Learn about Indirect Questions
Indirect Questions ...
... are a polite way of asking a question. For example:
What time is it? (normal)
Do you know what time it is? (polite)
If a question doesn't begin with a word like who or what or how often, we use if instead. For example:
Are you married?
Would you mind telling me if you are married?
This table shows how to make indirect questions.
| Question phrase | Q Word | Subject + Verb |
|---|---|---|
| Can you tell me Could you tell me Do you know Would you mind telling me |
who why when if |
you love? he was late? we are going? you can swim? |
Now look at these examples:
Do you like him?
Can you tell me if you do like him? x
Can you tell me if you like him? ✔
We use 'do' to make a normal question in the present simple, but we don't use it in an indirect question because we only need Subject + Verb.
We use a similar structure to talk about questions when we don't actually want an answer. For example:
| I don't know I can't remember I understand |
why how what |
he left. I did it. you said. |
Indirect Question practice Next Lesson: Question Tags