I’m trying to ascertain whether it’s correct to say „Könnten Sie mir bitte sagen, wo ist der Bahnhof?„ or „Könnten Sie mir bitte sagen wo der Bahnhof ist?„
According to the results of Google searches, unless I’m mistaken, both are correct, but I don’t feel this is so.
Please establish for me which is right.
Native speaker here - your hunch is right.
The correct form is "Könnten Sie mir bitte sagen, wo der Bahnhof ist?". In a subordinate clause (which is always set off by a comma), the conjugated verb moves to the end.
Unfortunately, an increasing number of native speakers do not follow this basic rule, especially in subordinate clauses with "weil" - this probably explains the google results. However, especially in written communication, this is substandard and not acceptable.
If you are learning German, you may find the Leo dictionary and forum an interesting resource.
Hi,
native speaker as well. They're both not wrong, grammatically speaking, but the first one sounds very strange nonetheless. I don't think people would actually say it like that.
Anita
May I suggest that if an utterance sounds strange or very strange, that s probably because it s not constructed according to the grammar for that utterance?
A native speaker of Spanish, for example, following the particular rule of their own language, might say, in English >Could you tell me where is the railway station? Is this strange or wrong? I d say it s wrong.
NOTE.... Due to peculiarities in this keyboard, I m unable to write this in the way I wish to.