| Do you remember how the character said, |
| "When should we head out?" |
| Wann wollen wir losgehen? |
| Wann wollen wir losgehen? |
| This sentence follows the pattern here:. |
| Wollen wir + verb phrase? |
| This literally means "Do we want to [verb phrase]?" |
| In everyday German, this is most often used like "Shall we…?" or "How about we…?" to make a suggestion for doing something together. |
| Here's how the line from the dialogue uses the pattern. |
| Wann wollen wir losgehen? |
| "When should we head out?" |
| Let's break it down. |
| Wann means "when." |
| Then we have wollen wir, which literally means "do we want to," but in this pattern it works like "shall we." |
| Finally, losgehen means "head out" or "set off." |
| So altogether, Wann wollen wir losgehen? means "When shall we head out?" This is a natural way to ask someone when they want to start an activity. |
| This structure works for any plan — just change the verb phrase to match your activity. |
| In this pattern, we're using the modal verb wollen, which means "to want." Modal verbs in German change depending on the subject. For example: |
| ich will – "I want" |
| du willst – "you want" |
| wir wollen – "we want" |
| In our dialogue, we use wir wollen. When it becomes a question, the word order changes: wollen wir. This is normal in German questions, where the verb comes before the subject. |
| Also, notice that the second verb, like losgehen, essen gehen, or besuchen, always stays in its dictionary form, the infinitive, and goes to the end of the sentence. That's why we say Wollen wir losgehen? instead of moving losgehen earlier. |
| So the full pattern is Wollen wir + [infinitive verb phrase]?, which works just like "Shall we…?" in English to suggest doing something together. |
| Now let's look at some speaking examples. |
| Wollen wir heute Abend essen gehen? |
| "Shall we go out to eat this evening?" |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| Let's break it down: |
| Wollen wir means "shall we," or literally "do we want to." |
| Then we have heute Abend, which means "this evening." |
| Finally, essen gehen means "go out to eat" — literally "go eat." |
| Notice how the verb phrase comes at the end of the sentence — this is because with modal verbs like wollen, the second verb always moves to the end in its infinitive form. |
| So altogether, Wollen wir heute Abend essen gehen? means "Shall we go out to eat this evening?" This is a friendly and natural way to suggest a plan in German. |
| Here's another example |
| Wollen wir eine Bootstour machen? |
| "Shall we take a boat tour?" |
| Here again, the verb machen stays at the end of the sentence in its infinitive form. |
| Wollen wir eine Bootstour machen? |
| "Shall we take a boat tour?" |
| Let's try one more, |
| Wollen wir später ein Museum besuchen? |
| "Shall we visit a museum later?" |
| The main action verb besuchen is also at the end. |
| Wollen wir später ein Museum besuchen? |
| "Shall we visit a museum later?" |
| Another one. |
| Wollen wir zusammen zum Markt gehen? |
| "Shall we go to the market together?" |
| Again, the infinitive verb gehen is placed last in the sentence. |
| Wollen wir zusammen zum Markt gehen? |
| "Shall we go to the market together?" |
| One last example. |
| Wollen wir am Sonntag spazieren gehen? |
| "Shall we go for a walk on Sunday?" |
| Wollen wir am Sonntag spazieren gehen? |
| "Shall we go for a walk on Sunday?" |
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