Blog about English
Reporting yes/no questions and wh-questions.
Practice: build the sentences →Reported questions present the content of a question without using the original direct-question structure.
They normally use statement word order and do not normally require quotation marks or a question mark at the end of the reported clause.
She asked if I was ready.
Она спросила, готов ли я.
Reported yes/no question with statement word order.
He asked where I lived.
Он спросил, где я живу.
Reported wh-question; no question mark.
Yes/no questions are commonly reported using if or whether followed by statement word order.
For example, "Are you ready?" becomes She asked if I was ready.
She asked if I was ready.
Она спросила, готов ли я.
If introduces reported yes/no question.
He asked whether she had called.
Он спросил, звонила ли она.
Whether also possible.
If can introduce a reported yes/no question when the meaning is whether the answer is yes or no.
For example, "Did he call?" becomes She asked if he had called.
She asked if he had called.
Она спросила, звонил ли он.
If + statement word order.
He asked if I was busy.
Он спросил, занят ли я.
If for yes/no question.
Whether can introduce reported yes/no questions and is especially useful when alternatives are relevant or in more formal English.
For example, He asked whether I was ready.
He asked whether I was ready.
Он спросил, готов ли я.
Whether more formal.
She asked whether we should leave.
Она спросила, следует ли нам уйти.
Whether + modal.
If and whether are often interchangeable in ordinary reported yes/no questions, but whether is preferred in some formal structures and before infinitives or explicit alternatives.
For example, I asked whether he would come or whether to stay.
I asked whether he would come or stay.
Я спросил, придёт он или останется.
Whether preferred with alternatives.
I asked if he would come.
Я спросил, придёт ли он.
If also possible.
She asked whether to wait or leave.
Она спросила, ждать или уходить.
Whether before infinitive.
Wh-questions are reported using the original question word followed by statement word order.
For example, "Where do you live?" becomes He asked where I lived.
He asked where I lived.
Он спросил, где я живу.
Where + statement word order.
She asked what I wanted.
Она спросила, что я хочу.
What + statement order.
Reported questions normally use subject + verb order rather than the auxiliary inversion found in direct questions.
For example, "Where does she work?" becomes He asked where she worked, not where did she work.
He asked where she worked.
Он спросил, где она работает.
Subject + verb order.
He asked where did she work.
Он спросил, где она работает.
Incorrect: question inversion retained.
The auxiliary do is normally removed when a direct question is converted into a reported question with another tense or auxiliary.
For example, "Where did he go?" becomes She asked where he had gone, not She asked where did he go.
She asked where he had gone.
Она спросила, куда он ушёл.
Do-support removed.
She asked where did he go.
Она спросила, куда он пошёл.
Incorrect: do-support retained.
What can introduce a reported question while preserving its role as the question word.
For example, "What do you want?" becomes He asked what I wanted.
He asked what I wanted.
Он спросил, что я хочу.
What as question word.
She asked what I was doing.
Она спросила, что я делаю.
What + past continuous backshift.
Who can remain the subject or object question word in a reported question, depending on the original sentence.
For example, "Who called you?" becomes She asked who had called me.
She asked who had called me.
Она спросила, кто мне звонил.
Who as subject.
He asked who I had seen.
Он спросил, кого я видел.
Who as object.
Where introduces reported questions concerning location or destination.
For example, "Where are they going?" becomes He asked where they were going.
He asked where they were going.
Он спросил, куда они идут.
Where + statement order.
She asked where I had been.
Она спросила, где я был.
Where with past perfect.
When introduces reported questions concerning time.
For example, "When will she arrive?" becomes He asked when she would arrive.
He asked when she would arrive.
Он спросил, когда она приедет.
When + would.
She asked when the meeting started.
Она спросила, когда начинается встреча.
When + past simple.
Why introduces reported questions concerning reasons or causes.
For example, "Why did you leave?" becomes She asked why I had left.
She asked why I had left.
Она спросила, почему я ушёл.
Why + past perfect.
He asked why I was late.
Он спросил, почему я опоздал.
Why + past simple.
How can introduce reported questions concerning manner, degree, method, or process.
For example, "How did you solve it?" becomes He asked how I had solved it.
He asked how I had solved it.
Он спросил, как я это решил.
How + past perfect.
She asked how to use the machine.
Она спросила, как пользоваться машиной.
How + to-infinitive.
How much and how many remain together when reporting questions involving quantity or number.
For example, "How much does it cost?" becomes She asked how much it cost.
She asked how much it cost.
Она спросила, сколько это стоит.
How much + statement order.
He asked how many people had come.
Он спросил, сколько людей пришло.
How many + past perfect.
Which remains as the question determiner or pronoun when reporting a question about a choice among alternatives.
For example, "Which train are you taking?" becomes He asked which train I was taking.
He asked which train I was taking.
Он спросил, на какой поезд я сажусь.
Which + statement order.
She asked which one I preferred.
Она спросила, какой я предпочитаю.
Which as pronoun.
Reported questions may undergo the same tense backshift as reported statements when the reporting verb establishes a past viewpoint.
For example, "Are you working?" becomes He asked whether I was working.
He asked whether I was working.
Он спросил, работаю ли я.
Present continuous to past continuous.
She asked if I had finished.
Она спросила, закончил ли я.
Present perfect to past perfect.
Pronouns may change when the identities and grammatical roles of the original speaker, listener, and reporter change.
For example, "Are you coming with me?" becomes She asked me whether I was coming with her.
She asked me whether I was coming with her.
Она спросила меня, иду ли я с ней.
You → I, me → her.
He asked whether I would help them.
Он спросил, помогу ли я им.
You → I, us → them.
Time and place references may change when the reporter has a different temporal or spatial viewpoint.
For example, "Are you leaving tomorrow?" can become He asked whether I was leaving the next day.
He asked whether I was leaving the next day.
Он спросил, уезжаю ли я на следующий день.
Tomorrow → the next day.
She asked if I was happy there.
Она спросила, хорошо ли мне там.
Here → there.
A reported question is an embedded question and follows the word order of a statement rather than a direct question.
For example, Do you know where he lives? contains the embedded question where he lives.
Do you know where he lives?
Ты знаешь, где он живёт?
Embedded question uses statement order.
Do you know where does he live?
Ты знаешь, где он живёт?
Incorrect: inversion in embedded question.
Prepositions required by the original question may remain in the reported structure.
For example, "Who were you talking to?" becomes She asked who I had been talking to.
She asked who I had been talking to.
Она спросила, с кем я разговаривал.
Preposition retained at end.
He asked what I was looking for.
Он спросил, что я ищу.
Preposition retained.
Modal verbs in reported questions can change or remain unchanged depending on their original form and meaning.
For example, "Can you help?" becomes She asked if I could help, while "Could you help?" can remain could.
She asked if I could help.
Она спросила, могу ли я помочь.
Can → could.
He asked if I could help.
Он спросил, могу ли я помочь.
Could remains could.
Some reported questions can be reduced to a question-word + to-infinitive construction when the meaning and subject relationship allow it.
For example, She asked what she should do can become She asked what to do.
She asked what to do.
Она спросила, что делать.
Question word + to-infinitive.
He asked how to solve the problem.
Он спросил, как решить проблему.
How + to-infinitive.
Whether and alternative structures can report questions that ask the listener to choose between possibilities.
For example, "Should I call or email?" becomes She asked whether she should call or email.
She asked whether she should call or email.
Она спросила, позвонить ей или написать.
Whether with alternatives.
He asked whether to accept or decline.
Он спросил, принять или отказаться.
Whether + to-infinitive alternatives.
A reported question inside a larger statement normally does not take a question mark unless the whole sentence is itself a question.
For example, He asked where I lived. But in Do you know where I live? the complete sentence is a question.
He asked where I lived.
Он спросил, где я живу.
Reported question: no question mark.
Do you know where I live?
Ты знаешь, где я живу?
Whole sentence is a question, so question mark.
Embedded and reported questions can be used to make requests for information less direct and more polite.
For example, Could you tell me where the station is? is more indirect than Where is the station?
Could you tell me where the station is?
Не могли бы вы сказать, где находится вокзал?
Indirect and polite.
Where is the station?
Где находится вокзал?
Direct and less polite.
Direct questions use question word order, while reported and embedded questions normally use statement word order.
Compare Where does he live? with Do you know where he lives?
Where does he live?
Где он живёт?
Direct question: inversion.
Do you know where he lives?
Ты знаешь, где он живёт?
Reported/embedded: statement order.
Use statement word order inside reported questions and apply appropriate changes to auxiliaries, tenses, pronouns, and time references.
Common mistakes include retaining question inversion, using do-support unnecessarily, using if with a wh-question, and placing a question mark after every embedded question.
She asked where I lived.
Она спросила, где я живу.
Correct statement order.
She asked where did I live.
Она спросила, где я живу.
Incorrect: inversion retained.
She asked if where I lived.
Она спросила, где я живу.
Incorrect: if used with wh-question.
She asked where I lived?
Она спросила, где я живу?
Incorrect: question mark after embedded question.