Indirect questions in English
Indirect questions serve to ask in a more polite way or to narrate what another person has asked. We are going to tell you how to build them: Indirect questions examples
Direct and indirect questions
Let’s look at an example of a direct question:
How old are you?
How old are you?
The indirect question would be:
I need to know, how old are you
need to know how old you
Indirect questions are formed by a complex sentence, that is, a main sentence plus a subordinate sentence. “I need to know” is the main sentence and “how old you are” is the subordinate sentence.
Look closely: the verb in the subordinate sentence is placed after the subject , that is to say that the inversion of the subject and the verb of the direct interrogative sentences does not occur in the indirect interrogative sentences. Indirect questions examples
Types of indirect questions
There are 2 types of indirect questions:
- Closed questions (which are those that can be answered with yes or no)
- Open questions (which are those that need an interrogative pronoun or an interrogative adverb)
Closed indirect questions
Closed indirect questions are formed with the if preposition :
I do not know if I must laugh or cry
I don’t know if I should laugh or cry
Open indirect questions
Open indirect questions can be constructed with any interrogative particle:
Can you tell me what I should do now?
Can you tell me what should I do now?
Special case: Interrogative pronoun subject of the sentence
If the interrogative particle is subject, one must be very careful not to be wrong with the placement of the verb. Indirect questions examples
Direct interrogation:
Who is your best friend
Who is your best friend?
Indirect interrogation:
tell me who is your best friend
tell me who is your best friend
WORD ORDER
But if you translate this type of question literally or directly, you will say it wrong in English:
Do you know where is the station ?
Can you tell me who is that man ?
Basically, the auxiliary verb at the beginning of the sentence – Do ; Does, Did , Can , Will , etc. – form the question so after the interrogative word – where, why, what, when , etc. – the order of a sentence is maintained , that is, subject + verb . For example:
Do you know where the station is?
Do you know where the station is ?
subject + verb
[Literally: Do you know where the station is?
Can you tell me who that man is?
Can you tell me who that man is ?
subject + verb
[Literally: Can you tell me who that man is?
Do you know what time it is?
Do you know what time it is *?
NO
Do you know what time is it ?
If you translate literally, you really ask two questions:
1. Do you know? 2. where is the station?
And there are not two questions but one.
AUXILIARY VERBS
In the same way, no auxiliary verb is placed after the interrogative word. The order of a subject + verb phrase is simply maintained. For example:
Can you tell me what you want?
(or
Can you tell me what you want? ) Can you tell me what you want?
NO
Can you tell me what do you want?
Do you know when the concert starts?
Do you know when the concert starts ?
NO
Do you know when does the concert start ?
NI
Do you know when starts the concert ?
Do you understand why they have changed it?
Do you understand why they have changed it?
NO
Do you understand why have they changed it?
IMPERATIVES
This rule also applies to orders – the imperative – and other phrases, for example:
Tell me where the pen is.
Tell me where the pen is .
NO
Tell me where the is pen .
I don’t know how much the sofa costs.
I don’t know how much the sofa costs.
NO
I don’t know how much does the sofa cost .
NI
I don’t know how much costs the sofa .
In fact, this type of sentence is not even a question, so there is no reason to use the structure of a question.
PREPOSITIONS
And if there is a preposition in front of the interrogative word, don’t forget it; It is usually placed at the end of the sentence. For example:
Can you tell me in which you are interested?
Can you tell me what you’re interested in ?
You know in what they are thinking?
Do you know what they’re thinking about ?
Do you understand of what you are afraid your friend?
Do you know what your friend’s afraid of ?
You can see more examples of this type of prayer in the post Prepositions in English: Why at the end of the sentence?
Now it’s your turn to practice a little. How do you translate the following? Answer below.
1. Can you tell me how much it is?
2. Do you know why it’s broken?
3. I don’t understand what you need.
4. Tell me where I can find it.
5. Do you know what they’re speaking / talking about?
Examples of Indirect Questions
Indirect Questions in the Past
To ask indirect questions in English in the past simple , we remove the auxiliary did and conjugate the verb
- Where did she go?
- Can you tell me where she went?
- Who did they shoot
- Can you tell who they shot?
To ask indirect questions in English in the past continuous , we must add the introductory phrase and write the rest of the question as if it were an affirmation.
- What was he doing?
- Do you know what she was doing?
- What were they watching?
- Can you remember what they were watching?
Now let’s see a wide variety of indirect questions with verb tenses in the present.
Indirect Questions in the Present
If the question is asked with the verb to be , the verb to be changes position.
- Where is the car?
- Do you know where the car is?
If the questions are with the present simple in English, the auxiliary is removed and the verb is conjugated.
- Where does she live?
- Do you know where she lives?
- What does she do for a living?
- Can you tell me what she does for a living?
If the questions are made with the present continuous in English , what you should do is place the sentence after the wh-question as if it were an affirmation.
- What are we doing?
- Do you know what we are doing?
- Who is she dating?
- Do you know who she is dating?
Indirect Questions in English with Do you know…?
One of the ways to ask direct questions in English is Do you know…?
These are some examples of indirect questions in English with do you know…?
- Do you know where the gas station is?
- Do you know what the movie is about?
- Do you know where my brothers are?
- Do you know where the party will be?
- Do you know who will pick me up at the airport tomorrow?
Indirect Questions in English with Can you Tell me?
Can you tell me? means Can you tell me?
These are some indirect questions with Can You tell me..?
- Can you tell me what the name of the song is?
- Can you tell me who the impostor is?
- Can you tell me where we have to go next?
- Can you tell me why we have to give ride to strangers?
- Can you tell me how we are going to get there on time?
Indirect Questions in English with Do you Remember?
Do you remember? means remember?
These are indirect questions in English with Do you Remember?
- Do you remember where I left the car keys?
- Do you remember what I had to do?
- Do you remember who took my money?
- Do you remember what button we are supposed to press?
- Do you remember what the song they played was?
Indirect Questions with Could you Tell me?
Could you tell me? is a question in English very similar to Can You Tell me?
Could you tell me means Could you tell me?
These are some indirect questions in English with Could You tell me?
- Could you tell me what the movie is about?
- Could you tell me what your favorite song is’
- Could you tell me when the first person landed on the moon?
- Could you tell me where the university is?
- Could you tell me what your beliefs are?
- Could you tell me what your religion is?
Indirect Questions with I was Wondering
Other popular options for asking questions in English is I was wondering
I was wondering means I was wondering. The idea after the sentence I was wondering is written in the past simple
- I was wondering if you have any money
- I was wondering why you moved to Europe
- I was wondering why you didn’t take the offer
- I was wondering why you decided to quit your job
- I was wondering why she abandoned her children
