German Indirect Questions: Reporting with 'asked if' and 'asked where'
Learn to report yes/no and information questions in German using fragen, ob and question words, with correct word order and verb forms.
By TheaFirst conversations · Yapr Learn
When you tell someone what another person asked, German uses indirect questions. For yes/no questions, use fragen, ob ... (asked if ...). For information questions, keep the question word: fragen, wo ... (asked where ...). The main change is word order: after ob or a question word, the conjugated verb goes to the end of the clause. This lesson gives you the patterns, the verb forms and the punctuation you need to report questions accurately at elementary level.
By the end, you can…
- report a yes/no question using fragen, ob ... with the verb at the end.
- report an information question using a question word such as wo, wann or warum.
- choose between ob and a question word correctly.
- use polite and neutral reporting verbs and keep the correct tenses.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
Er hat gefragt, ob ich fertig bin.
He asked if I was ready.
air haht guh-FRAHKT, op ikh FAIR-tikh bin
Yes/no question reported with ob; the verb bin goes to the end.
Sie hat gefragt, wo ich wohne.
She asked where I live.
zee haht guh-FRAHKT, voh ikh VOH-nuh
Information question with wo; verb wohne at the end.
Ich habe gefragt, ob du Zeit hast.
I asked if you had time.
ikh HAH-buh guh-FRAHKT, op doo tsyt hast
Use ob for a yes/no question; hast is final.
Wir haben gefragt, wann der Kurs beginnt.
We asked when the course begins.
veer HAH-buhn guh-FRAHKT, van dair koors buh-GINT
Information question with wann; begins at the end.
Er fragte, ob sie kommen kann.
He asked if she could come.
air FRAHK-tuh, op zee KOM-uhn kan
Simple past fragte is common in written reports; kann is final.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
The reporting clause comes first: subject + form of fragen + comma. Then the reported question follows. For yes/no questions, use ob: Er fragt, ob ich Zeit habe. For information questions, use the question word: Er fragt, wo ich wohne. In both cases, the conjugated verb moves to the end of the reported clause. Note that German uses a comma before ob or the question word, and the reported clause is a subordinate clause.
When to use it
Use ob when the original question had no question word and could be answered with ja or nein: Kommst du? becomes Er fragt, ob ich komme. Use a question word when the original question began with one: Wo wohnst du? becomes Er fragt, wo ich wohne. In everyday spoken German, the present tense is often kept even when the asking happened in the past: Er hat gefragt, ob ich Zeit habe. In more formal written German, the simple past fragte or the past perfect hatte gefragt is common. For politeness, use Ich wollte fragen, ob ... (I wanted to ask if ...).
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
Hast du Lisa gesehen?
Did you see Lisa?hast doo LEE-zah guh-ZAY-uhnJa. Sie hat gefragt, ob du mitkommst.
Yes. She asked if you were coming along.yah. zee haht guh-FRAHKT, op doo MIT-komstWirklich? Und hat sie auch gefragt, wo wir uns treffen?
Really? And did she also ask where we are meeting?VIRK-likh? unt haht zee oukh guh-FRAHKT, voh veer uns TREF-uhnJa, und wann. Ich habe gesagt, um sieben am Bahnhof.
Yes, and when. I said at seven at the station.yah, unt van. ikh HAH-buh guh-ZAHKT, um ZEE-buhn am BAHN-hohfA little context goes a long way
German uses a comma before ob and before question words in reported questions. In spoken German, present tense is often kept after a past reporting verb, while written German may use the simple past or past perfect. In Austria and parts of southern Germany, the simple past is less common in speech, so present perfect forms like hat gefragt are especially frequent.
One thing to watch for
Er hat gefragt, ob bin ich fertig.
Try this instead: The conjugated verb must go to the end of the reported clause: Er hat gefragt, ob ich fertig bin. The same rule applies after question words: Sie hat gefragt, wo ich wohne, not wo wohne ich.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1Report this yes/no question: Kommst du morgen? Use Er hat gefragt ...
Show a sample answer
Er hat gefragt, ob ich morgen komme.
Yes/no questions use ob, and the verb komme moves to the end. In spoken German, present tense is common even after hat gefragt; Er hat gefragt, ob ich morgen kommen würde is also possible in more formal contexts.
2Report this information question: Wo arbeitet sie? Use Ich habe gefragt ...
Show a sample answer
Ich habe gefragt, wo sie arbeitet.
The question word wo is kept, and the verb arbeitet goes to the end. The same word order applies with other reporting verbs, e.g. Sie fragte, wo er arbeitet.
3Choose ob or wo: Er hat gefragt, ___ der Zug fährt.
Show a sample answer
wo
The original question is Wohin fährt der Zug? or Wo fährt der Zug?, so a question word is needed. Use wo for location; use wohin for direction if the meaning is 'where to'.
Report yes/no questions with fragen, ob ... and information questions with the original question word. In both cases, put the conjugated verb at the end of the reported clause.
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