Sometimes, asking a direct question like 'Where is the station?' can sound a bit blunt. In German, as in English, it's often more polite to use an indirect question. This involves starting with a polite phrase, which then changes the word order of the question that follows.

The key rule for these indirect questions is that they create a subordinate clause. This means the conjugated verb from the original question moves to the very end of the sentence. For example, the direct question 'Wo ist der Bahnhof?' becomes part of a larger, more polite question.

A very common and polite way to ask for information is to use the frame 'Können Sie mir sagen,...', which means 'Can you tell me,...'. You follow this with a question word like 'wann' or 'wo', and remember to put the verb at the end. For example: 'Können Sie mir sagen, wo der Bahnhof ist?'