Indirect questions in English can only formally be called such. They grammatically correspond to the norms of direct speech, and only convey the original content of the request in it. The composition of the questions corresponds to the affirmative sentence. Such constructions are used in indirect speech. The question mark is not included. The forms of verbs, pronouns, adjectives and other parts of speech change according to the same rules as for indirect statements. Consider the general rules of education, as well as examples of use.
Examples of introductory phrases for constructing an indirect question
This grammatical construction is mainly used for retelling, or to make a polite question. In this regard, there is a whole list of introductory phrases that form indirect questions.
Can/could you tell me? - Could you tell me?
Examples:
Where are you going?
Could you tell me where are you going?
Where are you going? - Can you tell me where you're going?
Why is the girl crying?
Do you happen to know why the girl is crying?
Why is the girl crying? - Do you happen to know why the girl is crying?
When does he start working?
Can I ask you when he starts working?
When will it start working? - Can I ask you when it starts?
General rules for converting direct questions into indirect questions
A direct question requires the auxiliary verb do, does, did, or one of the question words who, whose, which, why, when, how many, how long, how much. Indirect is built differently. It does not use auxiliary verbs. Question words are also followed by direct sentence order. If there are none, then the conjunction whether or if is introduced instead. Direct and indirect questions imply compliance with the rules for coordinating times during the transformation. To build the latter, the first part of the sentence is introduced with verbs like ask, wonder, inquire, want to know and the like.
Examples:
Can she type?
He asked if she can type.
Can she type? - He asked if she could type.
Is it raining?
She enquired if it was raining.
Goingrain. - She asked if it was raining.
Where is the bus station?
The boy asked where the bus station was.
Where is the bus stop? - The guy asked where the bus stop was.
Summarizing the above, we can distinguish the following three features of constructing an indirect question:
- Presence of an introductory phrase at the beginning.
- Direct word order by affirmative sentence type.
- No auxiliary verbs do, did, does.
Let's consider examples of converting general and special questions into indirect ones separately. The former are introduced into the sentence with the unions if or whether, while the latter require a question word (why, where, how, when, etc.).
Transforming general and alternative questions into indirect questions
These questions are formed by using an auxiliary verb, which is placed at the beginning of the sentence. They imply a "Yes" or "No" answer. To convert them into indirect questions, an introductory phrase, if/whether conjunction, direct word order, and no auxiliary verb are used.
Examples:
Have you got a smartphone?
He asked if I had a smartphone.
Do you have a smartphone? - He asked if I had a smartphone.
Did you come by bus?
She asked whether I had come by bus.
Did you come by bus? - She asked if I came by bus.
Have you been to Paris before?
He asked if I had been to Paris before.
You were already inParis? - He asked if I had been to Paris before.
Conversion of ad hoc questions to indirect questions
This type of question is transformed by using an introductory phrase, a question word and respecting the direct word order in the sentence.
Examples:
"How old is your brother?", she asked.
She asked how old his brother was.
“How old is your brother? she asked. - She asked how old his brother was.
"When can we have breakfast?", he asked.
He asked when they could have breakfast.
He asked, "When can we have breakfast?" - He asked when they could have breakfast.
Joanne said to Mary, “Why are you so tired?”
Joanne asked Mary why she was so tired.
Joanna said to Marie, "Why are you so tired?" - Joan asked Marie why she was so tired.
Coordination of times in indirect matters
Since indirect questions are in the nature of a narrative or retelling, if necessary, the rules for coordinating tenses are observed, as when switching to indirect speech. The conversion formulas established for this should be followed. They lie in the fact that indirect questions are indented one time back into the past in the second part of the structure. For example, in sentences with Present Simple / Continuous / Perfect (Present Simple / Continuous / Complete) Past Simple / Continuous / Perfect (Past Simple / Continuous / Complete) is used. And in the case of the original past, the Past Perfect is used in the indirect sentence (pastcompleted time). In cases with the future, we use the rules for using Future in the Past.
Examples:
He asked, “What are you watching?”
He asked what I was watching.
He asked, "What are you watching?" - He asked what I was watching.
She asked, “Where have you been last night?”
She asked where I had been last night.
She asked, "Where were you last night?" - She asked where I was last night.
Indirect questions in English greatly expand the possibilities of communication, expression of thoughts and the use of grammatical structures. They make speech more polite, and make it possible to more fully describe or retell events in one's own name or in a third person.
