The guide to Reported Speech (3: Questions)

You will probably need to read part one and part two of this 'Guide to Reported Speech' before continuing...

In this entry, we will focus on how to make reported speech from direct questions:


Reporting verbs in questions:

TO ASK
ASK - ASKED - ASKED

ASK SOMETHING
Mary asked if he would play.
ASK SOMEONE SOMETHING
Mary asked Sam if he would play.

TO WONDER
WONDER - WONDERED - WONDERED

WONDER SOMETHING
Mary wondered if he would play.

TO WANT TO KNOW
WANT TO - WANTED TO - WANTED TO

WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING
Mary wanted to know if he would play.

Two types of questions:

YES/NO QUESTIONS

DS: Mary asked Sam, 'Will you play?'

[REPORTING VERB] + ['IF'/'WHETHER'] + [STATEMENT]
RS: Mary asked Sam if/whether he would play.
Note that after 'if' or 'whether' the clause is in affirmative or negative order, not in interrogative order.

WH- QUESTIONS


DS: Mary asked Sam, 'Where did you live last year?'

[REPORTING VERB] + [WH-WORD] + [STATEMENT]
RS: Mary asked Sam where he had lived the year before.



Dani