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Expressing indirect questions
in English
While expressing reported statements in
English is relatively easy to
master, putting direct questions
into reported speech can often cause
problems for the learner.
The simplest way to master the rules or structures is to start with a
few varied direct questions, and use them as models.
We will use the following Models:
► M1.
Where is my jacket ? (question using to be)
► M2.
What is making that noise ? ( Wh
word as subject, )
► M3
Does she like chocolate? (no question word present)
► M4.
What are you doing ? (Wh
word as object).
► M5.
Where do you live ? (Wh
word as adverb)
Premiminary points:
- a) The main thing to remember
is
that in reported
interrogatives, there is no inversion
of subject and verb.
- b)
Reported speech can be
introduced by a lot of different verbs, but most commonly by
expressions such as "He
asked...... , I wonder....." etc.
- When there is no question
word (as in model M3),
indirect questions are introduced by if or whether.
Reporting the
present: simultaneous reporting.
This is not complicated. The verb tense in the reported question is the
same
as in the original question.
► M1.
"Where is my jacket ?" ►
He's asking where his jacket is.
► M2.
"What is making that noise ?" ► I
wonder what's making that noise
► M3.
"Does she like chocolate ?" ► I
wonder if (whether) she likes chocolate.
► M4.
"What are you doing ?" ► He's
asking what you're doing.
M4.
"What is he saying ?" ► I
wonder what he's saying.
► M5.
"Where does he come from ?" ► I wonder where he comes from.
Reporting the
past: deferred reporting.
This
is a little more complicated, but not impossible to master. It is
the more common form of reporting. The verb in the reported
question usually changes.
Reporting
the present
from the past.
If the reported question refers to a past situation, the verb in the
reported question clause should go in the past.
But if the reported question refers to a permanent or ongoing situation
(M11,
M21, etc) , it can
remain in the present.
► M1."
Where is my jacket ?" ►
He asked where his jacket was.
M11
"Where is London ?" ► He asked
where London is
► M2.
"What is making that noise ?" ► I
wondered what was
making the noise.
M21
"Who lives in this house ?" ► I wondered
who lives
in this house.
► M3.
"Do you want a chocolate?" ► They
asked (me) If I wanted
a chocolate .
M31 "Do
you speak English ?" ► He asked
(me) if I speak
English.
► M4.
"What are you doing ?" ► He
asked what you were
doing.
M41
"What are you doing ?" ► He asked
what you're
doing .
► M3.
"What is he saying?" ► I
asked what he was
saying..
►
M5.
"Where does he come from ?" ► I asked him where he came from.
In
the examples above, the jacket
(M1) has moved
since the question was asked, but London
(M11) has not moved ! We can suppose that the noise (M2) has
stopped,
but that the person still
lives (M21) in the house, and so on.
As for example M31, people often put the verb
into the past tense in this type of reported question, though strictly
this is not necessary, nor really really correct. "He asked me if I spoke English"
suggests that speaking English is something you can do one day, but not
the next..
Reporting
the future
from the past.
When
a direct question using a future
verb form is reported, the future form of the question clause becomes a
conditional, or a future-in-the-past.
will
> would
– are going to > were going to
– can > could,
etc.
► M1.
"Where will you be tomorrow?"
► He asked where I would be the following day.
M11
"Where will I be in 2030 ?" ► I wondered
where I'll be
in 2030.
► M2.
"What will come next ?" ► He
asked what would come
next .
► M3.
"Will you take me home?" ► I
asked if he'd take me
home .
M31"
Will he still be there in 2020 ?" ► I wondered
if he'll still be there in 2020.
► M4."
What are you going to do ?" ► He asked what I was going to do..
M41
"Who's she going to marry ?" ► They asked
who she's
going to marry .
►
M5.
"How will you survive?" ► He
asked me how I'd survive .
Footnote:
Absolute
and relative
adverbs of time or place.
English (like many other languages) has a series of adverbs of time and
place which are absolute concepts,
and strictly related to present time
(the moment) or place. Now,
today, yesterday, tomorrow, in
five minutes' time (etc), here.
In indirect questions or statements, the moment is not normally the
same as it
was when the question or statement was originally made. Therefore it is
often necessary to change the adverb of time and use one that
expresses a relative concept of time.
Here are the most common pairs:
- Today
that
day
- Tomorrow
the next
day, the following day
- Yesterday
the
day before, the previous day
- Now
then, at that moment,
- In
five minutes'
(etc) time five minutes (etc.) later
- Here
there
Example:
"Can
you be here tomorrow?" would be reported as:
He
asked if I could be there the following day.
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