Reported questions: reported speech

Reported speech:
question forms.

Reported speech: questions

Look at these examples to see how we can tell someone what another person asked.

direct speech: 'Do you work from home?' he said.
indirect speech: He asked me if I worked from home.

direct speech: 'Who did you see?' she asked.
indirect speech: She asked me who I'd seen.

Reported speech: questions

A reported question is when we tell someone what another person asked. In order to do this, we have to do the following:

• We change the question structure (e.g. Do you like) to a statement structure (e.g. I like).

• We need to change the tenses (Ex: from present simple to past simple).

Reporting wh-questions

​Indirect reports of wh-questions consist of questions beginning with a wh-word (who, what, when, where, why, how). We don’t use a question mark.

​Direct question structure: wh- word + auxiliary verb.

​Reported question structure: wh- word + subject + verb.

Multiple Choice

"Why is Julie sad?"

• She asked me why Julie was sad.

• She asked me why was Julie sad.

• She asked me why is Julie sad.

• She asked me why was Julie sad?

Fill in the Blank

"What's for dinner?"

She asked me...

.

Fill in the Blank

"Who is the woman in the red dress?"

.

Fill in the Blank

"How is your grandmother?"

.

Multiple Choice

"When is the party?"

• She asked me when was the party.

• She asked me when the party was.

• She asked me when the party was?

• She asked me when is the party.

Yes / no questions

This type of question is reported by using 'ask' + 'if / whether' + clause:

​Direct question structure: Auxiliary verb+subject+verb?

​Reported question structure:
Subject + asked + if/whether + subject + verb

Multiple Choice

"Am I late?"

• She asked me if was she late.

• She asked me if she was late.

• She asked me if is she late.

• She asked me if is she late?

Multiple Choice

"Is it cold outside?"

• She asked me if was it cold outside?

• She asked me if was it cold outside.

• She asked me if it was cold outside.

Fill in the Blank

"Are they in Paris?"

.

Fill in the Blank

"Is the bus stop near the shopping centre?"

.

Fill in the Blank

"Is the milk fresh?"

.

Fill in the Blank

"Are you a doctor?"

.

Fill in the Blank

Are James and Lucy from France?"

.

Complete these exercises

Fill in the Blank

"Where is my umbrella?" she asked.

She asked ...

.

Fill in the Blank

"How are you?" Martin asked us.

Martin asked us ...

.

Fill in the Blank

He asked, "Do I have to do it?"

He asked ...

.

Fill in the Blank

"Where have you been?" the mother asked her daughter.

.

Fill in the Blank

"Which dress do you like best?" she asked her boyfriend.

.

Fill in the Blank

"What are they doing?" she asked.

.

Fill in the Blank

"Are you going to the cinema?" he asked me.

.

Fill in the Blank

The teacher asked, "Who speaks English?"

Fill in the Blank

"How do you know that?" she asked me.

Fill in the Blank

"Has Caron talked to Kevin?" my friend asked me.