11 Indirect Questions First Day on the Job Focus on Grammar 4 Part X, Unit 28 By Ruth Luman, Gabriele Steiner, and BJ Wells Copyright © 2005. Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Too Many Questions I think he did okay, but he sure asked a lot of questions. How did the new employee do on his first day? Oh? What kinds of questions did he ask you? Well…

Indirect Questions He asked me who fixed the computers. He asked me if he could get a bigger office. He also asked me why the previous person had left. “Who fixes the computers?” “Can I get a bigger office?” “Why did the previous person leave?”

Indirect Yes / No Questions 1 Use if or whether in indirect yes/no questions. “Does the boss like practical jokes?” “Do you have any more chocolate donuts?” The new guy asked whether the boss liked practical jokes. The new guy asked if we had any more chocolate donuts.

Indirect Yes / No Questions 2 Whether is more formal than if. We often use whether or not to report yes/no questions. “Can I take a break?” The new guy asked whether or not he could take a break.

Change the direct questions into indirect questions Change the direct questions into indirect questions. Use if, whether, or whether or not. Practice 1 Example: “Will I get a raise?” He asked… He asked if he would get a raise. He asked whether he would get a raise. 1. “Does the company provide a car?” They asked… 2. “Can I have a company credit card?” She asked… 3. “Did he order a new computer?” I asked… He asked whether or not he would get a raise. They asked if the company provided a car. She asked whether she could get a company credit card. I asked whether or not he had ordered a new computer.

Wh- Questions 1 Use question words in indirect wh- questions. “When is the next office party?” “How many copies can I make?” The new guy asked when the next office party was. He also asked how many copies he could make.

Word Order 1 Use statement word order (subject + verb), not question word order, for indirect yes/no questions. “Can you turn off the fax machine?” He asked me if I could turn off the fax machine.

Word Order 2 Use statement word order (subject + verb), not question word order, for indirect wh- questions about the predicate (usually the last part of the sentence). “Why do the meetings last so long?” He asked why the meetings lasted so long.

He asked who made the coffee. Word Order 3 Use statement word order (subject + verb), not question word order, for indirect wh- questions about the subject (usually the first part of the sentence). Subject “Who made the coffee?” He asked who made the coffee.

“What is the dress code?” Be Careful! If a direct question about the subject has the form question word + be + noun, then the indirect question has the form question word + noun + be. He asked what was the dress code. “What is the dress code?” the dress code was.

Auxiliaries In indirect questions, do not use the auxiliary do, does, or did. “Do you have any new video games?” He asked me do I have any new video games. any new video games. if I had

Punctuation In indirect questions, do not end with a question mark (end with a period). “Could you wake me up in an hour?” He asked me if I could wake him up in an hour ? . ?

Practice 2 Change the direct questions into indirect questions. Example: “Where is my office?” She asked… She asked where her office was. 1. “What’s the name of the company?” They asked… 2. “How many people work for the company?” We asked… 3. “How long has the boss worked in the office?” I asked… They asked what the name of the company was. We asked how many people worked for the company. I asked how long the boss had worked in the office.

References Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education and its licensors. All rights reserved.