Clarify before acting
Könnten Sie erklären, was zuerst erledigt werden soll?
Extract the deadline and priority from an instruction and ask about the missing detail.
A useful clarification question targets the information you actually need: task, priority, deadline or responsible person. An indirect question begins with a polite introduction and places the finite verb at the end: Können Sie sagen, wann die Lieferung kommt? Keep the question word from a direct information question. For a yes/no question, use ob: Wissen Sie, ob der Termin feststeht? Ob does not mean a conditional if here. A proposed deadline is not a confirmed one. Repeat your understanding and ask for confirmation instead of silently filling gaps.
Könnten Sie erklären, was zuerst erledigt werden soll?
Could you explain what should be done first?
Wissen Sie, ob der Termin schon feststeht?
Do you know whether the date is already fixed?
Bis wann brauchen Sie die fertige Liste?
By when do you need the finished list?
Habe ich richtig verstanden, dass die Prüfung Vorrang hat?
Have I understood correctly that the check takes priority?
Wer übernimmt die Rückmeldung an den Kunden?
Who will handle the reply to the customer?
Ich fasse kurz zusammen, was wir vereinbart haben.
I will briefly summarize what we have agreed.
A useful clarification question targets the information you actually need: task, priority, deadline or responsible person. An indirect question begins with a polite introduction and places the finite verb at the end: Können Sie sagen, wann die Lieferung kommt? Keep the question word from a direct information question. For a yes/no question, use ob: Wissen Sie, ob der Termin feststeht? Ob does not mean a conditional if here. A proposed deadline is not a confirmed one. Repeat your understanding and ask for confirmation instead of silently filling gaps.
Extract the deadline and priority from an instruction and ask about the missing detail.
In Wissen Sie, wann die Lieferung kommt?, kommt belongs at the end of the indirect clause, not before die Lieferung.
Question word or ob + subject + other elements + finite verb at the end. First identify what is already stated and what is missing.
Write an 80–100-word workplace message: acknowledge a task, summarize the stated deadline, ask two specific clarification questions and say what you can begin now.