Genau
Topic test · B1

Indirect questions test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
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One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

Ich weiß nicht, er heute kommt.

Ich weiß nicht = I don’t know

ob. “I don’t know whether he’s coming” — there is a yes/no question inside. wenn means “if (provided that)” and would break the meaning of the sentence.

Weißt du, wann ?

Do you know when he’s coming?

er kommt. An indirect question is a subordinate clause: the question order is undone and the verb goes to the end.

Ich freue mich, du kommst.

sich freuen = to be happy

wenn. There is no question here, there is a condition: “I’ll be happy if you come.” If “whether” does not fit the English, it is not ob.

Können Sie mir sagen, wo der Bahnhof ?

Can you tell me where the station is?

ist. The verb goes to the end. Because the main clause is a question, the question mark stays at the end of the sentence — but the structure inside is that of a subordinate clause.

Ich weiß nicht, wann der Zug .

I don’t know when the train leaves.

abfährt. In a subordinate clause the two parts of a separable verb join up at the end and are written as one word.

Können Sie mir sagen, das Ticket kostet? (how much the ticket)

Can you tell me how much the ticket costs?

wie viel. If the direct question has a W-word, that word itself becomes the conjunction — nothing is added in front of it. ob only steps in for yes/no questions, that is, when there is no W-word; a double conjunction like ob wie viel does not exist in German.

Ich weiß noch nicht, ob ich morgen .

I don’t know yet whether I’ll be able to come tomorrow.

kommen kann. In a subordinate clause the conjugated verb goes last; the conjugated one is the modal, so kann comes last with the infinitive kommen in front of it. kann kommen is main-clause order and does not occur in a subordinate clause. kann ich kommen is the order of a direct question — in the indirect form that order is undone, and besides, ich is already in the sentence, so it cannot appear twice.

er heute noch anruft?

I wonder if he’ll call today.

Ob. When ob starts a sentence on its own it means “I wonder if …”, and the verb still stays at the end (anruft). wenn means “if (provided that)”; there is a question here, not a condition, so the meaning does not fit. dass embeds a statement, not a question — it cannot build a question sentence on its own.

Sag mir bitte, warum du gestern nicht .

Please tell me why you didn’t come yesterday.

In a subordinate clause the conjugated verb goes last. In the Perfekt the order is not broken, only shifted: participle first, auxiliary last — gekommen bist.

Which one means “I don’t know when he came”?

When a question word (wann) opens the subordinate clause, the sentence is no longer a question: the inverted order ends and the verb moves to the end.

Ich weiß nicht, wo ist er.

I don’t know where he is

In indirect questions the verb always stands at the very end of the subordinate clause: ... wo er ist.

Ich weiß nicht, er kommt.

I don’t know whether he’s coming

When a yes/no question is turned into an indirect question, the conjunction ob (“whether”) is used.

Build the sentence: Do you know where he lives?

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

In indirect questions that start with a question word, too, the verb goes to the end of the sentence.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. A question word is the conjunction

    If the original question starts with wann · wo · warum · wie viel, the same word is used in the indirect form; nothing extra is added. If there is no question word, ob fills the gap.

    Wo ist der Bahnhof? → Wissen Sie, wo der Bahnhof ist?

  2. ob = “whether”

    Questions with a yes/no answer take ob in the indirect form. Its English counterpart is “whether” — and it is NOT wenn, even though English “if” can stand for either.

    Kommt er? → Ich weiß nicht, ob er kommt.

  3. The verb goes last, the inversion ends

    In a subordinate clause the conjugated verb is in final position. The inverted order of the question (kommt er) is fixed in the indirect form: er kommt.

    Wann kommt er? → Weißt du, wann er kommt?

  4. A separable verb joins up at the end

    In a subordinate clause the particle of a separable verb glues back on: fährt ab → abfährt. In the Perfekt the participle comes first and the auxiliary stands last.

    … wann der Zug abfährt. · … warum du nicht gekommen bist.

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • Ich weiß nicht, wenn er kommt.

    Ich weiß nicht, ob er kommt.

    English “if” covers both, so they get mixed up. wenn is a conjunction of condition/time; asking “whether or not” needs ob.

  • Weißt du, wann kommt er?

    Weißt du, wann er kommt?

    An indirect question is no longer a question sentence but a subordinate clause. The inverted order breaks and the verb goes to the end.

  • Ich weiß nicht, wann der Zug ab fährt.

    Ich weiß nicht, wann der Zug abfährt.

    In a subordinate clause the separated part glues back onto the verb and stands at the end as one word.

  • Sag mir, warum du nicht bist gekommen.

    Sag mir, warum du nicht gekommen bist.

    In a Perfekt subordinate clause the order shifts: participle first, the auxiliary last.