wozu
German, adverb/voːˈt͡suː/
wozu is spelled W-O-Z-U (4 letters) and appears 27 times per million words in written German, the 3,035th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Wozu is a German adverb meaning “for what reason, to what purpose, what for, why?” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “fragt nach einem Zweck, einem Ziel, einem Nutzen”.
What does wozu mean in English?
adverb
- 1
for what reason, to what purpose, what for, why?
Wozu hast du mich gerufen?
- 2
to what, for what, etc.
Wozu hast du ihm gratuliert?
- 3
for which reason, to which purpose
Wir wollen die Nacht im Freien verbringen, wozu wir alles Notwendige mit uns führen werden.
- 4
to which, for which, etc.
Gibt es einen Film, wozu du eigentlich keine Meinung hast?
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adverb: 1. fragt nach einem Zweck, einem Ziel, einem Nutzen 2. zu dem gerade Genannten, Gemeinten
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
How do you pronounce wozu?
- /voːˈt͡suː/
- [voˈt͡suː]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is wozu in German?
wozu appears 27 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).