Indirect questions: ob and the seven W-words, with the verb at the end
CEFR B1 · part 2
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
The future with werden, and why it is hardly ever usedBuilding the future with werden conjugated and the infinitive at the end, and —what…entweder…oder, nicht nur…sondern auch: two-part connectorsLinking two ideas with the five commonest pairs —entweder…oder, sowohl…als auch…warten auf, denken an: verbs with a fixed preposition, and the da- and wo- that go with themLearning the verb with its preposition attached, as one word —warten AUF, denken AN…der Deutsche, etwas Gutes: adjectives turned into nounsTurning an adjective into a noun, which German does every day: der Alte, die Kleine, das…könnten Sie, ich hätte gern: polite requests and wishesAsking for things without sounding blunt, which matters more in Germany than you would…obwohl, damit and um…zu: although, so that and in order toExpressing purpose and concession, which is what turns two loose sentences into an…The rule, in three lines
A question put inside another sentence stops behaving like a question: the verb goes TO THE END. Wissen Sie, wo der Bahnhof IST? If it was a yes-or-no question, it opens with ob. If it had a question word, that stays: wo, wann, warum, wie, wer, was, welcher. And what they are really for is asking without sounding blunt.
The usual slip. Keeping direct question order after the comma: Weißt du, wo ist der Bahnhof? The verb has to go to the end, as in any subordinate clause. The second mistake is translating «if» as wenn: the «if» of «I don't know if he's coming» is ob, and wenn is the conditional one.
Why it catches you out. English already does this: «Do you know where the station is?» has the verb after the subject, not before. So the word order change is one you make every day. The only new thing is ob, where English says «whether» — and German never uses wenn for it.