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INDIRECT QUESTIONS:
Direct question: Where is the bank?
Indirect question: Could you tell me where the bank is?

Notice that in the indirect question I put the verb ('is') after the subject ('the bank'), in the same way as I do
with a normal positive sentence ('the bank is over there'), but in the direct question I put the verb 'is' before
the subject 'the bank'. This is called inversion, and it is used to make direct questions in many verb tenses in
English, but we don't use inversion in indirect questions. This is very similar to the grammar of reported
questions. However, we use indirect questions in a different way from reported questions. Indirect questions
are a way of being polite. They are very, very common in English, especially when you're talking to someone
you don't know.

'Yes / No' Questions

To make an indirect 'yes / no' question, we use 'if' and the word order of a normal positive sentence. This is
the same as for reported 'yes / no' questions. On the other hand, we don't usually need to 'backshift'
(change the tense of the verb) as we do with reported questions.

Of course, most tenses make questions by using 'inversion' (changing the word order). To change from a
direct 'yes / no' question with inversion to an indirect question, you add 'if' and change the word order back
to a normal positive sentence. You don't need to use inversion.

'Yes / no' questions for tenses with inversion:

Verb Tense Direct Question Indirect Question

Present simple
Is he Spanish? Can you tell me if he is Spanish?
with 'be'

Can you tell me if the restaurant is closing

Present continuous Is the restaurant closing now?
now?

Past simple with Can you tell me if he was late for the
Was he late for the meeting?
'be' meeting?

Can you tell me if you were watching TV at

Past continuous Were you watching TV at 3pm?
3pm?

Present perfect Has Lucy been to Mexico? Can you tell me if Lucy has been to Mexico?

Present perfect Can you tell me if she has been living here
Has she been living here long?
continuous long?

Past perfect Had she found this job when she Can you tell me if she had found this job when
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moved here? she moved here?

Past perfect Had she been living here long when Can you tell me if she had been living here
continuous she met you? long when she met you?

Future simple with Can you tell me if she will start her new job
Will she start her new job next week?
'will' next week?

Future simple with

Is it going to rain later? Can you tell me if it is going to rain later?
'going to'

Can you tell me if Lisa will be meeting the

Future continuous Will Lisa be meeting the boss later?
boss later?

Will he have finished the report by Can you tell me if he will have finished the
Future perfect
tonight? report by tonight?

Future perfect Will he have been studying French for Can you tell me if he will have been studying
continuous twenty years when he retires? French for twenty years when he retires?

Modal verbs Should we start now? Can you tell me if we should start now?

'Yes / no' questions with tenses that use 'do / does / did':

Sometimes you want to make an indirect question using the present simple of any verb except 'be' or the
past simple of any verb except 'be'. These tenses make direct questions by using 'do / does / did'. When we
want to make indirect 'yes / no' questions using these tenses, we need 'if' and we don't need 'do / does /
did'.

Verb Tense Direct Question Indirect Question

Present simple with any verb

Does David live in London? Can you tell me if David lives in London?
except 'be'

Past simple with any verb except Did Amanda call John Can you tell me if Amanda called John
'be' yesterday? yesterday?

'Wh' Questions

In the same way as with reported 'wh' questions, we use the question word and the word order of a normal
positive sentence to make indirect 'wh' questions. We don't need to use inversion. Again, we also don't
usually need to 'backshift' (change the tense of the verb) as we do with reported questions.
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To change a direct question to an indirect question for tenses that make questions using inversion, you just
add 'if' and change the word order back to a normal positive sentence.

'Wh' questions for tenses with inversion:

Verb Tense Direct Question Indirect Question

Present simple with

Why is he unhappy? Can you tell me why he is unhappy?
'be'

Can you tell me when the restaurant is

Present continuous When is the restaurant closing?
closing?

Past simple with Can you tell me why he was late for the
Why was he late for the meeting?
'be' meeting?

Past continuous What were you doing at 3pm? Can you tell me what you were doing at 3pm?

Present perfect Where has Lucy been? Can you tell me where Lucy has been?

Present perfect Can you tell me how long she has been living
How long has she been living here?
continuous here?

Why had she quit her job before she Can you tell me why she had quit her job
Past perfect
moved here? before she moved here?

Past perfect How long had she been living here Can you tell me how long she had been living
continuous when she met you? here when she met you?

Future simple with Can you tell me when she will start her new
When will she start her new job?
'will' job?

Future simple with

When is it going to rain? Can you tell me when it is going to rain?
'going to'

What time will Lisa be meeting the Can you tell me what time Lisa will be
Future continuous
boss? meeting the boss?

When will he have finished the Can you tell me when he will have finished
Future perfect
report? the report?

Future perfect How long will he have been studying Can you tell me how long he will have been
continuous French when he retires? studying French when he retires?
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Modal verbs What should we do now? Can you tell me what we should do now?

'Wh' questions for tenses with 'do / does / did':

Sometimes you want to make an indirect 'wh' question using the present simple of any verb except 'be' or
the past simple of any verb except 'be'. Usually these tenses make questions by using 'do / does / did'.
However, when we want to make indirect 'wh' questions using these tenses, we don't need 'do / does / did'.
Instead, we use a question word and then normal positive sentence word order.

Verb Tense Direct Question Indirect Question

Present simple with any verb

Where does David live? Can you tell me where David lives?
except 'be'

Past simple with any verb Why did Amanda call John Can you tell me why Amanda called John
except 'be' yesterday? yesterday?

Common Problems

It can be difficult to remember to put the verb after the subject, especially when the indirect question is in
the present simple tense of 'be'. For example, we need to say:

Could you tell me where the station is?

NOT: Could you tell me where is the station?

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EXERCISES
1. Where does she play tennis?
_______________________________________________________________
2. Does he live in Paris?
_______________________________________________________________
3. Is she hungry?
_______________________________________________________________
4. What is this?
_______________________________________________________________
5. Do they work in Canada?
_______________________________________________________________
6. When do John and Luke meet?
_______________________________________________________________
7. Is he a lawyer?
_______________________________________________________________
8. When is the party?
_______________________________________________________________
9. Do they often go out?
_______________________________________________________________
10. What does he do at the weekend?
_______________________________________________________________
11. Are the children on holiday this week?
_______________________________________________________________
12. Who is she?
_______________________________________________________________
13. Why do you like travelling so much?
_______________________________________________________________
14. Does Lizzie like ice cream?
_______________________________________________________________
15. Are they from Chile?
_______________________________________________________________
16. Where is the station?
_______________________________________________________________
17. Where do you study Chinese?
_______________________________________________________________
18. Where is the nearest supermarket?
_______________________________________________________________
19. Do you drink coffee?
_______________________________________________________________
20. Is Richard always late?
_______________________________________________________________
21. Did she go out last night?
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_______________________________________________________________
22. Where did she meet her brother?
_______________________________________________________________
23. How was the film?
_______________________________________________________________
24. Was David the first to arrive?
_______________________________________________________________
25. Did Lucy work at home yesterday?
_______________________________________________________________
26. What was the problem?
_______________________________________________________________
27. Who did we see at the party?
_______________________________________________________________
28. Did Zac call his mum yesterday?
_______________________________________________________________
29. Were they at the beach?
_______________________________________________________________
30. Where was the class?

31. Why did they arrive so late?

_______________________________________________________________
32. she at home yesterday?
_______________________________________________________________
33. How did she do it?
_______________________________________________________________
34. Were they in the garden?
_______________________________________________________________
35. Did they arrive late?
_______________________________________________________________
36. Did John finish the report?
_______________________________________________________________
37. Were we late for the meeting?
_______________________________________________________________
38. What did they do at the weekend?
_______________________________________________________________
39. Why was she so early?
_______________________________________________________________
40. Where was Julie yesterday afternoon?

41. Can she swim?

_______________________________________________________________
42. When can they come?
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_______________________________________________________________
43. Ought I to work tomorrow?
_______________________________________________________________
44. Why must she leave?
_______________________________________________________________
45. Must he cook tonight?
_______________________________________________________________
46. Why should I leave early?
_______________________________________________________________
47. How well can she swim?
_______________________________________________________________
48. Why ought he to become a doctor?
_______________________________________________________________
49. Can he work on Monday?
_______________________________________________________________
50. Why can’t they leave now?
_______________________________________________________________
51. Should he get there before 7?
_______________________________________________________________
52. When should we go?
_______________________________________________________________
53. Can he come to the restaurant?
_______________________________________________________________
54. Must she leave?
_______________________________________________________________
55. What can’t we bring onto the plane?
_______________________________________________________________
56. Should I take this medicine?
_______________________________________________________________
57. Who ought she to see?
_______________________________________________________________
58. Can they arrive before 6?
_______________________________________________________________
59. When must he meet the boss?
_______________________________________________________________
60. Ought she to go to bed early?

Answers:
1. Can you tell me where she plays tennis?
2. Can you tell me if he lives in Paris?
3. Can you tell me if she is hungry?
4. Can you tell me what this is?
5. Can you tell me if they work in Canada?
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6. Can you tell me when John and Luke meet?

7. Can you tell me if he is a lawyer?
8. Can you tell me when the party is?
9. Can you tell me if they often go out?
10. Can you tell me what he does at the weekend?
11. Can you tell me if the children are on holiday this week?
12. Can you tell me who she is?
13. Can you tell me why you like travelling so much?
14. Can you tell me if Lizzie likes ice cream?
15. Can you tell me if they are from Chile?
16. Can you tell me where the station is?
17. Can you tell me where you study Chinese?
18. Can you tell me where the nearest supermarket is?
19. Can you tell me if you drink coffee?
20. Can you tell me if Richard is always late?
21. Do you know if she went out last night?
22. Do you know where she met her brother?
23. Do you know how the film was?
24. Do you know if David was the first to arrive?
25. Do you know if Lucy worked at home yesterday?
26. Do you know what the problem was?
27. Do you know who we saw at the party?
28. Do you know if Zac called his mum yesterday?
29. Do you know if they were at the beach?
30. Do you know where the class was?
31. Do you know why they arrived so late?
32. Do you know if she was at home yesterday?
33. Do you know how she did it?
34. Do you know if they were in the garden?
35. Do you know if they arrived late?
36. Do you know if John finished the report?
37. Do you know what they did at the weekend?
38. Do you know if we were late for the meeting?
39. Do you know why she was so early?
40. Do you know where Julie was yesterday afternoon?
41. Could you tell me if she can swim?
42. Could you tell me when they can come?
43. Could you tell me if I ought to work tomorrow?
44. Could you tell me why she must leave?
45. Could you tell me if he must cook tonight?
46. Could you tell me why I should leave early?
47. Could you tell me how well she can swim?
48. Could you tell me why he ought to become a doctor?
49. Could you tell me if he can work on Monday?
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50. Could you tell me why they can't leave now?

51. Could you tell me if he should get there before 7?
52. Could you tell me when we should go?
53. Could you tell me if he can come to the restaurant?
54. Could you tell me if she must leave?
55. Could you tell me what we can't bring onto the plane?
56. Could you tell me if I should take this medicine?
57. Could you tell me who she ought to see?
58. Could you tell me if they can arrive before 6?
59. Could you tell me when he must meet the boss?
60. Could you tell me if she ought to go to bed early?