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Indirect Questions

Indirect questions are more polite forms of direct questions that do not use subject-verb inversion. They involve a polite expression, such as "could you tell me" or "do you know", followed by a question without inversion. Examples of direct questions converted to indirect questions are provided, such as "Where's the department store?" becoming "Could you tell me where the department store is, please?". Rules for forming indirect questions are also outlined, such as maintaining subject-verb order and not using auxiliary verbs like "do", "does", or "did".

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Milton Fernando
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28 views2 pages

Indirect Questions

Indirect questions are more polite forms of direct questions that do not use subject-verb inversion. They involve a polite expression, such as "could you tell me" or "do you know", followed by a question without inversion. Examples of direct questions converted to indirect questions are provided, such as "Where's the department store?" becoming "Could you tell me where the department store is, please?". Rules for forming indirect questions are also outlined, such as maintaining subject-verb order and not using auxiliary verbs like "do", "does", or "did".

Uploaded by

Milton Fernando
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Indirect questions are polite, longer forms of normal

questions.

For example:
- Where's the department store? - Direct question
- Could you tell me where the department store is,
please? -Indirect question
- What's his name? - Direct question
- Do you know what his name is? - Indirect question

Form

Indirect questions are formed of two parts: a polite


expression, and a question which has no subject/verb
inversion like a normal question

When we use these phrases, we have to remember certain


rules :

1. The word order is the same as it is for statements


(subject+verb)

e.g. Could you tell me where the library is ? (Not : Could


you tell me where is the library ?)

2. We don’t use the auxiliaries do, does or did

e.g I’d like to know how much you earn. (Not : I’d like to
know how much do you earn ?)

3. For indirect yes/no questions we use if or whether

e.g. Could you tell me if this is the train for Birmingham?

There are infinite ways to make indirect questions. Not all


indirect questions are questions at all, rather they are
polite statements which encourage some kind of response.
Some common polite expressions include:
- Do you know…?
- Could you tell me if/whether...?
- Would you mind telling me if/whether...?
- I'd like to know if/whether...

Rewrite these sentences making them indirect.

e.g.
What's this?"
"Do you know what this is?"
1 "Where's the station?"
"Can you tell me ___________________________________________ ?"
2 "Are you coming to the party?"
"Can you let me know if
___________________________________________ ?"
3 "How does it work?"
"Could you explain ___________________________________________ ?"
4 "Where are you from?"
"I'd like to know ___________________________________________ ."
5 "How long does it take to get there?"
"Do you know ___________________________________________ ?"
6 "What time are you leaving?"
"Do you know ___________________________________________ ?"
7 "Does Annie know about computers?"
"I wonder whether ___________________________________________ ."
8 "Excuse me. How do you get to the post office from here?"
"Could you tell us ___________________________________________ ?"
9 "What are you doing?!"
"Do you have any idea
___________________________________________ ?!"
10 "Does Susana like classical music?"
"I’d like to know if ___________________________________________

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