Indirect Questions/Ideas
THE VERY FORMAL USE FOR ASKING
Have a look at this conversation.
Me: Excuse me. Could you tell me where the nearest station is?
Person in the street: Certainly. It's along that road on the right.
Me: Thank you. And do you know if there's a supermarket near here?
Person in the street: Yes, there's one next to the station.
Me: Thank you very much for your help.
I use indirect questions when I'm asking for help in the street, because they are very polite. Indirect questions start with a phrase like 'could you tell me...' or 'do you know...'. For example:
Direct question: Where is the bank?
Indirect question: Could you tell me where the bank is?
Notice that in the indirect question I put the verb ('is') after the subject ('the bank'), in the same way as I do with a normal positive sentence ('the bank is over there'), but in the direct question I put the verb 'is' before the subject 'the bank'. This is called inversion, and it is used to make direct questions in many verb tenses in English, but we don't use inversion in indirect questions. This is very similar to the grammar of reported questions. However, we use indirect questions in a different way from reported questions. Indirect questions are a way of being polite. They are very, very common in English, especially when you're talking to someone you don't know.
'Yes / No' Questions
To make an indirect 'yes / no' question, we use 'if' and the word order of a normal positive sentence. This is the same as for reported 'yes / no' questions. On the other hand, we don't usually need to 'backshift' (change the tense of the verb) as we do with reported questions.
Of course, most tenses make questions by using 'inversion' (changing the word order). To change from a direct 'yes / no' question with inversion to an indirect question, you add 'if' and change the word order back to a normal positive sentence. You don't need to use inversion.
'Yes / no' questions for tenses with inversion:
| Verb Tense | Direct Question | Indirect Question |
| Present simple with 'be' | Is he Spanish? | Can you tell me if he is Spanish? |
| Present continuous | Is the restaurant closing now? | Can you tell me if the restaurant is closing now? |
| Past simple with 'be' | Was he late for the meeting? | Can you tell me if he was late for the meeting? |
| Past continuous | Were you watching TV at 3pm? | Can you tell me if you were watching TV at 3pm? |
| Present perfect | Has Lucy been to Mexico? | Can you tell me if Lucy has been to Mexico? |
| Present perfect continuous | Has she been living here long? | Can you tell me if she has been living here long? |
| Past perfect | Had she found this job when she moved here? | Can you tell me if she had found this job when she moved here? |
| Past perfect continuous | Had she been living here long when she met you? | Can you tell me if she had been living here long when she met you? |
| Future simple with 'will' | Will she start her new job next week? | Can you tell me if she will start her new job next week? |
| Future simple with 'going to' | Is it going to rain later? | Can you tell me if it is going to rain later? |
| Future continuous | Will Lisa be meeting the boss later? | Can you tell me if Lisa will be meeting the boss later? |
| Future perfect | Will he have finished the report by tonight? | Can you tell me if he will have finished the report by tonight? |
| Future perfect continuous | Will he have been studying French for twenty years when he retires? | Can you tell me if he will have been studying French for twenty years when he retires? |
| Modal verbs | Should we start now? | Can you tell me if we should start now? |
'Yes / no' questions with tenses that use 'do / does / did':
Sometimes you want to make an indirect question using the present simple of any verb except 'be' or the past simple of any verb except 'be'. These tense make direct questions by using 'do / does / did'. When we want to make indirect 'yes / no' questions using these tenses, we need 'if' and we don't need 'do / does / did'.
| Verb Tense | Direct Question | Indirect Question |
| Present simple with any verb except 'be' | Does David live in London? | Can you tell me if David lives in London? |
| Past simple with any verb except 'be' | Did Amanda call John yesterday? | Can you tell me if Amanda called John yesterday? |
'Wh' Questions
In the same way as with reported 'wh' questions, we use the question word and the word order of a normal positive sentence to make indirect 'wh' questions. We don't need to use inversion. Again, we also don't usually need to 'backshift' (change the tense of the verb) as we do with reported questions.
To change a direct question to an indirect question for tenses that make questions using inversion, you just add 'if' and change the word order back to a normal positive sentence.
'Wh' questions for tenses with inversion:
| Verb Tense | Direct Question | Indirect Question |
| Present simple with 'be' | Why is he unhappy? | Can you tell me why he is unhappy? |
| Present continuous | When is the restaurant closing? | Can you tell me when the restaurant is closing? |
| Past simple with 'be' | Why was he late for the meeting? | Can you tell me why he was late for the meeting? |
| Past continuous | What were you doing at 3pm? | Can you tell me what you were doing at 3pm? |
| Present perfect | Where has Lucy been? | Can you tell me where Lucy has been? |
| Present perfect continuous | How long has she been living here? | Can you tell me how long she has been living here? |
| Past perfect | Why had she quit her job before she moved here? | Can you tell me why she had quit her job before she moved here? |
| Past perfect continuous | How long had she been living here when she met you? | Can you tell me how long she had been living here when she met you? |
| Future simple with 'will' | When will she start her new job? | Can you tell me when she will start her new job? |
| Future simple with 'going to' | When is it going to rain? | Can you tell me when it is going to rain? |
| Future continuous | What time will Lisa be meeting the boss? | Can you tell me what time Lisa will be meeting the boss? |
| Future perfect | When will he have finished the report? | Can you tell me when he will have finished the report? |
| Future perfect continuous | How long will he have been studying French when he retires? | Can you tell me how long he will have been studying French when he retires? |
| Modal verbs | What should we do now? | Can you tell me what we should do now? |
'Wh' questions for tenses with 'do / does / did':
Sometimes you want to make an indirect 'wh' question using the present simple of any verb except 'be' or the past simple of any verb except 'be'. Usually these tenses make questions by using 'do / does / did'. However, when we want to make indirect 'wh' questions using these tenses, we don't need 'do / does / did'. Instead, we use a question word and then normal positive sentence word order.
| Verb Tense | Direct Question | Indirect Question |
| Present simple with any verb except 'be' | Where does David live? | Can you tell me where David lives? |
| Past simple with any verb except 'be' | Why did Amanda call John yesterday? | Can you tell me why Amanda called John yesterday? |
Common Problems
It can be difficult to remember to put the verb after the subject, especially when the indirect question is in the present simple tense of 'be'. For example, we need to say:
Could you tell me where the station is?
NOT:
*******************************
***REPORTED SPEECH***
Reported Statements
When do we use reported speech? Sometimes someone says a sentence, for example "I'm going to the cinema tonight". Later, maybe we want to tell someone else what the first person said.
Here's how it works:
We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. (Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell'.) If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the sentence:
- Direct speech: I like ice cream.
- Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.
We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'.
(As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)
(As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)
But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech:
- Direct speech: I like ice cream.
- Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.
| Tense | Direct Speech | Reported Speech |
|---|---|---|
| present simple | I like ice cream | She said (that) she liked ice cream. |
| present continuous | I am living in London | She said (that) she was living in London. |
| past simple | I bought a car | She said (that) she had bought a car OR She said (that) she bought a car. |
| past continuous | I was walking along the street | She said (that) she had been walking along the street. |
| present perfect | I haven't seen Julie | She said (that) she hadn't seen Julie. |
| past perfect* | I had taken English lessons before | She said (that) she had taken English lessons before. |
| will | I'll see you later | She said (that) she would see me later. |
| would* | I would help, but..” | She said (that) she would help but... |
| can | I can speak perfect English | She said (that) she could speak perfect English. |
| could* | I could swim when I was four | She said (that) she could swim when she was four. |
| shall | I shall come later | She said (that) she would come later. |
| should* | I should call my mother | She said (that) she should call her mother |
| might* | I might be late | She said (that) she might be late |
| must | I must study at the weekend | She said (that) she must study at the weekend OR She said she had to study at the weekend |
* doesn't change.
Occasionally, we don't need to change the present tense into the past if the information in direct speech is still true (but this is only for things which are general facts, and even then usually we like to change the tense):
- Direct speech: The sky is blue.
- Reported speech: She said (that) the sky is/was blue.
Click here for a mixed tense exercise about practise reported statements.
Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.
Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.
Reported Questions
So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative sentences. But how about questions?
- Direct speech: Where do you live?
How can we make the reported speech here?
In fact, it's not so different from reported statements. The tense changes are the same, and we keep the question word. The very important thing though is that, once we tell the question to someone else, it isn't a question any more. So we need to change the grammar to a normal positive sentence. A bit confusing? Maybe this example will help:
In fact, it's not so different from reported statements. The tense changes are the same, and we keep the question word. The very important thing though is that, once we tell the question to someone else, it isn't a question any more. So we need to change the grammar to a normal positive sentence. A bit confusing? Maybe this example will help:
- Direct speech: Where do you live?
- Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
Do you see how I made it? The direct question is in the present simple tense. We make a present simple question with 'do' or 'does' so I need to take that away. Then I need to change the verb to the past simple.
Another example:
Another example:
- Direct speech: Where is Julie?
- Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.
The direct question is the present simple of 'be'. We make the question form of the present simple of be by inverting (changing the position of)the subject and verb. So, we need to change them back before putting the verb into the past simple.
Here are some more examples:
| Direct Question | Reported Question |
|---|---|
| Where is the Post Office, please? | She asked me where the Post Office was. |
| What are you doing? | She asked me what I was doing. |
| Who was that fantastic man? | She asked me who that fantastic man had been. |
So much for 'wh' questions. But, what if you need to report a 'yes / no' question? We don't have any question words to help us. Instead, we use 'if':
- Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?
- Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.
No problem? Here are a few more examples:
| Direct Question | Reported Question |
| Do you love me? | He asked me if I loved him. |
| Have you ever been to Mexico? | She asked me if I had ever been to Mexico. |
| Are you living here? | She asked me if I was living here. |
Click here to practise reported 'wh' questions.
Click here to practise reported 'yes / no' questions.
Reported Requests
Click here to practise reported 'yes / no' questions.
Reported Requests
There's more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example:
- Direct speech: Close the window, please
- Or: Could you close the window please?
- Or: Would you mind closing the window please?
All of these requests mean the same thing, so we don't need to report every word when we tell another person about it. We simply use 'ask me + to + infinitive':
- Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.
Here are a few more examples:
| Direct Request | Reported Request |
| Please help me. | She asked me to help her. |
| Please don't smoke. | She asked me not to smoke. |
| Could you bring my book tonight? | She asked me to bring her book that night. |
| Could you pass the milk, please? | She asked me to pass the milk. |
| Would you mind coming early tomorrow? | She asked me to come early the next day. |
To report a negative request, use 'not':
- Direct speech: Please don't be late.
- Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.
Reported Orders
And finally, how about if someone doesn't ask so politely? We can call this an 'order' in English, when someone tells you very directly to do something. For example:
- Direct speech: Sit down!
In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as a request. We just use 'tell' instead of 'ask':
- Reported speech: She told me to sit down.
| Direct Order | Reported Order |
| Go to bed! | He told the child to go to bed. |
| Don't worry! | He told her not to worry. |
| Be on time! | He told me to be on time. |
| Don't smoke! | He told us not to smoke. |
Time Expressions with Reported Speech
Sometimes when we change direct speech into reported speech we have to change time expressions too. We don't always have to do this, however. It depends on when we heard the direct speech and when we say the reported speech.
For example:
It's Monday. Julie says "I'm leaving today".
If I tell someone on Monday, I say "Julie said she was leaving today".
If I tell someone on Tuesday, I say "Julie said she was leaving yesterday".
If I tell someone on Wednesday, I say "Julie said she was leaving on Monday".
If I tell someone a month later, I say "Julie said she was leaving that day".
So, there's no easy conversion. You really have to think about when the direct speech was said.
Here's a table of some possible conversions:
Sometimes when we change direct speech into reported speech we have to change time expressions too. We don't always have to do this, however. It depends on when we heard the direct speech and when we say the reported speech.
For example:
It's Monday. Julie says "I'm leaving today".
If I tell someone on Monday, I say "Julie said she was leaving today".
If I tell someone on Tuesday, I say "Julie said she was leaving yesterday".
If I tell someone on Wednesday, I say "Julie said she was leaving on Monday".
If I tell someone a month later, I say "Julie said she was leaving that day".
So, there's no easy conversion. You really have to think about when the direct speech was said.
Here's a table of some possible conversions:
| now | then / at that time |
| today | yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27th of June |
| yesterday | the day before yesterday / the day before / Wednesday / the 5th of December |
| last night | the night before, Thursday night |
| last week | the week before / the previous week |
| tomorrow | today / the next day / the following day / Friday |
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