
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?''Have you finished the project yet?'
- He asked me if I was going to the Helsinki conference.
- 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?''Where did he go?'
- He asked me what time the train left.
- 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?''When could you get this done by?'
- She wanted to know if they'd brought their passports.
- 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?''Can you hold this for me, please?'
- He offered to help me.
'Why don't we check with Joel?'
- She asked me to hold it.
- She suggested checking with Joel.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Please can I know the reported speech form of "what was tge last book you read?" ,,,it is nessesary please 🥺
Hello Yazanabdo,
It depends on who asked, but it would be something like 'They asked me what the last book I read was'.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, everyone.
I would like to ask a question that is in my exercise book.
"Is it right time to leave?"
I transform this question into reported speech as below:
"Martin asked us if it was the right time to left." My question is that it is 'leave' or 'left' at the end of the sentence? I am confused about the answer. I think it is 'left' but the correct answer is shown as 'leave' in the book. Thanks for your kind answer. Take care.
Hi knownman,
It should be 'leave'. It's an infinitive phrase ('to leave'), so this doesn't change for tense.
Best wishes :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello everyone,
I was thinking the other day and came across this sentence and I'd appreciate if someone would help me with this.
Direct Questions: "Does she often go to the cinema?"
Now what would be the reported question if we asked this question from a woman?
I asked her if she often went to the cinema.
But the "her" and the "she" does not refer to the same person. Wouldn't that cause some confusion?
Hi TheRealDoctor,
Yes, it may be confusing. It would be better to use the names (if you know them) of one or both people, or some other description to make clear which person you are referring to. For example:
- I asked her if Maria often went to the cinema.
- I asked Kate if Maria often went to the cinema.
- I asked her if her sister often went to the cinema.
I hope that helps :)
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Natasa Tanasa,
The second sentence is fine. The first sentence needs an article before 'next':
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi katyunechka1,
I wouldn't use should here. That's because in the original sentence, when the speaker says Shall we ... , the speaker is inviting you to go to the cinema. But should doesn't have that 'inviting' meaning, i.e. we can't use should to make invitations. If you say He asked if we should go to the cinema?, it means he asked whether going to the cinema is a good thing, or the right thing to do (which is different from the meaning of the original sentence).
I suggest using a different reporting verb to show the meaning of inviting. For example:
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi rg.esl,
Good question! It's because these questions have different structures.
To make the reported question, the subject and 'be' reverse the order. The first question doesn't have a subject complement, but the second one does, so this is added to the end of the sentence.
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Mohammed Khaled Mohammed 101,
You could say either of the following:
1 can be used in different situations, but 2 is only correct when the training was already finished at the time she asked you the question.
For example, if today is Sunday 7 March, she asked you the question on Friday 5 and the training finished on Thursday 4, then sentence 2 would be correct. Sentence 1 could also be used, but it would be a little less specific, as it could mean the training was still going to continue later (e.g. on Monday 8 March).
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Danalcade,
Good question :) Yes, both the past simple and past perfect are possible in the reported speech. Changing to the past perfect is traditionally regarded as correct, but in real life speakers often simplify by using the past simple instead.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Smith Jay,
Yes, it's possible, especially if what he said is still true at the time you report it. For example, if he said 'I want to go now' only a moment ago, you can use the present simple (He says that he wants to go) to show clearly that he still wants to go at the time you say this (i.e. in the present moment).
Using the past simple is correct too, but is more ambiguous about whether or not he still wants to go. It may suggest that his desire to leave has changed between the past and present.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Sheikh Salauddin,
Yes, you can, because the question 'What's the matter?' asks for the subject. When the interrogative word 'what' (or 'who' or 'which') asks for a subject, the usual word order for the reported clause (subject first, verb second) can be used, or, as is the case here, the verb can come first.
Hope that helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello haoi,
I'm afraid we don't provide answers to tasks from elsewhere like this. If we started doing this then we would end up doing our users' homework and tests for them, which is not our role!
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi farhad zada,
The first part is right! But for the second part, we need to keep him from the direct question (because you refers to a different person). Also, we need to use the complete verb phrase after would (the same structure as in the first clause).
Does that make sense?
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Jessica,
I wouldn't call that a reported question. It is, however, formed in the same way as a reported question.
Imagine, for example, you friend asked you 'Is he coming?' You could report this as 'Paolo asked me if he's coming'. You can change 'Paolo asked me' to 'I don't know' and use the same structure afterwards.
Hope this helps.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Be_sofya,
Yes, you need to include 'whether' or 'if' before both clauses.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Bonto,
The first one is correct. Although many non-native speakers use the second one -- and anyone will understand it -- it is not correct in standard British English.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Alanso,
You can change the verb to the past perfect but it's generally not necessary when the verb is past tense in active speech. Thus, both went and had gone are correct here.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb
Yes, that is correct. 'might' is also a past form of the verb 'may' and is the correct form in the sentence in indirect speech.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
The sentence is grammatically correct. It treats the action of closing as something that the gate is capable of doing (rather than a person). You might use this when you are talking about an automated gate, for example, or a gate whose operator you cannot see.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb
The first one is better, though in many cases you'd also need to use 'the': 'The gates are closing'.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Rsb,
Finish is an ergative or labile verb, which means a verb which can be both transitive (requiring an objet) and intransitive (having no object). In this sentence it is intransitive. It is a past participle which is part of a present perfect form with the auxiliary has.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello again Rsb,
The present perfect here describes an action in the past with a present result. The verb is dynamic and could be used in a continuous form, for example:
The gate is closing
The gate has been closing for ten minutes. It's very slow!
The same thing is true with the verb finish:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team