Theory - Examples - Practice

6. “I need
some
help.”

7. “We are
having
lunch.”

8. “I have lost
my keys.”

9. “I wrote
two
letters.”

10. “We are
going to be
back next
week.”

11. “I will be
back at 8
p.m.”

12. “I can
paint.”

15. • We can repot questions with verbs like ask, wonder and want to know.
“Where do you live” he asked
He asked me where I live (be careful with the order of the words)
•With Yes or No quetions, we use if or
whether
“Does the London train stop here?” she asked.
She asked if the London train stopped here.
•Commands are reported with tell and the
infinitive:
“Wait! Wait!”
I told you to wait.
•Requests are reported with ask and the
infinitive:
“Please wait!”
I asked her to wait.

18. We usually introduce reported questions with the verb "ask":
direct question reported question
She said: "Are you cold?" She asked me if I was cold.
He said: "Where's my pen?" He asked where his pen was.
He asked (me) if/whether... (YES/NO questions)
He asked (me) why/when/where/what/how... (question-word questions)

19. As with reported statements, we may need to
change pronouns and tense (backshift) as well
as time and place in reported questions.
But we also need to change the word order. After we report a
question, it is no longer a question (and in writing there is no
question mark). The word order is like that of a normal
statement (subject-verb-object).

20. We introduce reported YES/NO questions with ask + if:
Note the reported question has no auxiliary "do". But there is
pronoun change and backshift.
Note that we sometimes use "whether" instead of "if". The meaning
is the same. "Whether" is a little more formal and more usual in
writing:
•They asked us if we wanted luch.
•They asked us whether we wanted lunch.
direct question She said, "Do you like
coffee?"
reported question She asked if I liked coffee.

21. direct question He said, "Where do you live?"
reported
question
He asked me where I lived.
Reported question-word questions
We introduce reported question-word questions with ask +
question word:
Note that in the example the reported question has no auxiliary
"do". But there is pronoun change and backshift.