Indirect Questions in Danish

In Brief

A Danish indirect question puts a question inside a larger sentence. Use om for a yes/no question and keep the appropriate question word for an information question: Jeg ved ikke, om hun kommer and Kan du fortælle mig, hvor han bor? The embedded question has subordinate clause word order, so its subject comes before the finite verb and ikke normally comes before that verb.

Overview

An indirect question is an embedded question: instead of asking Hvor bor han? (“Where does he live?”) directly, you can say Jeg ved ikke, hvor han bor (“I don’t know where he lives”). It can report what someone asked, express uncertainty, or form part of a polite request. You will hear these structures constantly after verbs and expressions such as vide (“know”), spørge (“ask”), fortælle (“tell”), huske (“remember”), and være sikker på (“be sure”).

At B1, this topic brings together direct questions and Danish subordinate clauses, called bisætninger or ledsætninger (clauses that depend on another part of a sentence). The important change is structural: the embedded part is not arranged like a direct question. Danish uses its subordinate pattern there, even when the complete sentence is itself a question.

English offers a useful starting point because it also contrasts “Where does he live?” with “Do you know where he lives?” Danish makes one part of the change especially visible: sentence adverbs such as ikke (“not”), aldrig (“never”), and allerede (“already”) normally stand before the finite verb in the embedded question.

How It Works

The two basic patterns

A finite verb is the verb form that carries tense, such as kommer, kom, har, or skal. An indirect question begins with either om or a question word, and the material after that opening follows subordinate clause order.

Danish pattern	English meaning	Use
om + subject + (adverb) + finite verb	whether/if + subject + verb	An answer of yes or no is possible
question word + subject + (adverb) + finite verb	question word + subject + verb	A particular piece of information is missing

Parentheses around “adverb” mean that this position is used only when an adverb is present. For example, om hun kommer has no adverb, while om hun ikke kommer places ikke before kommer.

Yes/no questions: use om

A direct yes/no question generally starts with the finite verb:

• Kommer hun? — “Is she coming?”
• Har de tid? — “Do they have time?”

When that question is embedded, introduce it with om, meaning “if” or “whether,” and put the subject before the verb:

• Jeg ved ikke, om hun kommer. — “I don’t know whether she is coming.”
• Han spurgte, om de havde tid. — “He asked whether they had time.”

Do not confuse interrogative om with conditional hvis. A conditional clause gives a condition: Hvis hun kommer, laver jeg kaffe (“If she comes, I’ll make coffee”). An indirect question leaves the answer open: Jeg ved ikke, om hun kommer (“I don’t know if she is coming”). English uses “if” in both jobs, but Danish normally keeps hvis and om distinct.

Information questions: keep the question word

If the direct question contains a question word, retain it in the indirect question. Common choices include:

Danish	English	Example opening
hvad	what	Jeg ved ikke, hvad …
hvem	who/whom	Kan du se, hvem …?
hvor	where	Fortæl mig, hvor …
hvornår	when	Hun spurgte, hvornår …
hvorfor	why	Jeg forstår ikke, hvorfor …
hvordan	how	Ved du, hvordan …?
hvilken / hvilket / hvilke	which	Jeg er usikker på, hvilken …
hvor meget / hvor mange	how much / how many	De undersøger, hvor mange …

Compare the order carefully:

Danish	English	Structure
Hvor bor han?	Where does he live?	Direct: question word + verb + subject
Ved du, hvor han bor?	Do you know where he lives?	Indirect: question word + subject + verb
Hvornår rejser vi?	When are we leaving?	Direct: question word + verb + subject
Han spurgte, hvornår vi rejser.	He asked when we are leaving.	Indirect: question word + subject + verb

Danish does not add an equivalent of English “do” or “does.” The contrast is created by the order of the Danish subject and finite verb.

Put sentence adverbs before the finite verb

In a main clause, ikke normally follows the finite verb: Hun ringede ikke (“She didn’t call”). In a subordinate clause, including an indirect question, ikke normally comes before it: hvorfor hun ikke ringede (“why she didn’t call”). This is the most useful visible test of subordinate word order.

Danish	English	Word order
Hvorfor ringede hun ikke?	Why didn’t she call?	Direct question: verb + subject + ikke
Jeg undrer mig over, hvorfor hun ikke ringede.	I wonder why she didn’t call.	Embedded: subject + ikke + verb
Er bussen allerede kørt?	Has the bus already left?	Direct question
Ved du, om bussen allerede er kørt?	Do you know whether the bus has already left?	Embedded: allerede before finite er

The same principle applies to sentence adverbs such as aldrig (“never”), måske (“perhaps”), sikkert (“probably/certainly,” depending on context), and allerede (“already”). Not every adverb belongs in this slot, so learn the pattern first with ikke, the clearest and most frequent example.

When the question word is itself the subject

Sometimes hvem or hvad is the person or thing doing the action—the subject. Standard Danish then normally uses der after the question word in an embedded question:

• Hvem kommer? → Ved du, hvem der kommer?
• Hvad skete der? → Jeg ved ikke, hvad der skete.

Here der helps mark the subject position; it does not mean “there” in the usual location sense. Contrast this with hvem du inviterede: in that sentence du is the subject, and hvem is the person affected by the invitation, so no der is needed.

The whole sentence controls the punctuation

An embedded question does not automatically make the complete sentence a written question:

• Jeg ved ikke, hvor hun bor. — a statement, so it ends with a period
• Ved du, hvor hun bor? — a direct question as a whole, so it ends with a question mark
• Fortæl mig, hvor hun bor. — an instruction, so it normally ends with a period

The comma before an embedded clause depends partly on which accepted Danish comma system a writer follows. Many texts use a “start comma” before subordinate clauses, as in the examples here; other texts omit it. Be consistent, but do not let the comma distract you from the word-order rule.

Examples in Context

Danish	English	Note
Jeg ved ikke, om hun kommer.	I don’t know if she’s coming.	om introduces a yes/no question
Kan du fortælle mig, hvor han bor?	Can you tell me where he lives?	Polite request with hvor
Han spurgte, hvornår vi rejser.	He asked when we’re leaving.	Subject vi precedes rejser
Jeg undrer mig over, hvorfor hun ikke ringede.	I wonder why she didn’t call.	ikke precedes the finite verb
Kan du huske, om vi har mødt ham før?	Can you remember whether we have met him before?	Yes/no uncertainty
De spurgte, om bussen allerede var kørt.	They asked whether the bus had already left.	allerede precedes var
Fortæl mig, hvad du leder efter.	Tell me what you are looking for.	du is the subject
Ved du, hvem der har nøglen?	Do you know who has the key?	hvem is the embedded subject
Ingen kunne forklare, hvorfor døren ikke åbnede.	No one could explain why the door did not open.	Subordinate adverb order
Kan I se, hvor toget holder?	Can you see where the train is stopped?	Embedded information question
Vi undersøger, hvor meget det koster.	We are investigating how much it costs.	Multiword question expression
Jeg er ikke sikker på, hvilken vej vi skal tage.	I’m not sure which way we should take.	hvilken agrees with vej
Han ville vide, hvem jeg havde inviteret.	He wanted to know whom I had invited.	hvem is the object; no der
Det afhænger af, om vejret bliver bedre.	It depends on whether the weather improves.	Indirect question after a preposition
Jeg kan ikke huske, hvad der skete bagefter.	I can’t remember what happened afterwards.	hvad is the embedded subject

Common Mistakes

Using hvis instead of om

• Wrong: Jeg ved ikke, hvis hun kommer.
• Right: Jeg ved ikke, om hun kommer.
• Why: This is an unresolved yes/no question, not a condition. Use om for “if/whether” here.

Keeping direct-question inversion

• Wrong: Kan du fortælle mig, hvor bor han?
• Right: Kan du fortælle mig, hvor han bor?
• Why: The embedded clause uses subject + verb order. Only the outer question Kan du …? has inversion.

Leaving ikke after the verb

• Wrong: Jeg forstår ikke, hvorfor hun ringede ikke.
• Right: Jeg forstår ikke, hvorfor hun ikke ringede.
• Why: In the subordinate clause, ikke comes before the finite verb ringede.

Omitting om completely

• Wrong: Han spurgte, havde jeg tid.
• Right: Han spurgte, om jeg havde tid.
• Why: An embedded yes/no question needs om; Danish does not introduce it with verb-first order alone.

Forgetting der when hvem or hvad is the subject

• Wrong: Ved du, hvem har nøglen?
• Right: Ved du, hvem der har nøglen?
• Why: When the question word itself is the embedded subject, standard Danish normally inserts der. Compare hvem du så, where du is already the subject.

Adding a question mark to every indirect question

• Wrong: Jeg ved ikke, hvornår de kommer?
• Right: Jeg ved ikke, hvornår de kommer.
• Why: The complete sentence is a statement. Use a question mark only when the complete sentence functions as a direct question.

Usage Notes

Indirect questions are central to polite Danish requests. Hvor er stationen? is perfectly normal, but Kan du fortælle mig, hvor stationen er? gives the request a softer frame. The outer clause does the politeness work; the embedded clause still follows exactly the same word-order rules.

Several common expressions can introduce indirect questions:

• Ved du, om …? — “Do you know whether …?”
• Jeg er ikke sikker på, om … — “I’m not sure whether …”
• Kan du huske, hvor …? — “Can you remember where …?”
• Det kommer an på, hvad … — “It depends on what …”
• Spørgsmålet er, om … — “The question is whether …”

Danish om covers both English “if” and the more formal “whether” in embedded yes/no questions. Danish does not need a separate, more formal conjunction simply because English prefers “whether.” To express “whether or not,” use om … eller ej: Jeg ved ikke, om han kommer eller ej (“I don’t know whether he is coming or not”).

In speech, subordinate word order remains important, although fast, informal conversation may contain restarts or patterns influenced by a direct question. For clear standard Danish—especially in writing—use hvor han bor, not hvor bor han, inside another clause.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Prepositions can stay at the end

As in English, Danish commonly leaves a preposition later in the embedded question:

• Jeg ved ikke, hvem hun taler med. — “I don’t know who she is talking to.”
• Kan du huske, hvad de talte om? — “Can you remember what they talked about?”

A preposition can sometimes be placed before hvem or hvilken in more formal writing: Jeg ved ikke, med hvem hun taler. The everyday version with med at the end is usually more natural in conversation. Do not put a preposition before hvad in the same way; use the normal hvad … om/med/for pattern.

Reported questions and tense

A past reporting verb does not force one automatic tense in every Danish embedded question. The tense reflects the intended time perspective:

• Han spurgte, hvornår vi rejste. — the departure was viewed in a past setting
• Han spurgte, hvornår vi rejser. — the departure is still future or current from the speaker’s perspective

English often encourages learners to “backshift” automatically after “asked.” Danish allows the speaker to preserve a present form when the information is still current. Choose the tense for the timeline, while keeping subordinate word order in either case.

Embedded questions can fill different roles

The clause need not follow vide or spørge. It can complete an adjective, follow a preposition, or act as the topic of a sentence:

• Jeg er usikker på, om døren er låst. — “I’m unsure whether the door is locked.”
• Det afhænger af, hvor hurtigt vi kan arbejde. — “It depends on how quickly we can work.”
• Om planen virker, er stadig uklart. — “Whether the plan works is still unclear.”

The last pattern is more typical of careful or formal writing. The basic internal structure remains om + subject + verb.

Practice Tips

1. Convert direct questions in pairs. Write Hvor arbejder hun? and then embed it in Ved du, hvor hun arbejder? Do the same with yes/no questions, adding om.
2. Use ikke as your word-order check. Turn Hvorfor kom han? into Jeg ved ikke, hvorfor han ikke kom. If ikke is before the finite verb, you have applied the key subordinate pattern.
3. Sort hvem and hvad examples by role. Compare hvem der ringede with hvem du ringede til. Ask who performs the action; if the question word is the subject, expect der.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subordinate Clauses — provides the Danish subordinate word order used inside every indirect question.