Indirect questions with ob and question words

01 / Understand

Put a question inside a larger message

An indirect question embeds the information you want inside another clause. Compare Wann beginnt der Kurs? with Wissen Sie, wann der Kurs beginnt? The direct question asks about the starting time. The longer sentence asks whether the listener knows that time, and in conversation normally invites them to supply it. This structure is useful at a reception desk, when checking plans, or when reporting information you still need. The embedded content remains a question about an unknown detail.

Do not confuse indirect wording with automatically formal wording. Weißt du, wo mein Schlüssel ist? is suitable for someone you address with du. Können Sie mir sagen, wo der Eingang ist? uses formal address. The outer clause controls that relationship with the listener; the inner clause describes the information sought. Practice separating these two jobs. If you change from du to Sie, you must revise the outer verb, but the subject of the embedded clause may remain exactly the same.

02 / Understand

Keep the original question word

When the direct question already has a question word, keep it. Wo ist der Eingang? becomes Können Sie mir sagen, wo der Eingang ist? The location is still unknown, so wo is still appropriate. A time question keeps wann, a reason question keeps warum, and a duration question can keep the full phrase wie lange. Do not replace every question word with ob. Doing so would change a request for a detail into a different kind of question.

Choose the question word by the answer you expect. Wo asks for location, wohin for direction, and woher for origin. Wann asks when something happens; wie lange asks for its duration. The same distinctions hold whether the question stands alone or is embedded. Imagine a plausible answer before writing the sentence. If the expected answer is “at nine,” a time word is needed. If the expected answer is “yes,” you are probably building the other major pattern, the embedded yes or no question.

03 / Understand

Use ob for an embedded yes or no question

A direct yes or no question has no question word to preserve. Introduce its embedded form with ob, meaning “whether” or the questioning sense of English “if.” Ist der Laden geöffnet? becomes Ich weiß nicht, ob der Laden geöffnet ist. The speaker is uncertain between two possibilities. The clause does not set a condition for another action. That difference in communicative purpose is the key to choosing ob rather than copying English “if” mechanically.

Compare Ich frage, ob du kommst. with Ich koche, wenn du kommst. The first asks whether you are coming. The second makes cooking dependent on your coming, or describes what happens when you come. German normally uses wenn for that conditional or repeated time relation, not for the embedded yes or no question. In the exercises, read the outer verb carefully. Knowing, asking, checking, or being uncertain about an answer often supports ob, while a condition links one event to another.

04 / Understand

Move the finite verb to the clause’s end

The embedded question follows dependent clause order. In Ich weiß, wo der Bus hält. the subject der Bus precedes the finite verb hält, which ends the embedded clause. The direct question has Wo hält der Bus?, but that direct order is not copied after the introductory frame. Mark a mental boundary after the comma and build the inner clause separately. This helps avoid a sentence that begins indirectly but suddenly switches back to a standalone question.

With a modal, the finite modal goes after the infinitive: Ich weiß nicht, wo ich parken darf. With a perfect tense, the auxiliary goes after the participle: Weißt du, wann sie angekommen ist? A separable finite verb is reunited at the end: Ich frage, wann der Zug abfährt. These are applications of the same dependent clause structure. Learn the complete final verb group in a short example, then add objects or time details without disturbing that group. Advanced multi verb combinations can wait until these ordinary patterns are stable.

05 / Understand

Preserve case and prepositions in the question phrase

Embedding a question does not remove the case required by its verb or preposition. Wem soll ich antworten? becomes Ich weiß nicht, wem ich antworten soll. The recipient of antworten remains dative, so the question word is wem. An accusative person question can use wen: Weißt du, wen sie sucht? The outer clause does not turn these into nominative wer. Identify the missing participant’s role inside the embedded question itself.

A preposition also stays with the question phrase: Können Sie mir sagen, mit wem ich sprechen kann? Here mit selects dative and precedes wem. For things, German has additional pronominal adverb patterns such as womit, but this lesson keeps its productive focus on clear questions about people and familiar noun phrases. When choosing between welcher forms, use the same article and case reasoning you already know. Welchen Bus is a masculine accusative object in Ich weiß nicht, welchen Bus ich nehmen soll.

06 / Understand

Conjugate the outer frame independently

Useful frames include Ich weiß nicht, ..., Weißt du, ...?, Wissen Sie, ...?, and Können Sie mir sagen, ...? The verb wissen has irregular singular forms: ich weiß, du weißt, er weiß. Its plural forms include wir wissen and ihr wisst. Formal Sie takes wissen. These forms belong to the outer frame, while the embedded clause has its own subject and finite verb. A singular shop inside the question does not make formal Wissen Sie singular.

Distinguish wissen from kennen. In these information frames, wissen introduces knowledge of a fact or the answer to a question. Kennen commonly expresses familiarity with a person, place, or thing, as in Ich kenne den Bahnhof. That familiarity does not necessarily include every detail about the station. You may know the station and still ask Weißt du, wann der Schalter öffnet? Learn the frame you need rather than treating both German verbs as interchangeable translations of English “know.”

07 / Understand

Punctuate the whole sentence by its outer purpose

A comma separates the introductory clause from the embedded question. The final punctuation follows the overall sentence. Wissen Sie, wo die Kasse ist? is a question addressed to the listener and ends with a question mark. Ich weiß nicht, wo die Kasse ist. is a statement of uncertainty and ends with a period. Both contain the same embedded question. The presence of wo alone does not determine how the complete sentence should end.

After writing, read the intended answer and check that the message requests it clearly. A person can technically answer Wissen Sie ...? with “yes,” but in ordinary helpful conversation the frame generally asks them to share the information. If confusion occurs, follow up with a direct question or explain what detail you need. For revision, check the outer agreement, the opening word of the embedded question, and the final finite verb as separate decisions. This prevents a polite opening from disguising an incorrectly constructed inner clause.

See it in a sentence

Notice the difference

Common mistakes

From understanding to using

Make your own example.

Try these without answer choices. Say your answer aloud or write it below, then compare your reasoning with the model.