{"id":3104,"date":"2016-04-15T09:30:43","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T16:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=3104"},"modified":"2016-04-14T13:44:44","modified_gmt":"2016-04-14T20:44:44","slug":"how-and-when-to-use-indirect-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-and-when-to-use-indirect-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"How and When to Use Indirect Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we\u2019re going to look at\u00a0<\/span>indirect questions<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>There are two main ways of asking questions in English: directly and indirectly.\u00a0<\/span>Both have the same meaning. However, we use\u00a0<\/span>indirect questions<\/b>\u00a0when we want to be\u00a0<\/span>more polite<\/b>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span>more formal<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Look at the following example of a\u00a0<\/span>direct question<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Where is the nearest train station?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

To be more polite or formal, ask an\u00a0<\/span>indirect question<\/b>, for example:<\/span><\/p>\n

Could you tell me where the nearest train station is?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Sentence Structure and Word Order<\/b><\/h2>\n

When we form indirect questions, the question becomes part of a longer sentence or question and the word order in the direct question changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/b><\/p>\n

Direct<\/b>: What time is it?<\/span>
\n<\/span>Indirect<\/b>: Do you know what time it is?<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct<\/b>: Why were you off work yesterday?<\/span>
\n<\/span>Indirect<\/b>: Can you tell me why you were off work yesterday?<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct<\/b>: When did you move to Holland?<\/span>
\n<\/span>Indirect<\/b>: Would you mind telling me when you moved to Holland?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No Auxiliary\u00a0Verb\u00a0\u201cDo\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n

When we turn direct questions into indirect questions, we don\u2019t use the auxiliary verb \u201c<\/span>do<\/b>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/b><\/p>\n

Direct<\/b>:\u00a0When\u00a0does\u00a0the lesson end?<\/span>
\n<\/span>Indirect<\/b>:\u00a0Could you tell me when the lesson ends?<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct<\/b>:\u00a0What car\u00a0do\u00a0you\u00a0drive?<\/span>
\n<\/span>Indirect<\/b>:\u00a0Would you mind telling me what car you drive?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf\u201d and \u201cWhether\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n

If there is no question word (<\/span>who<\/span><\/i>,\u00a0<\/span>wha<\/span><\/i>t, etc) in the direct question, we need to use\u00a0<\/span>if\u00a0<\/b>or\u00a0<\/span>whether\u00a0<\/b>in the indirect question.<\/span><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct<\/b>:<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>Did\u00a0she get to work on time today?\u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span>Indirect<\/b>:\u00a0Can you tell me\u00a0if\/whether<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>she got to work on time today?\u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct<\/b>:\u00a0Is this the right train for Baker Street?<\/span>
\n<\/span>Indirect<\/b>:\u00a0Do you have any idea<\/span>\u00a0if\/whether\u00a0<\/b>this is the right train for Baker Street?<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct<\/b>:\u00a0Are they Italian?\u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/span>Indirect<\/b>:\u00a0Do you know\u00a0if\/whether<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>they are Italian?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Note that we don\u2019t usually need to change the tense of the verb as we do with reported questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some students find it difficult to remember to put the verb after the subject, especially when the indirect question is in the present simple tense of the verb \u201cto be\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Example:<\/b>
\n<\/span>Could you tell me where the library\u00a0<\/span>is<\/b>?<\/span>
\n<\/span>NOT:\u00a0Could you tell me where is the library?<\/span><\/p>\n

Please note that<\/span>\u00a0indirect questions are NOT the same as reported questions<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

We will look at reported questions in a future post!<\/span>
\n****<\/p>\n

Author Bio: This post was written by Brandon, a teacher from<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>ABA English<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>ABA English\u2013the American & British Academy\u2013is an online academy specializing in teaching English with a unique learning methodology based on the principles of natural learning methods.\u00a0ABA English teaches you English through short films that take place in real-life situations\u00a0with\u00a0<\/span><\/i>144 free video classes<\/i><\/b>.\u00a0Go to<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>ABA English<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0and start improving your English with your free 144 video classes.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we\u2019re going to look at\u00a0indirect questions.\u00a0There are two main ways of asking questions in English: directly and indirectly.\u00a0Both have the same meaning. However, we use\u00a0indirect questions\u00a0when we want to be\u00a0more polite\u00a0or\u00a0more formal. Look at the following example of a\u00a0direct question: Where is the nearest train station? To be more polite or formal, ask an\u00a0indirect […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13603],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13636],"class_list":["post-3104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow and When to Use Indirect Questions - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today we\u2019re going to look at\u00a0indirect questions.\u00a0There are two main ways of asking questions in English: directly and indirectly.\u00a0Both have the same\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-and-when-to-use-indirect-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How and When to Use Indirect Questions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today we\u2019re going to look at\u00a0indirect questions.\u00a0There are two main ways of asking questions in English: directly and indirectly.\u00a0Both have the same\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-and-when-to-use-indirect-questions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-15T16:30:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-14T20:44:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-and-when-to-use-indirect-questions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/how-and-when-to-use-indirect-questions\/\",\"name\":\"How and When to Use Indirect Questions - 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