Breakdown of Weißt du, ob das Experiment im Labor stattfindet?
du
you (informal singular)
wissen
to know (a fact)
im
in the (used with months) / in the (contraction of in + dem)
stattfinden
to take place
ob
whether / if
das Experiment
the experiment
das Labor
the laboratory
Questions & Answers about Weißt du, ob das Experiment im Labor stattfindet?
Why is the verb stattfindet at the very end of the sentence?
The word ob (whether/if) introduces an indirect yes/no question, which is a type of subordinate clause. In German subordinate clauses, the conjugated verb is always pushed to the very end.
Can I use wenn instead of ob here since they both translate to 'if'?
No, you need to use ob here. Use ob for indirect yes/no questions (any time you could replace 'if' with 'whether' in English). You only use wenn for conditions (like 'If it rains, I will stay home').
Isn't stattfinden a separable verb? Why isn't it split up into findet ... statt?
You are right, stattfinden (to take place) is a separable verb! In a normal main clause, it would split: Das Experiment findet statt. But because the word ob pushes the verb to the end of the sentence, the two separated parts are forced back together and written as a single word: stattfindet.
Why is it im Labor and not in das Labor?
The word im is a combination of in and the dative article dem. We use the dative case here because the experiment is happening at a fixed location (answering the question 'where?'). If the sentence described movement to a new destination (answering 'where to?'), you would use the accusative ins (in das).
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