Questions in indirect speech

Direct question: He said, 'Where is she going?'

Indirect question: He asked where she was going.

1. When we turn direct questions into indirect speech, the following changes are necessary.

Tenses, pronouns and possessive adjectives, and adverbs of time and place change as in statements.

The interrogative form of the verb changes to the affirmative form. The question mark (?) is therefore omitted in indirect questions:

· He said, 'Where does she live?' = He asked where she lived.

With affirmative verb questions this change is obviously not necessary:

· 'Who lives next door?' he said = He asked who lived next door.

· 'What happened?' she said = She asked what had happened.

2. If the introductory verb is say, it must be changed to a verb of inquiry, e.g. ask, inquire, wonder, want to know etc.:

· He said, 'Where is the station?' = He asked where the station was.

ask, inquire, wonder can also be used in direct speech. They are then usually placed at the end of the sentence:

· 'Where is the station?' he inquired.

3. ask can be followed by the person addressed (indirect object):

· He asked, 'What have you got in your bag?' = He asked (me) what I had got in my bag.

But inquire, wonder, want to know cannot take an indirect object, so if we wish to report a question where the person addressed is mentioned, we must use ask:

· He said, 'Mary, when is the next train?' = He asked Mary when the next train was.

If we use inquire, wonder or want to know we must omit Mary.

4. If the direct question begins with a question word (when, where, who, how, why etc.) the question word is repeated in the indirect question:

· He said, 'Why didn't you put on the brake?' = He asked (her) why she hadn't put on the brake.

· She said, 'What do you want?' = She asked (them) what they wanted.

5. If there is no question word, if or whether must be used:

· 'Is anyone there?' he asked = He asked if/whether anyone was there.

A. Normally we can use either if or whether, if is the more usual:

· 'Do you know Bill?' he said = He asked if/whether I knew Bill.

· 'Did you see the accident?' the policeman asked = The policeman asked if/whether I had seen the accident.

B. whether can emphasize that a choice has to be made:

· 'Do you want to go by air or sea?' the travel agent asked = The travel agent asked whether I wanted to go by air or by sea.

Note whether or not:

· 'Do you want to insure your luggage or not?' he asked = He asked whether or not I wanted to insure my luggage or He asked if I wanted to insure my luggage or not.

C. whether + infinitive is possible after wonder, want to know:

· 'Shall/Should I wait for them or go on?' he wondered = He wondered whether to wait for them or go on or He wondered whether he should wait for them or go on.

inquire + whether + infinitive is possible but less usual.

D. whether is neater if the question contains a conditional clause as otherwise there would be two ifs:

· 'If you get the job will you move to York?' Bill asked = Bill asked whether, if I got the job, I'd move to York.

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Questions beginning shall I/we? in indirect speech

Questions beginning shall I/we? can be of four kinds.

1. Speculations or requests for information about a future event:

· 'Shall I ever see them again?' he wondered.

· 'When shall I know the result of the test?' she asked. These follow the ordinary rule about shall/will.

Speculations are usually introduced by wonder:

· He wondered if he would ever see them again.

· She asked when she would know the result of the test.

2. Requests for instructions or advice:

· 'What shall I do with it?' = 'Tell me what to do with it.'

These are expressed in indirect speech by ask, inquire etc., with should or the be + infinitive construction. Requests for advice are normally reported by should:

· 'Shall we post it, sir?' he said = He asked the customer if they were to post/if they should post it.

· 'What shall I say, mother?' she said = She asked her mother what she should say. (request for advice)

When a choice is required we normally use whether in indirect speech. whether + infinitive is sometimes possible:

· 'Shall I lock the car or leave it unlocked?' he said = He asked whether he should/was to lock the car or leave it unlocked or He asked whether to lock the car etc.

3. Offers:

· 'Shall I bring you some tea?' could be reported He offered to bring me some tea.

Note that 'Would you like me to bring you some tea?' and 'I'll bring you some tea if you like' could also be reported by offer.

4. Suggestions:

· 'Shall we meet at the theatre?' could be reported He suggested meeting at the theatre.

Questions beginning will you/would you/could you?

These may be ordinary questions, but may also be requests, invitations, or, very occasionally, commands:

· He said, 'Will you be there tomorrow?' (ordinary question) = He asked if she would be there the next day.

· 'Will you stand still!' he shouted = He shouted at me to stand still or He told/ordered me to stand still.

· 'Would you like to live in New York?' he asked = He asked if I would like to live in New York.

· 'Will/Would you file these letters, please?' he said = He asked/told me to file the letters.

· 'Would you like a lift?' said Ann = Ann offered me a lift.

· 'Would you like to come round/Could you come round for a drink?' he said = He invited me (to come) round for a drink.

· 'Could you live on £25 a week?' he asked = He asked if I could live on £25 a week.

· 'Could/Would you give me a hand?' she said = She asked us to give her a hand.

· 'Could/Would you show me the photos?' she said = She asked me to show her the photos or She asked to see the photos.