Reported questions and requests

Report the question, not its answer

Direct speech repeats the words of a question. An indirect report tells someone what was asked. The reported part is not a new direct question addressed to your listener.

The first two reports tell you what the visitor wanted to know. They do not tell you whether the lift worked or where the entrance was. The last report tells you about a request for an action, not a request for information.

An indirect question uses statement word order inside the reported part. It still reports a question in meaning. Do not describe the message as becoming an answer or a statement of fact.

Yes/no questions: if or whether

A yes/no question can be answered with yes or no. Start its indirect report with if or whether. Do not replace that link with that, and do not leave it out.

• "Have the guests arrived?" The receptionist asked whether the guests had arrived.
• "Will you need a receipt?" The cashier asked me if I would need a receipt.

If and whether both work in these reports. The person after asked is optional when you do not need to identify who was asked: The cashier asked if I would need a receipt. Asked me identifies me as the listener, not as the person asking.

Alternatives and or not

You can also report a choice between alternatives with if or whether. Keep the alternatives when they matter to the message.

• "Is the parcel for you or your neighbour?" She asked whether the parcel was for me or my neighbour.

Or not can go at the end after either if or whether. Directly before or not, use whether, not if.

Further pattern: before a to-infinitive, use whether, not if: I wondered whether to cancel. This is a decision about what to do, not a complete subject + verb report. See Embedded questions: do you know where..., I don't know what... for more indirect-question patterns.

Wh- questions: keep the question word

Keep who, what, which, when, where, why or how, including a phrase such as what size or how far. Do not add if or whether before that question word.

• "Which room are they using?" I asked which room they were using.
• "How far is the campsite?" We asked how far the campsite was.
• "Why did you cancel the lesson?" She asked why I had cancelled the lesson.

In the first example, they is the subject and were using is the verb. Put they before were. Keep the full phrase which room together; do not write which they were using room.

When who or what is the subject

Sometimes the question word itself is the subject: it asks who did the action, not who received it. There is then no separate subject to insert after who or what.

Do not add an extra he or they after subject who. Who had phoned already has its subject. The difference is the role of who, not a different rule for reported word order.

What happens to do, does and did?

Do, does and did used to form a positive direct question are not kept just to make the reported part a question. Put the main verb into the appropriate tense instead.

The rule is not to delete every form of do. In the last report, did is the main verb, meaning an activity. It is not an extra question-forming auxiliary. The rules for tense choice still apply.

Choose the tense, pronouns and time words

Reported questions follow the same context-based changes as reported statements. Backshift means moving a tense back in a report, for example are using to were using, or have arrived to had arrived. The formula does not require a past tense every time.

With a past reporting verb, backshift is possible. When the information is still true or relevant, you can also keep an appropriate present form. A past form in a report does not by itself prove that the situation is no longer true.

• "Do you live near the museum?" He asked me if I lived near the museum.
• The question is still relevant now. He asked me if I live near the museum.

Both can report the question in that context. Do not mark live wrong simply because asked is past. For the full tense and modal choices, see Reported statements: tense changes and say or tell.

Work out who the words refer to

Change a pronoun only when the person it refers to requires a different word. If someone asks you about yourself, the speaker's you may become I in your report.

• Eva asked me, "Have you brought your ticket?" Eva asked me whether I had brought my ticket.

If you report your own question, I may stay I: I asked whether I needed my ticket. There is no automatic rule that every I becomes he or she.

Time and place words must still point to the intended time and place. Here can stay here if you are still in that place. Tomorrow can stay tomorrow on the same day, or become the next day in a later report. Change them because the reference changes, not just because a report contains asked.

Ask, want to know, enquire and wonder

Ask can report a spoken or written question. Want to know and enquire are other choices. Wonder can report a question in someone's thoughts, so it need not mean that the person spoke aloud.

• The inspector wanted to know whether the gate was locked.
• I wondered why the screen had gone dark. I was asking myself the question.

Keep statement word order after these expressions too. Wanted to know why the screen had gone dark has the subject the screen before had gone. Do not keep direct-question order just because the reporting expression is longer.

Requests and commands: ask or tell someone to

A request asks someone to do an action. A command or instruction tells them to do it. Use ask or tell + person + to + base verb, choosing the reporting verb to match the message. A base verb is a form such as move, sign or wait.

• "Please sign the visitor book." The guard asked us to sign the visitor book.
• "Keep the passage clear." The guard told us to keep the passage clear.

In this pattern, include the person before to: told us to keep, not told to keep. A different reporting verb can carry a different meaning, so choosing told instead of asked is not simply changing the tense.

Negative requests and commands

Use not to + base verb after the person. The negative describes the action that the person is asked or told not to do.

• "Please don't move the chairs." The organiser asked us not to move the chairs.
• "Don't open that cupboard." The guide told me not to open that cupboard.

Not to move means avoiding the move. Did not ask us to move would mean that no request to move was made. Keep the intended negative meaning.

A question can function as a request

A sentence beginning Can you or Could you may ask for an action rather than information about ability. You can report that request with asked + person + to.

• "Could you pass me the folder, please?" Sam asked me to pass him the folder.

A report with if I could pass him the folder is also possible. Do not call it wrong simply because asked me to is another option. Offers and suggestions have their own patterns, such as offered to help and suggested leaving; see Reporting verbs and the patterns after them.

Punctuation in a reporting statement

When the whole sentence is a statement reporting a question, end it with a full stop. Do not keep the original question mark or quotation marks around the reported part. Do not put a comma between asked and its following indirect question.

• Leila asked where the spare batteries were. This statement reports a question; it does not directly ask the reader where they are.

This rule describes reporting statements, not every sentence containing an indirect question. See Embedded questions: do you know where..., I don't know what... for indirect questions inside other kinds of sentence.

What comes next

See Reported statements: tense changes and say or tell for tense, pronoun and time changes; Embedded questions: do you know where..., I don't know what... for wider indirect-question patterns; Reporting verbs and the patterns after them for reporting verbs and other requests, offers and suggestions; and Advanced patterns with reporting verbs for more complex reporting patterns.