Welchen Saft möchten Sie?(acc., masc.)
Which/what juice would you like?Bei welchem Friseur warst du? (dat., masc.)
Which hairdresser did you go to?Indirect questions
Indirect questions can be a more polite way of asking for information and
are often preceded by phrases such as Können Sie mir sagen... ‘Can you
tell me.. .’ or Wissen Sie... ‘Do you know.. .’:Direct question Indirect question
Wie heißen Sie? → Können Sie mir sagen, wie Sie heißen?Wann fängt der Film an? → Wissen Sie, wann der Film anfängt?Indirect questions with ob
When transforming yes/no-questions into indirect questions, ob‘whether’
is used:Direct question Indirect question
Kommt Mary aus Irland? → Können Sie mir sagen, ob Mary
aus Irland kommt?Kann man das Wasser → Wissen Sie, ob man das Wasser
trinken? trinken kann?Finite verb in final position
As all indirect questions are subordinate clauses, the finite verb in the
indirect question moves to the end of the clause.- For more information on questions with prepositions, see Unit 9.
130 Unit 17: Forming questions