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wie

how

conjunction VEE Common

Also means

as

Usage Note

wie asks 'how' (Wie geht's?) but also means 'as/like' in comparisons of equality (so groß wie = 'as big as'), where English learners often wrongly reach for als. Use als only for inequality ('bigger than'). It also opens exclamations, as in Wie schön! ('How lovely!').

Examples

"Wie heißt du?"

Natural Translation

What's your name?

Literal Translation

How are-you-called?

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