Die Sekretärin legt das Arbeitsblatt auf den Tisch und fragt, ob unsere Anwesenheit schon kontrolliert wurde.

Because Sekretärin is a feminine noun meaning female secretary.

• die Sekretärin = the secretary
• The masculine form is der Sekretär

German nouns have grammatical gender, so the article must match the noun:

• die for feminine
• der for masculine
• das for neuter

Here, die Sekretärin is also the subject of the sentence.

German main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule (V2). That means the finite verb comes in the second position.

In this clause:

• Die Sekretärin = position 1
• legt = position 2
• das Arbeitsblatt auf den Tisch = the rest

So Die Sekretärin legt das Arbeitsblatt auf den Tisch is a normal German main clause.

legen means to lay / to put something somewhere. It usually implies movement and takes an object.

• Sie legt das Arbeitsblatt auf den Tisch. = She puts the worksheet onto the table.

By contrast, liegen means to lie / to be lying somewhere, with no movement:

• Das Arbeitsblatt liegt auf dem Tisch. = The worksheet is lying on the table.

A very common German pattern is:

• legen = put/lay something somewhere
• liegen = be lying somewhere

Because Arbeitsblatt is a neuter noun, so its nominative/accusative singular article is das.

• das Arbeitsblatt = the worksheet

In this sentence, it is the direct object of legt, so it is in the accusative case. For neuter nouns, the article is still das in both nominative and accusative singular, so there is no visible change.

Because auf is a two-way preposition (Wechselpräposition). It can take:

• accusative when there is movement toward a destination
• dative when there is location without movement

Here, the secretary is putting the worksheet onto the table, so there is movement:

• auf den Tisch = onto the table

Compare:

• Sie legt das Arbeitsblatt auf den Tisch. = She puts the worksheet onto the table.
• Das Arbeitsblatt liegt auf dem Tisch. = The worksheet is lying on the table.

So:

• den Tisch = accusative, because of direction/movement
• dem Tisch = dative, because of location

Because Tisch is masculine, and after auf with movement it must be in the accusative case.

The masculine article changes like this:

• nominative: der Tisch
• accusative: den Tisch

That is why you get:

• auf den Tisch

This is one of the most important case changes to notice in German, because masculine nouns show it clearly.

Actually, the comma is not before und fragt. The comma comes later:

• ..., und fragt, ob ...

There is a comma before ob because ob introduces a subordinate clause.

German normally puts a comma before subordinate clauses introduced by words like:

• dass = that
• ob = whether/if
• weil = because
• wenn = if/when

So the structure is:

• main clause: Die Sekretärin legt das Arbeitsblatt auf den Tisch und fragt
• subordinate clause: ob unsere Anwesenheit schon kontrolliert wurde

ob means whether or sometimes if in English.

It introduces an indirect yes/no question.

So:

• Sie fragt, ob ... = She asks whether ... = She asks if ...

This is different from wenn, which can also mean if, but usually in the sense of if/when for conditions or repeated events, not indirect questions.

Compare:

• Sie fragt, ob er kommt. = She asks whether he is coming.
• Wenn er kommt, ... = If he comes, ...

Because ob introduces a subordinate clause, and in German subordinate clauses the finite verb usually goes to the end.

So:

• main clause: Die Sekretärin fragt
• subordinate clause: ob unsere Anwesenheit schon kontrolliert wurde

Inside the subordinate clause, the verb is at the end:

• wurde

This is a core German word-order rule.

Anwesenheit means presence or attendance.

Here, unsere Anwesenheit literally means our attendance/presence.

German often uses nouns where English might prefer a different structure. So instead of saying something like whether we were already checked in, German can say:

• ob unsere Anwesenheit schon kontrolliert wurde = whether our attendance has already been checked

It sounds formal and natural in German.

Also, Anwesenheit is feminine:

• die Anwesenheit

That is why the possessive is:

• unsere Anwesenheit

Because the possessive adjective has to match the gender, number, and case of the noun it belongs to.

Here the noun is:

• Anwesenheit
• feminine singular

In the nominative feminine singular, unser- becomes unsere.

So:

• unsere Anwesenheit = our attendance

Compare:

• unser Tisch = our table
• unsere Anwesenheit = our attendance
• unser Arbeitsblatt = our worksheet

Here schon means already.

So:

• ob unsere Anwesenheit schon kontrolliert wurde = whether our attendance was already checked = whether our attendance has already been checked

In context, schon often adds the idea of by now / yet already.

It is a very common word, but its exact tone can vary depending on context. In this sentence, the basic meaning is simply already.

Yes. It is the passive voice.

The basic active sentence would be something like:

• Jemand kontrollierte unsere Anwesenheit. = Someone checked our attendance.

In the passive, the person doing the action is not named:

• Unsere Anwesenheit wurde kontrolliert. = Our attendance was checked.

In the subordinate clause, because the verb goes to the end, it becomes:

• ob unsere Anwesenheit schon kontrolliert wurde

So:

• kontrolliert = past participle
• wurde = finite form of werden

This is the simple past passive (Präteritum Passiv).

In a normal main clause, it would be:

• Unsere Anwesenheit wurde kontrolliert.

But after ob, the clause is subordinate, so the finite verb moves to the end:

• ..., ob unsere Anwesenheit schon kontrolliert wurde.

That is why the order changes from:

• wurde kontrolliert in a main clause

to:

• kontrolliert wurde in a subordinate clause

Literally, wurde kontrolliert is was checked.

So the most literal translation is:

• whether our attendance was already checked

However, English often prefers has been checked in this kind of context, especially when the result matters now. So depending on the translation shown to the learner, you may see:

• whether our attendance was already checked
• whether our attendance has already been checked

The German form here is still Präteritum passive, not the full perfect passive.

If it were perfect passive, it would be:

• ob unsere Anwesenheit schon kontrolliert worden ist or more commonly in speech
• ob unsere Anwesenheit schon kontrolliert worden ist / worden war, depending on context

So the sentence as given uses wurde, not worden ist.

Because the subject of fragt is not our attendance or we. The subject is still:

• die Sekretärin

She is the one doing both actions:

• legt the worksheet on the table
• fragt whether the attendance was checked

So both verbs are singular:

• legt
• fragt

It has two coordinated main-clause verbs, followed by a subordinate clause.

Structure:

1. Die Sekretärin legt das Arbeitsblatt auf den Tisch

   • main clause

2. und fragt

   • second verb coordinated with und

3. ob unsere Anwesenheit schon kontrolliert wurde

   • subordinate clause introduced by ob

So the full pattern is:

• [Main clause] + und + [main-clause verb] + [subordinate clause]

A rough breakdown:

• Die Sekretärin = subject
• legt = first finite verb
• das Arbeitsblatt = direct object
• auf den Tisch = direction
• und fragt = second action by the same subject
• ob ... wurde = indirect yes/no question

Yes. In this sentence, kontrollieren is very naturally translated as to check.

Depending on context, kontrollieren can mean:

• to check
• to inspect
• to verify
• to control/monitor

Here, attendance is being checked, so check is the most natural English choice.

Yes, it sounds fairly neutral to formal, especially because of unsere Anwesenheit and kontrolliert.

More informal everyday German might use different wording depending on context, but this sentence is completely natural and correct, especially in a school or office setting.

Words like Sekretärin, Arbeitsblatt, Anwesenheit, and kontrolliert fit a school/administrative context very well.