Wer? Who?
Nominative
Wer ist da? Who is there?
Wen? Whom?
Accusative
Wen siehst du? Whom do you see?
Wem? To Whom?
Dative
Wem hast du das gegeben. To whom did you give that to?
Wessen? Whose?
Genitive
Wessen Bleistift ist das? Whose pencil is that?
If your having trouble, try restating questions as statements and inserting
the correct pronoun. This may help you determine the case of a noun
and therefore whether to use wer, wen, wem or wessen.
Wer ist dein Vater?
Nominative
Er ist mein Vater.
Er is the subject of the sentence = Nominative
Wen siehst du? Du siehst ihn.
Accusative
Ihn is the direct object = Accusative
Wem hast du das Geld gegeben?
Du hast ihm das Geld gegeben.
Dative
Ihm is the indirect object = Dative
Wer hat mein Buch genommen?
Who has taken my book?
Wer wird nach Bremen fahren?
Who will drive to Bremen?
Wer ist dein Freund?
Who is your friend?
Wer hat das gesagt?
Who has said that?
In each of these
examples you will notice
that wer is acting as the
subject of the sentence.
Wen wirst du besuchen?
Whom will you visit?
Wen kannst du sehen?
Whom can you see?
Wen liebst du?
Whom do you love?
Wen magst du?
Whom do you like?
In each of these
examples you will notice
that wer is acting as the
direct object of the
sentence.
Wem hast du dein Buch gegeben?
To whom have you given your book?
Wem gehört das?
To whom does that belong?
Wem hast du geholfen?
gehören & helfen
are dative verbs.
This is why they
use Wem in
these situations.
Whom have you helped?
Wem wirst du deine Eintrittskarte geben?
To whom will you give your ticket?
Wessen Buch hast du?
Whose book do you have?
Wessen Auto ist das?
Whose car is that?
Wessen Klasse hast du?
Whose class do you have?
Wessen Kuli ist das?
Whose pen is that?