INDIRECT QUESTIONS
| There are two main ways of asking questions - directly and indirectly. Both have the same meaning but we use indirect questions when we want to be more polite, more formal or less confrontational.
We can ask a direct question - Where is Brighton Pier?
Or to be more formal or polite, we can ask
an indirect question - I wonder if you could
tell me where Brighton Pier is?
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Word Order
| When we create indirect questions, the question (What time is it?) becomes part of a longer sentence or questions (Do you know.?) and the word order changes from the order of a direct question. For example: Direct: What time is it? Indirect: Do you know what time it is?
Direct: Why was he late?
Indirect: Can you tell me why he was late? Direct: What is that? Indirect: Would you mind telling me what that is? |
Using 'do'
When there is no auxiliary verb (be, do have,
can, will etc) in a sentence, we need to put in
do, does or did when we create a direct question.
When we make this into an indirect question
however, we don't use the verb 'do'. For example:
Direct: When does the lesson end?
Indirect: Could you tell me when the lesson ends?
Direct: When does the lesson end?
Indirect: Could you tell me when the lesson ends?
Indirect: Can you tell me what car she drives?
Indirect: Would you mind telling me how you made
that cake?
Using 'if' or 'whether':
If there is no question word (who, what, when,
why, how) in a direct question, we need to use
if or whether in the indirect question.
For example:
Direct: Did she make it on time?
Indirect: Can you tell me if she made it on time? or Can you tell me whether she made it on time?
Direct: Is this the right bus for Oxford Street?
Indirect: Do you have any idea if this is the right
bus for Oxford Street?
Direct: Is she French?
Indirect: Do you know whether she is French (or not)? |
Vocabulary:
a pier: a large platform which sticks out into the
sea and which people can walk along
poxy (informal): rubbish, not good
a spot: a place |
