Breakdown of Der Kollege fragt, ob wir zusammen forschen.
fragen
to ask
wir
we
zusammen
together
der Kollege
the colleague
ob
whether / if
forschen
to research
Questions & Answers about Der Kollege fragt, ob wir zusammen forschen.
Why is the verb forschen at the very end of the sentence?
Because ob is a subordinating conjunction. It introduces an indirect question and forces the conjugated verb to move to the very end of that clause. So instead of the normal word order wir forschen zusammen, it becomes ob wir zusammen forschen.
Can I use wenn instead of ob here, since both mean 'if' in English?
No, you must use ob here. In English, we often use 'if' for both conditions ('If it rains...') and indirect questions ('He asks if...'). In German, ob is only used for indirect yes/no questions meaning 'whether'. wenn is used for the conditional 'if'. Since the colleague is asking a yes/no question, ob is the only correct choice.
Is the comma before ob mandatory?
Yes! In German, dependent clauses like this indirect question must always be separated from the main clause by a comma. English often drops commas before 'whether' or 'if', but German is strict about keeping them.
Does forschen just mean looking things up?
No, forschen specifically means to do academic or scientific research. If you are just searching the internet for everyday information, you would use a word like recherchieren or simply suchen.
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