56 Comments
Nope. The speaker is not asking >what< happened. They're asking >if< something happened.
The last person to touch the sentence is an account belonging to the Pearson team, so you would have to ask them. (See https://www.duolingo.com/comment/24066422/Interference-from-the-Pearson-course for some background on the Pearson sentences if you're not already aware of the situation.)
I think it's a mistake adding that to the accepted answers.
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Well, that's annoying. I came here because I actually did say "What happened yesterday?" and it was marked correct, and immediately I wondered about it, thinking that it was probably wrong. So, if we report their "correct" answer as wrong, I wonder what happens?
*edit: tried to report it, but didn't get that option. Sigh.
How can you tell the difference? According to the translation hints "was" is "what" as well. What part of the original sentence is the "if"?
In this case, "was" does not mean "what". It's actually short for "etwas" (something). Maybe it'll become clearer if you turn the whole thing into a declarative sentence. "Gestern ist etwas passiert." (Yesterday, something happened.)
If you want to ask >what< happened, you'd say "Was ist gestern passiert?"
In spoken German, "was" tends to sound more natural than "etwas".
Duden lists a few common examples: http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/was_etwas_jemand#Bedeutung1
In formal written German, you should stick with "etwas" though.
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so you could use "etwas" instead of "was" and be clearer? Ist gestern etwas passiert?
Ist gestern etwas passiert? is also possible, yes.
I'd say that both sentences are equally clear to a fluent German speaker, though.
"Ist", yes.
"Passieren" takes "sein" instead of "haben" when building the "present perfect" equivalent.
- Something has happened = Etwas ist passiert
You are right about your sentence, when asking "what", "was" comes first.
But being "ist" the first word, it sounds just like putting "has" at the start, thus changing that "was" into "etwas":
- Ist was passiert? = Has anything happened?
- Was ist passiert? = What (has) happened?
From what I understand, "was" is sometimes used as an abbreviation for "etwas". I guess it's just shorter, and more common to hear spoken.
Can someone explain like I'm 5 how this sentence works? I've been looking at it and I have no idea how it translates the way it does and the structure of it :S
Ok, but it takes 10 to understand it :p
First, "passieren" doesn't use "haben", but "sein", when making the "present perfect" equivalent:
- Ist passiert = has happened (some verbs do that, especially when the action is somehow towards oneself - a change of state)
Now, it's a matter of word order in questions (that is similar in both languages):
- Was ist passiert? = What (has) happened?
- Ist (et)was passiert? = Has anything happened?
The tricks are:
- "was" can be used instead of "etwas" in this kind of sentence (gotcha!)
- German doesn't change "something" into "anything" in questions, it remains "etwas" in all cases.
Ah, so "was" here is not a "What..?", but a colloquial for "etwas"? Are "was" and "etwas" interchangeable?
Yes. "Was" here is a colloquial "etwas".
You can do that, but I'm not sure about how colloquial and acceptable it is.
Is it OK to write "was" instead of "etwas", or is it considered colloquial?
Yes, it'll work. E.g. a family sits at the table in the evening and a family member asks: "Ist heute was interessantes passiert?" (Did something interesting happen today?).
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Would you kindly expand on your answer, Mizinamo? I came to this discussion looking for an explanation why the subject (et)was does not follow the finite verb in this interrogative sentence.
I'm afraid I cannot -- I just learned to speak the language as a child by listening to native speakers, not be studying the grammar.
It may be connected to the fact that (et)was is indefinite, but I don't know the reason why it's not right after the verb except that "it sounds wrong that way". (Which is no help to a learner, I admit.)
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Thanks, all the same. I guess we just need to learn and get used to this as a standard expression. Say, can you think of other examples of this word order?
How do I say "Is 'yesterday' what happened?" It doesn't make much sense, but I can picture it in a drama/romantic movie or something...
It really doesn't make any sense. You're not going to find a meaningful translation.
That could be Ist 'gestern' das, was passiert ist?.
A rather unlikely sentence, though.
That is a very good question. The short answer is that native English speakers just would not use the perfect tense there ("has happened"), just the simple past ("happened"). But I'm not really sure why. If I find out, I'll let you know.
"Was" is not at the beginning of the question as it should be for meaning "what".
"Ist" is instead. And "ist" correlates to "has" in English. (Because "ist passiert" = "has happened").
Putting "ist" at the start is like putting "has" at the start:
- Ist (et)was passiert? = Has anything happened?
"What has happened," being present perfect, is only used in reference to the present time.
is it correct to say was ist gestern passiert.as and if so does that sound any more or less natural?
irgendwas is more like 'anything' than 'something'
Plus, it is a pronoun and here etwas is used as adverb
I am fairly certain "Did yesterday something happen" is equally correct and rather common. Any reason on the German side not to allow it?
It seems like it should accept either 'was' or 'etwas' as a correct answer
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One of the difficulties I have understanding spoken German is these shortened words. Is there a list of words like "was" that are shortened forms of words that are longer in written German?
Not as far as I know. See them more as a synonym and not as a shortened form, this could possibly help.
