Learning English Grammar
Indirect questions
Feb 6, 2024
Learn how and when to use indirect questions as a polite alternative to direct questions. Understand the importance of maintaining the same order of subject and verb. Explore the use of indirect questions in grammar, including examples of direct questions and the two types of indirect questions. Discover the word order and tenses of indirect questions, highlighting their similarity to statements and the absence of auxiliary verbs.
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Quick takeaways
- Indirect questions are a more polite way of asking questions, using phrases like 'could you tell me?' or 'do you know?'
- Yes/no questions can also be asked indirectly using 'if' or 'whether', with 'whether' being slightly more formal.
Deep dives
Using indirect questions
Indirect questions are a more polite way of asking questions. They consist of two parts: the phrase 'could you tell me?' followed by the question word. For example, 'Could you tell me what time it is?' Other phrases that can be used for the first part include 'do you know?' and 'would you mind telling me?' In indirect questions, the subject and verb are in the same order as statements, not in question word order.
