# Weißt du, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt?



## bluetoonwithcarrotandnail

I think in the sentence dyad:

Fährt Birgit morgen zur Uni?
Weißt du, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt?

Does Birgit go this morning to the university?
Do you know if Birgit goes this morning to the university?

Neither of these sentences consist of a dependent clause
or an independent clause.  Correct?

Thanks.


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## Frank78

*Weißt du*, _ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt_?

*Main clause* _dependent clause_


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## bluetoonwithcarrotandnail

This is tricky:

1.  Warum müssen Studenten in fünf Semestern fertig sein?
2.  Weil es zu viele Studenten gibt.

3.  Warujm mussen Studenten in funf Semestern fertig sein
weil es zu viele Studenten gibt

Sentence #1 is a question.  Sentence #2 is the reply.
The reply in German can be stated as understood without
forming the full sentence which is #3 using the coordinating
conjunction 'weil'.

In the new example from this message:

1.  Fahrt Birgit morgen zur Uni?
2.  Weißt du, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt?

Sentence #1 is a question.  Sentence number #2 is a restatement
of the question but is changing the direction of the person spoken
to from 'Fahrt' to 'Weißt du, ob'

There is no way to form a third statement out of this like

 Fahrt Birgit morgen zur Uni weißt du, ob Birgit morgen
zur Uni fährt?

This combination of sentence #1 and #2 is almost farcical.
I think the point of this excercise is just to restate the question
correct? There is no combination of the sentence or understood
possible reply of one sentence without the other understanding
there really combined as one unit grammatically.

Thanks.


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## brian

#3 above is wrong, as you saw in this old thread of yours (post #5).


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## bluetoonwithcarrotandnail

brian8733 said:


> #3 above is wrong,




 Usually you do not start an answer with "warum".
_Studenten müssen in acht Semestern fertig sein, weil es zu viele Studenten gibt.
_This is the standard form with a main clause and a subordinate clause. 



Studenten müssen in acht Semestern fertig sein, weil es zu viele Studeten
gibt

is wrong?


Thanks.


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## Frank78

"Warum müssen Studenten in funf Semestern fertig sein, weil es zu viele Studenten gibt" - You *CAN* start a question with "Warum (Why)"

What are you trying to do here?
You cannot ask a question and answer in the same sentence. 

But this works:
"Studenten müssen in fünf Semestern fertig sein, weil es zu viele Studenten gibt"

Same in English
1. Why do student have to finish within 5 semester?
2. Because there are too many students
3. Students have to finish within 5 semesters because there are too many students

1.  Fahrt Birgit morgen zur Uni? -direct question
2.  Weißt du, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt? - indirect question

These are Yes/No Questions. 

1. Does Birgit go to university tomorryow?
2. Do you know if Birgit goes to university tomorrow?

What do you want to do here?


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## bluetoonwithcarrotandnail

Frank78 said:


> 1.  Fahrt Birgit morgen zur Uni? -direct question
> 2.  Weißt du, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt? - indirect question



Is there a rule that an indirect or a direct question must have
either an independent clause or a dependent clause or both (or
it does not apply)?

Thanks.


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## brian

The question part of the indirect question _is_ the dependent clause.

By definition, an indirect statement/question is composed of both a dependent and an independent clause:

_He asked me_ (= indep. clause) _what time it is_ (= dep. clause).


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## bluetoonwithcarrotandnail

bluetoonwithcarrotandnail said:


> Fahrt Birgit morgen zur Uni weißt du, ob Birgit morgen
> zur Uni fährt?



Is this sentence possible?  Can you merge:

1. Fährt Birgit morgen zur Uni?
2. Weißt du, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt?

into one sentence?  Or is the person speaking
in a different person?

Thanks.


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## Frank78

No, you cannot merge anything there.


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## bluetoonwithcarrotandnail

Then the purpose of this excercise is to restate the
question from a different person (sing vs. plur).

If you replied to this question:

'Weißt du, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt?'

You could answer one of  ways:

Ja, Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni.
Ja, ich weiß.
Ja, ich weiß daß Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni.

Or am I off the deepend on how German is spoken
culturally (the above is not proper langauge).


Thanks.


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## brian

BTWCAN,

If you look at the translations of these sentences in English, you'll figure out the answer. It's not a matter of German working so differently from English--it's a matter of logic.

_Do you know whether (if) Birgit is driving to the university tomorrow?_

(1) _Yes, Birgit is driving to the university tomorrow._
(2)_ Yes, I know._
(3) _Yes, I know that Birgit is driving to the university tomorrow._​As you can see, (1) is perfectly fine (and the most natural, along with "No, Birgit is not...").

(2) is probably okay if you mean "Yes, I do know... but I'm not going to tell you..." but it's kind of weird. Except maybe in German it'd rather be, _Ja, das weiß ich._ Not positive though.

(3) does not work since the original question contains _ob_ (_whether/if_), not _dass _(_that_). That is, it would only be possible if the original question were, _Weiß du, *dass* Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt_ = _Did _(literally _Do_) _you know that Birgit is driving to the university tomorrow?_

So again, just look at the English versions and you'll figure it out.


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## Robocop

bluetoonwithcarrotandnail said:


> Then the purpose of this excercise is to restate the question from a different person (sing vs. plur).


I still have not understood the exercise you are referring to. What is given? What are you supposed to do?



			
				bluetoonwithcarrotandnail said:
			
		

> - Fährt Birgit morgen zur Uni? ==> Question given?
> - Weißt du, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt? ==> Different kind of question to the same topic? ==> Expected solution?


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## bluetoonwithcarrotandnail

bluetoonwithcarrotandnail said:


> Ja, ich weiß daß Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni.



What if you change it to:

Ja, ich weiß ob Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni
Yes, I know whether Birgit is driving to the University today

Thanks.


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## Frank78

Ja, ich weiß daß Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni. -you know she *definitly* goes to university

Ja, ich weiß ob Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni - you know *if she goes or not*

Although both answers are grammatically OK. I think these are rather impolite answers to the questions because you want to know *the answer* and not if the other person knows the answer or not.


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## Robocop

bluetoonwithcarrotandnail said:


> What if you change it to:
> 
> Ja, ich weiß ob Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni
> Yes, I know whether Birgit is driving to the University today


I find both statements *incorrect*. 
"Wissen, dass" / "know that" is what we need here.


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## Lykurg

Frank78 said:
			
		

> Ja, ich weiß, daß Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni fährt. -you know she *definitly* goes to university
> Ja, ich weiß darüber Bescheid, ob Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni fährt. - you know *if she goes or not*
> 
> [...] I think these are rather impolite answers to the questions because you want to know *the answer* and not if the other person knows the answer or not.


The first one is not impolite in that sense - it contains the answer to _both _questions. 
Even the second answer can be adequate if you know the speaker is well-informed about her plans and really asks whether you are inducted.


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## Frank78

I shouldn´t copy and paste without rereading it carefully. 

Anyway I can hardly imagine a situation in which I can you the second answer. Enlighten us with an example Lykurg.

"Ja, ich weiß darüber Bescheid, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt" - this does not work "ob" must be "dass" here. IF there is any doubt whether she goes or not then you CANNOT know it - because she obviously doesn´t know herself. Is that clear? A matter of logic.

It just work in the future tense:

"Ja, ich werde darüber wissen Bescheid, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt" - because she will tell me later


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## bluetoonwithcarrotandnail

Which is more correct?

Weißt du, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt?

Weißt du, ob Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni?

Fehren is not a modal verb - but i believe the infinitive
goes at the end.


Thanks.


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## Robocop

bluetoonwithcarrotandnail said:


> Which is more (?????) correct?
> 
> Weißt du, ob Birgit morgen zur Uni fährt?
> 
> Weißt du, ob Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni?
> 
> Fahren is not a modal verb - but I believe the infinitive (Which infinitive?? I can't see any) goes at the end.


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## Lykurg

Frank, I somehow agree - the situation I had in mind (Someone asking a group of friends, just to check who of them knows what Birgit is up to do, and who doesn't. This question has to be answered like "Ich weiß es.", because giving a distinct "Ich weiß, daß (nicht)..." would alter the result of the inquiry) is way too far-fetched.


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## brian

Lykurg said:


> Frank, I somehow agree - the situation I had in mind (Someone asking a group of friends, just to check who of them knows what Birgit is up to do, and who doesn't. This question has to be answered like "Ich weiß es.", because giving a distinct "Ich weiß, daß (nicht)..." would alter the result of the inquiry) is way too far-fetched.



Yeah, that's the idea I was trying to get across in post #12:



			
				brian8733 said:
			
		

> (2)_ Yes, I know.
> _
> [...]
> 
> (2) is probably okay if you mean "Yes, I do know... but I'm not going to tell you..." but it's kind of weird. Except maybe in German it'd rather be, *Ja, das weiß ich.* Not positive though.



I suppose you answered my question though: _Ja, ich weiß es_ is better than _Ja, das weiß ich._


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## bluetoonwithcarrotandnail

brian8733 said:


> Yeah
> 
> my question though:
> 
> _Ja, ich weiß es_
> 
> is better than
> 
> _Ja, das weiß ich._



I gather that the general consensus is that 'Ja, ich wei es'
or 'Ja, das wei ich' are both better than:

Ja, ich weiß ob Birgit fährt morgen zur Uni


Is it still okay to say, "Ja, ich weiß ob.."

Thanks.


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## brian

Not to sound harsh or anything, but I don't understand the point of these questions of yours.

Plus, like I told you above, it's the exact same in English.

A: Do you know whether Birgit blah blah blah?
B: Yes, I know whether Birgit blah blah blah.

You would never respond with that, although technically it's a grammatically valid sentence.

It's like asking: If someone asks you if you know what time the store closes, can you respond "Yes, I do know"? Of course you _can_, but no one ever would (unless they were being a jerk)--you'd either say "No" or "Yes, at 5 p.m." (or whatever).


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