Indirect questions

Indirect question (also called embedded question) is a statement within another statement/ question (polite expression). Indirect questions are polite, longer forms of normal questions.

For examples,

• What is your name? → I can't remember what your name is.
• Can you speak English?  → Can you tell me if you can speak English?

Some common polite expressions are:

• I wonder……………...………
• Do you know………………….………?
• I can't remember ...…………
• Could you tell me ... …………………?
• I'd like to know .....………….
• Would you mind telling me ... ………?
• I can't remember...…….……
• Would it be possible for you to.…..…?

Changing direct questions to indirect questions

There are two types of questions: Yes/no question and Wh questions. When we change them to indirect questions, there is a slightly difference in form.

WH QUESTIONS

Form:

• A polite expression + a statement

Procedures:

Step 1: Change the question to statement word order. See the example,

• "Where do you live?"
• → Where you do live

Step 2: Remove auxiliary verb if necessary.

• → Where you do live

Step 3: Embed it in a polite expression.

• I can't remember where you live.

Step 4: Check whether you need to punctuate with question mark "?" or full-stop ".".

• Can you tell me where you live? ["?" is used when polite expression is a question.]
• I want to know where you live. ["." is used when polite expression is a statement.]

Here are more examples,

• What's his name? 
• →  Do you know what his name is?
• →  Do you know what is his name? 

• What's the time? 
• →  Do you have any idea what the time is? 
• →  Do you have any what is the time?

• When does the next train arrive? 
• →  Do you know when the next train arrives? 
• →  Do you know when does the next train arrive?

YES/NO QUESTIONS

Form:

• A polite expression + if / whether + a statement

Procedures:

Step 1: Change the question to statement word order. See the example,

• "Do you like apple?"
• →  you do like apple

Step 2: Remove auxiliary verb if necessary.

• you do like apple

Step 3: add IF or WHETHER in front of re-ordered question.

• if/whether you like apple

Step 4: Embed it in a polite expression.

• I can't remember if/whether you like apple.

Step 5: Check whether you need to punctuate with question mark "?" or full-stop ".".

• Can you tell me if/whether you like apple? ["?" is used when polite expression is a question.]
• I want to know if/whether you like apple. ["." is used when polite expression is a statement.]

Here are more examples,

• Do you like Chinese food? 
• →  I'd like to know if/whether you like Chinese food.
• →  I’d like to know if / whether do you like Chinese food. 
• →  I’d like to know if / whether you do like Chinese food.

• Does she work for Mobitel? 
• →  I wonder if/whether she works for Mobitel. 
• →  I wonder if/whether does she work for Mobitel. 
• →  I wonder if/whether she does work for Mobitel. 
• →  I wonder if/whether she work for Mobitel. 

Tag Question

Sam An Teng 


The speakers use tag question to confirm or make sure their information is correct, or to seek agreement. A tag question is added at the end of a sentence. 

There are two forms of tag questions:

POSITIVE SENTENCE, NEGATIVE TAG? (Positive answer is expected)

• You are a student, aren’t you?  → Yes, I am.
• He likes coffee, doesn’t he? → Yes, he does.
• They have made the mistakes, haven’t they? →Yes, they have.
• You can swim, can’t you?  → Yes, I can.

NEGATIVE SENTENCE, POSITIVE TAG? (Negative answer is expected)

• He didn’t eat meat, did he?  → No, he didn’t.
• You don't know where the boss is, do you?  → No, I don’t.
• You shouldn’t go alone, should you?  → No, I shouldn’t.

Important notice:

1. The tag question for “I am” is “aren’t I” or “am I not”. 

• I am confident, aren’t I? 
• I am confident, am I not? 

2. The question for “let’s” is “shall we”. 

• Let’s go for a walk, shall we? 
• Let’s make a final decision, shall we? 

3. With an order or command, the tag question is “will you”. 

• Turn off the television, will you? 

4. We use positive tag question after a sentence containing negative words such as never, hardly, nobody...

• They have never visited Siem Reap, have they? 
• You have no confidence, do you? 

5. When the subject is “everything, something, or anything”, we use the pronoun “it” in the tag question.

•  Nothing bad happened, did it? 

6. When the subject is “everyone, someone, anyone, somebody, anybody, ”, we use the pronoun “they” in the tag question. 

• Nobody called me this morning, did they? 

7. With "used to", we use didn't in the tag. 

• You used to smoke, didn't you?

Question Form

Sam An Teng

Questions are formed in several ways in English; as,

1. TO BE

We simply reverse the positions of be and subject:

Form: 

• To be + sub + complement?

For examples,

• Are you Cambodian?
• Were they your former colleagues?

2. AUXILIARY (BE/HAVE/DO)

We simply reverse the positions of auxiliary and subject:

Form: 

• Auxiliary + subject + main verb?

For examples,

• Is she working in a bank?
• Do you like coffee?
• Have you reviewed the lessons?

NOTE: When the sentence has no auxiliary verb, to make question we use “do”. For examples,

• He likes Mary. --> Does he like Mary?
• They went to Siem Reap. --> Did they go to Siem Reap?

3. MODAL VERBS

We simply reverse the positions of modal (can, could, may, might, must, should, will, would) and subject:

Form: 

• Modal + subject + main verb?

For examples,

• Can you fix the computer? No, I can’t.
• When will we have lunch? At 1pm.

4. WH- IS THE SUBJECT

Use positive word order - not question word order.

Form: 

• Wh- + verb ……?

For examples,

• Sopheak wrote the letter.--> Who wrote the letter?
• Sopheak won a scholarship. --> Who won the scholarship?
• Russia is the biggest country in the world. --> What/Which is the biggest country in the world?

5. WITH PREPOSITIONS

In some questions we need to add PREPOSITION in order to make it meaningful.

For examples,

• Where do you want to travel to?
• Where do you come from?
• What is this paper for?

6. TAG QUESTIONS

It is a statement followed by a mini-question. If the statement is positive, the mini-question (question tag) is negative. If the statement is negative, the mini-question (question tag) is positive.

Form:

• Positive statement, negative tag?
• Negative statement, positive tag?

For examples,

• You are a student, aren't you?
• She likes ice-cream, doesn't she?
• You didn't read the news, did you?
• They can't speak English, can they?

See more details here. 

7. INDIRECT QUESTIONS

Indirect question is a statement within another statement/question. Indirect questions are polite, longer forms of normal questions. 

Form:

• a polite expression + a question [which has no subject/verb inversion like a normal question.]

For examples,

      Direct Question               --> Indirect Question

• What is your name?    --> Can you tell me what your name is?
• Where do you live?     --> I wonder if you can tell me where you live.
• Do you like coffee?     --> I want to know if/whether you like coffee.

Here are some common polite expressions:

• Do you know ………………………?
• I wonder ……………
• I can't remember ... …………
• Could you tell me ... …………?
• Would you mind telling me ... …………?
• Would it be possible for you to... …………?
• Is there any chance you could... …………?
• I don't suppose you could... …………
• I'd like to know ... …………
• I can't remember... …………

See more details here.

Question Types

Sam An Teng

In English, there are few types of questions you may use to ask for responses, confirmations, information, etc. They include yes/no question, information question, negative question, alternative question, embed question.


[1]  YES/NO QUESTIONS

Yes/no questions may be simply answered "yes" or "no". To form yes/no questions, we can use the form below:

a) To be: In sentences which “be” is main verb, we swap the position of subject and verb. For examples,

• She is a student. → Is she a student? 
• You are tired. → Are you tired?

b) Modal verb: In sentences with auxiliary verbs, we swap the position of the subject and auxiliary verb. Fore examples,

• They are sitting in the class. → Are they sitting in the class? 
• They have been living here for long. → Have they been living here for long? 
• They should bring umbrella. → Should they bring umbrella? 
• He can rewrite the report. → Can he rewrite the report?

c) No auxiliary verb: In sentences which there are no auxiliary verb, we need to add the auxiliary verb "Do/Does" and place in front of the sentence. For examples,

• He studies English. → Does he study English? 
• He got up late. → Did he get up late?

[2]  INFORMATION QUESTIONS

Wh-questions (or information questions) begins with a question word (like what, which, where…) and are used to request information. For examples,

• What → What is your favorite color? 
• Which → Which book do you prefer? 
• When → When did you finished high school? 
• Where → Where do you live? 
• Why → Why did you change your career? 
• How → How can I get to the post office? 
• Who → Who is standing over there? 
• Whom → Whom did you talk to?

[3]  NEGATIVE QUESTIONS

Negatives questions are used when we expect the answer is “yes”.

• Isn’t she beautiful? → Yes, she is. 
• Aren’t you afraid of failure? → Yes, sure. 

Negatives questions are also used to confirm information whether something is correct or not, or to seek an agreement. For examples,

• Didn’t you understand what I’ve said? → No, I didn’t. or Yes, I did. 
• Are they coming for the party? → No, they aren’t. or Yes, they are.

Note:

Negative questions can be formed in two ways:

a) Auxiliary verb + n’t + subject 

• Aren’t you interested in the book? 
• Weren’t you worried about her health?

b)Auxiliary verb + subject + not 

• Are you not interested in the book? 
• Were you not worried about her health?

[4]  CHOICE QUESTIONS

Alternative or choice questions express two or more choices. For examples,

• Will you go to Malaysia or Indonesia? 
• Should I choose apple, banana, or grape? 
• Do you like coffee or tea?

[5]  EMBEDDED QUESTIONS

Embedded questions are questions within another questions or statements. See indirect questions.