What are Reported Questions?
Reported Questions are forms of reported speech. When a question is changed from direct speech to indirect speech, the rules which are applied in statements are used. The only difference that needs to be used is a different word to introduce the reported speech, and the word order of the question becomes similar to that of the statement. Reported questions end with a full stop. For example,
Direct Question: The girl said, Do u know where the nearest salon is?
Indirect Question: The girl asked me if I knew the nearest salon was.
(Image Will be Updated Soon)
What are Direct Questions and Indirect Questions?
Direct Questions:
Direct questions are the normal questions that we ask our family, friends, relatives, and the people we know.
Example:
Where is the bedroom?
Indirect Questions:
Indirect questions are more formal and polite. Indirect questions are generally used when talking to a person whom we don't know very well, or in a professional situation.
Example:
“Could you please tell me where the bedroom is”?
How to Report Questions?
When you report any given question, you need to change the sentence given in an interrogative form into an affirmative sentence, placing the verb tense one step back, as with the normal reported speech.
There are two types of questions that we can report- questions that have Yes/No responses and the questions that start with question words like What, Which, Who, etc. When we report yes/no questions, we use the word “if”. For example,
As you have in the direct questions, the word “ Do” is eliminated because it is no longer a question, and the verb live and like became lived and liked respectively.
For questions that start with the word like What, Where, When, Who, etc, we report the question using the question word but change the interrogative form to the affirmative form. For example
Reporting Order And Requests
When someone gives you an order, you use the imperative form, which implies using just the verb without a subject.
“Call me after an hour”.
“Have a seat”.
Don’t do that”.
To report an order, we use the word “tell” and the infinitive form of the verb:
You told me to call after an hour.
She told me to have a seat.
He told us not to do that.
When you make a request, you generally use the words like ‘Can’, ‘Could’, and ‘Will’. For example:
Could you call me after an hour?
“Will you have a seat”
“Can you not do that please”?
To report a request, a verb ‘to ask’ and the infinitive form of the verb is used. For example,
You asked me to call you after an hour.
She asked me to have a seat.
He asked us not to do that.
How to Write Introductory Sentences In Reported Questions?
Following are the rules to write introductory sentences in reported questions:
The Introductory Sentence Is In Simple Present Form.
If the introductory sentence is in the simple present form, there is no tense backshift.
Direct Question:
“I write articles”.
Reported Question:
He says that he writes articles.
The introductory sentence "He says"….. is in the simple present tense. There is no tense backshift.
The Introductory Sentence Is In Simple Past Form.
If the introductory sentence is in the simple past form, there is a tense backshift.
Direct Question:
Rita: “I write articles”.
Reported Question:
He said that he wrote articles.
The introductory sentence "He said" is in the simple past tense. There is a backshift of tenses.
Reported Questions With or Without Question Words
Questions can be formed with or without words:
If there is a question without a question word in the direct question, use “whether or if” in the reported question.
Example:
Raj: Do you play cricket?
Sunny: Raj asked me whether (if) I played cricket.
If there is a question with a question word indirect question, use the given question word in a reported question.
Example:
Raj: When do you play cricket?
Sunny: Raj asked me when I played cricket.
Reported Questions Examples with Answers
Following are a few reported questions examples with answers:
She asked. Do you live in India?
Answers: He asked me If I lived in India.
She asked. Are we going to start work tomorrow?
Answers: She asked if they were going to start the work the next day.
The watchman asked: Are you looking for something?
Answers: The watchman asked If I was looking for something.
They inquired: Have they ever been to Europe?
Answers: They enquired if they had ever been to Europe.
They wanted to know:“ Will we go for a morning walk if the climate is fine”.
Answers: They wanted to know if they would go for a morning walk if the climate is fine.
The flight attendant asked: “Could you fasten your seat belts, please?
Answers: The flight attendant asked if I/we could fasten our/my seat belts.
Mom wanted to know: ”Are you going to be Doctor Sam”?
Answers: Mom wanted to know if Sam was going to be a doctor.
The commanding officers asked: “Do our fighters have sufficient weapons”?
Answers: The commander officers wanted to know if his/their fighters have sufficient weapons.
The instructor asked me: “ Have you ever worked in a group”?
Answers: The instructor asked me if I had ever worked in a group.
He wanted to know: “Is she staying with her family now”?
Answers: He wanted to know if she was staying with her family at that time.
Rules to Change Pronoun, Time, and Place in Reported Questions
FAQs on Reported Questions
1. What do the reported questions mean?
Reported questions, also known as indirect questions, mean to say what someone else has said, without actually quoting them. To report what someone has said, we usually use the words like say, tell, explain, request, etc, For example,
Direct Question: He has the juice bottle.
Reported Question: He says he has the juice bottle.
2. What does tense backshift mean?
Backshift of tense is the changing of a tense to what someone said. When reporting what someone said in the past, the tenses of the verbs in the reporting statement go one step backward. For example,
Direct Question: I am sorry.
Reported Question: He said he was sorry.
3. How do tenses change in reported questions?
The tenses, word order, and pronoun used in the reported question may be different from the direct questions. Following are the rules for tenses to change in reported questions:
The simple present tense usually changes to a simple past in the reported questions.
The simple past tense usually changes to past perfect tense in the reported question.
The past perfect tense does not change in the reported question.
