Indirect Questions

Exercises

Explanation

1. How indirect questions are formed

Indirect questions often begin with expressions such as:

• Could you tell me…

• Do you know…

• I wonder…

• Would you mind telling me…

• I’d like to know…

• Can you explain…

For example:

• Direct: Where is the nearest bank?

• Indirect: Could you tell me where the nearest bank is?

Important rule: In indirect questions, the word order is the same as in a statement, not a question.

So we use:

subject + verb,
not verb + subject.

2. Indirect questions with Yes/No questions

If the direct question begins with do, does, did, is, are, can, will, etc., the indirect question uses if or whether.

• Direct: Do you like sushi?

• Indirect: I’d like to know if you like sushi.

• Direct: Is the shop open today?

• Indirect: Do you know whether the shop is open today?

“Whether” is slightly more formal than “if.”

3. Indirect questions with question words

If the direct question begins with: where, when, why, how, what, which, who we keep the same question word in the indirect form.

But again, the word order becomes: question word + subject + verb

Examples:

• Direct: Where does she work?

• Indirect: Do you know where she works?

• Direct: Why did he leave early?

• Indirect: Could you tell me why he left early?

• Direct: How much does this cost?

• Indirect: Can you tell me how much this costs?

4. Word order in different tenses

Present Simple

• Do you know where he lives?

Present Continuous

• Can you tell me what she is doing?

Past Simple

• Could you tell me when they arrived?

Past Continuous

• Do you know what he was cooking?

Future Simple

• Can you tell me when the train will leave?

Present Perfect

• I wonder if they have finished the report.

Present Perfect Continuous

• I wonder whether he has been studying all evening.

5. Common mistakes

Using question word order

• Incorrect: Do you know where does she live?

• Correct: Do you know where she lives?

Adding an unnecessary auxiliary

• Incorrect: Could you tell me what is this?

• Correct: Could you tell me what this is?

Missing “if/whether” in yes/no questions

• Incorrect: I don’t know does he like football.

• Correct: I don’t know if he likes football.

6. How to answer indirect questions

Indirect questions are polite, but the answer is direct:

• Do you know where she is?
  Correct: She is in her office.
  Incorrect: Yes, she is in her office?

• Could you tell me if they are coming?
  No, they aren’t coming.

• I wonder when the film starts.
  It starts at 8 PM.

7. Punctuation in indirect questions

Indirect questions end with a full stop, not a question mark.

• Correct: Could you tell me where he works.

• Correct: I’d like to know what time it is.

They are grammatically statements, not direct questions.

8. Useful expressions for indirect questions

You can make your indirect questions more polite with these:

• Do you happen to know…

• I was wondering…

• Would you mind telling me…

• Could you explain…

• Can you show me…

Examples:

• I was wondering what time the shop closes.

• Would you mind telling me where the station is?