Home of English Grammar

Free Guide (Updated for 2023)

  • Home
  • Download Lessons
  • Grammar Rules
  • Online Exercises
  • Online Tools
    • Grammar Checker
    • Word Counter
  • Guides
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Lessons / Reporting yes/no questions

Reporting yes/no questions

December 1, 2013 - pdf

Yes/no questions expect yes or no as the answer. We use if or whether to report yes/no questions.

Direct: ‘Will you do this?’

Indirect: She asked me if I would do that.

Direct: ‘Are you going to the market?’

Indirect: She asked me if I was going to the market.

Direct: Will you help me?

Indirect: She asked me whether I would help her.

Direct: Have you bought a new cellphone?

Indirect: She wondered if I had bought a new cellphone.

Reporting wh-questions

Note that there is no inversion of subject and verb when we report questions.

Direct: ‘What is the problem?’

Indirect: She asked what the problem was.

Direct: Who’s the best singer here?

Indirect: She asked me who the best singer was.

Direct: ‘When are you going on holiday?’

Indirect: She wanted to know when I was going on holiday.

Direct: ‘How do you feel today?’

Indirect: The doctor asked her how she felt. (NOT The doctor asked her how did she feel.)

However, do can be used in indirect negative questions.

Direct: ‘Why don’t you find a job?’

Indirect: She asked him why he didn’t find a job.

Compare:

Direct: Do you like ice-cream?

Indirect: She asked me if I liked ice-cream.

Direct: Don’t you like ice-cream?

Indirect: She was surprised that I didn’t like ice-cream.

Direct: Who is that pretty girl in the red frock?

Indirect: I wondered who that pretty girl in the red frock was.

Direct: How did you make this soup?

Indirect: I wondered how she had made that soup.

Direct: Which color would you like?

Indirect: She asked me which color I wanted.

Direct: Which cellphone did you buy?

Indirect: My father asked me which cellphone I had bought.

 

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
1,189,776 
592,977 

Check Your Grammar

GrammarCheck.net - Try online
Hint → Bookmark GrammarCheck for future use.

Latest Exercises

  • Gap Filling Vocabulary Exercise February 25, 2023
  • Some, Any vs. No February 22, 2023
  • Verbs Exercise February 20, 2023
  • Is vs. Are February 19, 2023
  • Will vs. Would February 19, 2023
  • Confusing Words Exercise February 17, 2023
  • Prepositions Quiz February 16, 2023
  • Vocabulary Exercise February 16, 2023
  • And vs. But February 15, 2023

Topics

  • Adjectives
  • Adverbs
  • Business Writing
  • Commas
  • Conjunctions
  • Creative Writing
  • Difference
  • Essay Writing
  • Exercises
  • Learning
  • Lessons
  • Nouns
  • Prepositions
  • Pronouns
  • Proofreading
  • Punctuation
  • Quiz
  • Spelling
  • Style Guide
  • Teaching
  • Terms
  • Verbs
  • Words
  • Writing

Quiz

  • Can you correct these 14 basic grammar mistakes?
  • What kind of writer are you?

Copyright © 2023 · EnglishGrammar.org
Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Sitemap