itself for identities of people and related questions. The form and case system of wer are foundational to forming both direct and indirect questions in German.