Reporting Questions
Two Types of Questions
Wh-Questions
Start with who, what, where, when, why, how:
- “Where do you live?”
- “What is your name?”
Yes/No Questions
Can be answered with yes or no:
- “Do you like coffee?”
- “Are you coming?”
Reporting Wh-Questions
Structure
asked + wh-word + statement word order
No question marks. No question word order.
Examples
Direct: “Where do you work?”
Reported: She asked where I worked. ✓
She asked where did I work. ✗
Direct: “What are you doing?” Reported: He asked what I was doing.
Direct: “Why did you leave?” Reported: They asked why I had left.
Common Wh-Words
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| ”Where is the bank?” | He asked where the bank was. |
| ”What time does it start?” | She asked what time it started. |
| ”How did you do it?” | They asked how I had done it. |
| ”Who wrote this?” | He asked who had written that. |
Reporting Yes/No Questions
Structure
asked + if/whether + statement word order
Examples
Direct: “Do you like music?” Reported: She asked if I liked music. ✓ She asked whether I liked music. ✓
Direct: “Are you coming to the party?” Reported: He asked if I was coming to the party.
Direct: “Can you swim?” Reported: She asked whether I could swim.
If vs. Whether
Both are usually interchangeable:
- He asked if she was coming.
- He asked whether she was coming.
“Whether” is slightly more formal and used with “or not”:
- He asked whether or not she was coming.
Word Order Changes
Direct Question (question word order)
- Where does she live? (auxiliary before subject)
- Is he coming?
Reported Question (statement word order)
- He asked where she lived. (subject before verb)
- She asked if he was coming.
Backshift Applies
Tenses still move back:
| Direct | Reported |
|---|---|
| ”Are you happy?“ | asked if I was happy |
| ”Did you see it?“ | asked if I had seen it |
| ”Will you come?“ | asked if I would come |
| ”Have you finished?“ | asked if I had finished |
Practice Examples
Direct: “What time does the train leave?” she asked.
Reported: She asked what time the train left.
Direct: “Have you ever been to Paris?” he asked me.
Reported: He asked me if I had ever been to Paris.
In reported questions, the word order returns to normal statement order (no inversion), and question marks are dropped. “Where does he live?” becomes “She asked where he lived.” Getting the word order right is the main challenge.