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.
direct speech: 'Could you write that down for me?' she asked.
indirect speech: She asked me to write it down.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
A reported question is when we tell someone what another person asked. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.
direct speech: 'Do you like working in sales?' he asked.
indirect speech: He asked me if I liked working in sales.
In indirect speech, we change the question structure (e.g. Do you like) to a statement structure (e.g. I like).
We also often make changes to the tenses and other words in the same way as for reported statements (e.g. have done → had done, today → that day). You can learn about these changes on the Reported speech 1 – statements page.
Yes/no questions
In yes/no questions, we use if or whether to report the question. If is more common.
'Are you going to the Helsinki conference?'
- He asked me if I was going to the Helsinki conference.
'Have you finished the project yet?'
- She asked us whether we'd finished the project yet.
Questions with a question word
In what, where, why, who, when or how questions, we use the question word to report the question.
'What time does the train leave?'
- He asked me what time the train left.
'Where did he go?'
- She asked where he went.
Reporting verbs
The most common reporting verb for questions is ask, but we can also use verbs like enquire, want to know or wonder.
'Did you bring your passports?'
- She wanted to know if they'd brought their passports.
'When could you get this done by?'
- He wondered when we could get it done by.
Offers, requests and suggestions
If the question is making an offer, request or suggestion, we can use a specific verb pattern instead, for example offer + infinitive, ask + infinitive or suggest + ing.
'Would you like me to help you?'
- He offered to help me.
'Can you hold this for me, please?'
- She asked me to hold it.
'Why don't we check with Joel?'
- She suggested checking with Joel.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello MounirBr44,
The question is asking about form rather than about meaning, in the sense that it does not ask for a choice between past simple and past perfect. Without any other context both forms are possible here. Since past perfect is given, we can imagine a context, such as a situation where someone spoke with a person and are now being asked about an earlier conversation.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Peter. That's very kind of you. Thank you.
I had to write a brief summary based on your explanation, which inspired me to reflect further.
𝟏-𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞:
-When 𝐝𝐢𝐝 you last 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤?
The simple past is used alone to ask about the most recent occurrence of an action (break in communication), without delving into the causal or sequential background (anchor = recent action in the present perfect tense). Therefore, the question does not include any prior event as a point of reference. This may be a demonstration of lack of understanding or concern about the cause in the context of spontaneous speech.
𝟮-𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 + 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲.
-When 𝗵𝗮𝗱 you last 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 before you 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁?
It shows clear sequence: speaking happened before the fight (past simple).
It's crisp and evocative, often used in reflective or dramatic contexts to underscore cause-and-effect.
𝟑-𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞:
-When 𝗵𝗮𝗱 you last 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 ?
Elegantly sidesteps the cause ( no mention of a fight), focusing in on the duration of the hiatus to evoke quiet empathy.
Hello teacher,
In the second example from Questions of a question verb, I wonder why we don't change the tense.
Could you kindly explain this to me please?
Thanks.
Hello Ngoc64,
There are several verb forms possible here:
The first might be used when asking about a frequent habit, for example:
The second might be used when the person is no longer present because he has gone somewhere:
The third might be used when the person has returned:
As you can see, context is crucial here. The example on the page is not shown in context and so multiple forms are possible.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
“Can you show me where the post office is?” she asked
Can I change into “She asked me if I could show her where the post office was.” Or “She asked me to show her where the post office was.”
How can distinguish between the request and question form, teacher?
Thanks.
Hello KatherineThu,
Both forms are correct and both accurately report the original question.
I'm not sure what you rmean by distinguish between them, however. They are alternative forms with the same meaning: relating a request. The request is in the form of a question, hence the two different forms, but the meaning is the same in each.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, I was wondering if a sentence contains words like Yes, or No, how would we change the narration. For example:
The man said, "No, I refuse to surrender my rights".
Can it be changed as
The man refused to surrender his rights.
Or
The man said that he refused to surrender his rights.
Or
The man informed in negation and said that he refused to surrender his rights.
Or guide if there is any other way to change its narration.
Also, of a sentence contains yes, e.g.
He said, "Yes, I admit my mistake"
What word would substitute yes here.
Thank you so much for providing this platform!!
Hello Ayesha27,
There are often multiple ways of reporting speech - English is quite flexible in this regard.
Yes, that's fine.
That's also fine.
This is is not possible. 'Informed in negation' is not a phrase we use.
You can use a verb like 'agreed that' or 'accepted that' to show that the man is responding to a question or statement. You could also use something like 'it is/was true that':
The man said that it was true that he had made a mistake.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello!
I was wondering if it is okay to use both options in the following sentence:
I hope I am not burdening you with it,
Thank you for your reply in advance
Best regards!
Hello Anastasiaaaa,
Yes, both of those are correct. Well done!
A lot of reporting verbs, like 'ask' have patterns like this. You can read more about it here:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/c1-grammar/patterns-reporting-verbs
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team