reported speech questions if

Reported Questions

Reported questions are one form of reported speech .

We usually introduce reported questions with the verb "ask":

• He asked (me) if / whether ... (YES/NO questions)
• He asked (me) why / when / where / what / how ... (question-word questions)

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).

Reported YES/NO questions

We introduce reported YES/NO questions with ask + if :

Note that in the above example 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 lunch.
• They asked us whether we wanted lunch.

Reported question-word questions

We introduce reported question-word questions with ask + question word :

Note that in the above example the reported question has no auxiliary "do". But there is pronoun change and backshift.

• YES/NO questions: Do you want tea?
• Question Word questions: Where did you drink tea?
• Choice questions: Do you prefer tea or coffee?

Look at these example sentences:

• B1-B2 grammar

Reported speech: questions

Do you know how to report a question that somebody asked? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

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 B1-B2: Reported speech 2: 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 B1-B2: Reported speech 2: 2

Language level

Can you tell me which one is correct?

he asked me if was i going to the conference 

he asked me what time left the train 

he asked me if i wanted him to come to the party

he asked me why is she travelling to tanta

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Hi par_iss89,

The third sentence is grammatically correct; the others all contain errors in word order.

Please note that generally we do not answer questions like this as we are not a service for providing answers to tasks from elsewhere. We would end up doing people's tests and homework for them if so! Our main role is providing explanations as to why something is correct or not rather than answers to tasks.

The LearnEnglish Team

I have a question concerning reported questions. I have trouble understanding how to change the auxiliary verb "do" in questions. 

For example:

• Direct Speech: "Did you give Aunt Sadia my flight details?"
• Indirect Speech:  He asked his parents if they had given Aunt Sadia his flight details.

In this case, the "did give" in the direct speech makes the backshift from simple past to past perfect (had given). In my grammar book at school, it says that we should omit do/did/does when reporting questions. I thought the indirect speech of the sentence was "He asked his parents if they gave Aunt Sadia his flight details" because I omitted the "did" as it was explained in my book to do so. Now there's another question:

• Direct Speech: "Do I need a large suitcase for the trip?"
• Indirect Speech:  He asked his parents if he needed a large suitcase for the trip.

I don't quite understand why I can omit the "do" in the indirect speech in this case and only make the backshift of the tense for "need" (--> "needed"). Why can't I say "He asked his parents if he did need a large suitcase?". 

Hello AGermanGirlLearningEnglish,

I think your question is not really about omitting 'did'. Let me explain.

When we report questions we do not use the question structure. For example:

Where is he? > She asked where he is.

Here, the original sentence is a question and uses inversion: the verb (is) comes before the subject (he). In the reported question we simply use the structure for a regular sentence: the verb (is) comes after the subject (he). Notice that backshifting is not necessary when the situation is still the same. In other words, if she is still wondering where he is then we can leave the sentence in the present. Another example of reported speech should make this clear:

"I love you." She said she loved me. [she loved me when she said it; we don't know if she still loves me now] She said she loves me. [she loved me when she said it and she still loves me now]

When we report a question we use the same question word (where, when, who etc) as in the original/direct speech sentence. When the question is a yes/no question we use 'if'. So, in your example we use 'if' and then regular sentence structure

Did you give Aunt Sadia my flight details? He asked his parents if they had given Aunt Sadia his flight details.

You can use 'gave' here instead of 'had given' if the situation is still unchanged. Since (from the context) it seems clear that this is the case, 'gave' should be fine here.

Your second example works the same way:

Do I need a large suitcase for the trip? He asked his parents if he needed a large suitcase for the trip.

'Did' is not needed as we use a regular sentence structure. You could use a present form ('needs') if the trip has not happened yet, but backshifting is fine here in either case.

Does the direct speech "when does the train left?"i asked can be chaged into ' I asked when does the train left?'

Hello rojina-bogati,

First of all, there is an error in the direct speech example. You have mixed present and past forms. The question should be one of these:

When does the train leave? [present tense] When did the train leave? [past tense]

When we report a question we don't need to use inversion, so the reported question would be as follows:

I asked when the train leaves. [present tense] I asked when the train left. [past tense]

Note that there is no question mark (?) here as it is not a question.

When Peter Schjeldahl found out he had cancer, while driving through upstate New York, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the beauty of the land. “How many times had I seen and loved the sight?” he wondered. “How many more times would I?” (From The New Yorker@NewYorker , 24 June 2024) What I would like to know is why the past perfect is used in direct speech ( "How many times had I seen and loved the sight?" he wondered ). Is it correct? Shouldn't "had" be replaced by "have"? Likewise, shouldn't the "would" in the following question be "will"? 

I would appreciate your helping me to understand it.  

Hello Sefika,

This is a question better asked of the author of the text. Perfect forms are contextual, so the had seen/had loved must be the speaker reflecting on these activities in relation to something else in his past. I don't know if that is included in the broader text or if the author has simply used a non-standard form here for some reason. We end up getting into speculative territory or even considering whether or not the author has simply made an error or chosen to use the language in a creative way which is atypical of normal usage.

Generally, we provide information on language systems and explain our own examples on this site. We avoid explaining or commenting on decontextualised fragments from fictional works for the reasons above.

What happens to questions in reported speech if the question refers to either a habitual status or uses "ever" to convey the meaning of any time? Can either work in Simple Past as the general rule dictates? 1. Where do you usually buy your clothes? Is "She asked me where I usually bought my clothes." correct? 2. Do you ever go to the cinema? Is "She asked me if I ever went to the cinema." correct? Thank you.

Tense backshifting in reported speech is not obligatory and choosing not to shift the tense back adds extra information as it describes a situation that was true at the time of speaking and is still true at the time of reporting. For example:

"I love you," she said. She said she loved me. She said she loves me.

Sentence 1 tells us that she loved me when she said it. It does not tell us anything about now - she may still love me or she may not. Sentence 2 tells us that she loved me when she said it and she loves me now.

In your examples you have a similar choice:

Where do you usually buy your clothes? She asked me where I usually bought my clothes. She asked me where I usually buy my clothes.

In sentence 1 she wanted to know your buying habit at that time - it may or may not still be the same. In sentence 2 we understand that your buying prefences have not changed.

Do you ever go to the cinema? She asked me if I ever went to the cinema. She asked me if I ever go to the cinema.

In sentence 1 she asked about your cinema habit at a particular time in the past - you may have changed since then. In sentence 2 we understand that your cinema habit is the same now as it was when she asked you.

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Reported Questions: Direct and Indirect Questions

In this reference, you’ll learn how to form reported questions in English, covering essential grammar rules and offering useful example sentences. The main sections include how to report Wh and yes/no questions, notes for reported questions, and useful rules and examples.

You’ll explore the details of both yes/no questions and question words  (Wh- questions) in reported speech. This reference will provide you with notes and examples to better grasp the rules of reported speech questions.

Reported Questions

When changing a question from direct speech to indirect speech, use verbs like  inquire ,  wonder ,  want to know , and  ask . Only  ask  can take an indirect object.

• Direct speech:  “ Have you got a computer? ”
• Reported speech:   He  wanted to know  whether I had a computer.

You introduce the reported question with a different word and change the word order to that of a statement. End the sentence with a full stop.

How to Report Wh and Yes/No Questions

Reported speech questions: yes/no questions.

To report yes/no questions, use  if  or  whether .

Use  whether  for choices.

Reported Speech Questions: Questions Words (Wh- Questions)

Report Wh- questions by using the question word.

Mention the person being asked.

• I asked  him  if he ate meat.
• She asked  Michael  when he would go back to Japan.

Notes for Reported Questions

When reporting questions,  the tense of the verb changes . The word order follows an  affirmative sentence , and there is no auxiliary verb. Do not use question marks except in cases like:

• Could you tell me…?
• Do you know…?
• May I ask…?
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Reported Speech Questions

Questions With Question Words

Yes/no questions (with helping verb), try our latest video exercises.

Reported Speech

Perfect english grammar.

Reported Statements

Here's how it works:

We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. ( Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell' .) If this verb is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the sentence:

• Direct speech: I like ice cream.
• Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.

We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she', for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'. (As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)

But , if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech:

• Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.

* doesn't change.

• Direct speech: The sky is blue.
• Reported speech: She said (that) the sky is/was blue.

Click here for a mixed tense exercise about practise reported statements. Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.

Reported Questions

So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative sentences. But how about questions?

• Direct speech: Where do you live?
• Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
• Direct speech: Where is Julie?
• Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.
• Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?
• Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.

Click here to practise reported 'wh' questions. Click here to practise reported 'yes / no' questions. Reported Requests

There's more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example:

• Direct speech: Close the window, please
• Or: Could you close the window please?
• Or: Would you mind closing the window please?
• Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.
• Direct speech: Please don't be late.
• Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.

Reported Orders

• Direct speech: Sit down!
• Reported speech: She told me to sit down.
• Click here for an exercise to practise reported requests and orders.
• Click here for an exercise about using 'say' and 'tell'.
• Click here for a list of all the reported speech exercises.

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Reported Speech: Rules, Examples, Exceptions

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Advanced Grammar Course

What is reported speech?

“Reported speech” is when we talk about what somebody else said – for example:

• Direct Speech: “I’ve been to London three times.”
• Reported Speech: She said she’d been to London three times.

There are a lot of tricky little details to remember, but don’t worry, I’ll explain them and we’ll see lots of examples. The lesson will have three parts – we’ll start by looking at statements in reported speech, and then we’ll learn about some exceptions to the rules, and finally we’ll cover reported questions, requests, and commands.

So much of English grammar – like this topic, reported speech – can be confusing, hard to understand, and even harder to use correctly. I can help you learn grammar easily and use it confidently inside my Advanced English Grammar Course.

In this course, I will make even the most difficult parts of English grammar clear to you – and there are lots of opportunities for you to practice!

Backshift of Verb Tenses in Reported Speech

When we use reported speech, we often change the verb tense backwards in time. This can be called “backshift.”

Here are some examples in different verb tenses:

Reported Speech (Part 1) Quiz

Exceptions to backshift in reported speech.

Now that you know some of the reported speech rules about backshift, let’s learn some exceptions.

There are two situations in which we do NOT need to change the verb tense.

No backshift needed when the situation is still true

For example, if someone says “I have three children” (direct speech) then we would say “He said he has three children” because the situation continues to be true.

If I tell you “I live in the United States” (direct speech) then you could tell someone else “She said she lives in the United States” (that’s reported speech) because it is still true.

When the situation is still true, then we don’t need to backshift the verb.

But when the situation is NOT still true, then we DO need to backshift the verb.

Imagine your friend says, “I have a headache.”

• If you immediately go and talk to another friend, you could say, “She said she has a headache,” because the situation is still true
• If you’re talking about that conversation a month after it happened, then you would say, “She said she had a headache,” because it’s no longer true.

No backshift needed when the situation is still in the future

We also don’t need to backshift to the verb when somebody said something about the future, and the event is still in the future.

Here’s an example:

• On Monday, my friend said, “I ‘ll call you on Friday .”
• “She said she ‘ll call me on Friday”, because Friday is still in the future from now.
• It is also possible to say, “She said she ‘d (she would) call me on Friday.”
• Both of them are correct, so the backshift in this case is optional.

Let’s look at a different situation:

• On Monday, my friend said, “I ‘ll call you on Tuesday .”
• “She said she ‘d  call me on Tuesday.” I must backshift because the event is NOT still in the future.

Review: Reported Speech, Backshift, & Exceptions

Quick review:

• Normally in reported speech we backshift the verb, we put it in a verb tense that’s a little bit further in the past.
• when the situation is still true
• when the situation is still in the future

Reported Requests, Orders, and Questions

Those were the rules for reported statements, just regular sentences.

What about reported speech for questions, requests, and orders?

For reported requests, we use “asked (someone) to do something”:

• “Please make a copy of this report.” (direct speech)
• She asked me to make a copy of the report. (reported speech)

For reported orders, we use “told (someone) to do something:”

• “Go to the bank.” (direct speech)
• “He told me to go to the bank.” (reported speech)

The main verb stays in the infinitive with “to”:

• She asked me to make a copy of the report. She asked me  make  a copy of the report.
• He told me to go to the bank. He told me  go  to the bank.

For yes/no questions, we use “asked if” and “wanted to know if” in reported speech.

• “Are you coming to the party?” (direct)
• He asked if I was coming to the party. (reported)
• “Did you turn off the TV?” (direct)
• She wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.” (reported)

The main verb changes and back shifts according to the rules and exceptions we learned earlier.

Notice that we don’t use do/does/did in the reported question:

• She wanted to know did I turn off the TV.
• She wanted to know if I had turned off the TV.

For other questions that are not yes/no questions, we use asked/wanted to know (without “if”):

• “When was the company founded?” (direct)
• She asked when the company was founded.” (reported)
• “What kind of car do you drive?” (direct)
• He wanted to know what kind of car I drive. (reported)

Again, notice that we don’t use do/does/did in reported questions:

• “Where does he work?”
• She wanted to know  where does he work.
• She wanted to know where he works.

Also, in questions with the verb “to be,” the word order changes in the reported question:

• “Where were you born?” ([to be] + subject)
• He asked where I was born. (subject + [to be])
• He asked where was I born.

Reported Speech (Part 2) Quiz

Learn more about reported speech:

• Reported speech: Perfect English Grammar
• Reported speech: BJYU’s

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Reported speech

Reported questions

Reported questions.

When we report what people say, we usually change the tense of the verbs to reflect that we are reporting – not giving direct speech. This pattern is followed when we report questions and there are also other important changes between direct questions and reported questions.

Reported questions are one form of reported speech.

We usually introduce reported questions with the verb "ask":

• He  asked  (me)  if / whether ... (YES/NO questions)
• He  asked  (me)  why / when / where / what / how ... (question-word questions)

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).

Reported YES/NO questions

We introduce reported YES/NO questions with  ask + if :

Note that in the above example 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 lunch.
• They asked us  whether  we wanted lunch.

Reported question-word questions

We introduce reported question-word questions with  ask + question word :

Remember that there are basically three types of question:

• YES/NO questions:  Do you want tea?
• Question Word questions:  Where did you drink tea?
• Choice questions:  Do you prefer tea or coffee?

Reported choice questions  have the same structure as Reported YES/NO questions. Questions with the verb BE always have a different structure:  Was the tea cold? Where is my tea?  You can see all these differences in the examples below.

Look at these example sentences:

Course Curriculum

• Changing time and place in reported speech 20 mins
• Direct and indirect speech 15 mins
• Tense changes in reported speech 20 mins
• Reported questions 20 mins
• Reporting verbs 20 mins
• Reporting orders and requests 15 mins
• Reporting hopes, intentions and promises 20 mins

Reported questions

Sometimes we want to retell somebody's question in the reported speech.

For example

What do you want? → I ask him what he wants.

Where are you staying? → He asked us where we were staying.

Reported "wh" questions

In reported questions, we also "backshift" the verb as we do in  reported statements. It is important that the word order changes as well: the sentence is no longer a question. We have a direct word order in reported questions.

... question word + subject + verb

Study these examples:

Reported yes/no questions

Some questions don't have a question word. To transform them into reported speech we add the word  if. Do not forget about the backshifting of the verb tenses.

Do you like this T-shirt? → She asked me if I liked that T-shirt.

Can you do me a favour? → He asked me if I could do him a favour.

Is there a cash machine nearby? → They asked us if there was a cash machine nearby.

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Reporting questions

When we report questions, there is no inversion of the subject and auxiliary in the reported clause (the word order is the same as in statements) and we do not use a question mark.

Yes/no questions

reporting clause + if/whether-clause (with no inversion)

When reporting a yes/no question, we use if or whether :

Alex: Have you booked tickets for the concert? Alex was wondering if/whether I had booked tickets for the concert .

Jasmine: Is there a wireless network available in the library? Jasmine inquired if/whether there was a wireless network available in the library .

Peter: Is it cold outside? Peter wants to know if/whether it is cold outside or not . Peter wants to know whether or not it is cold outside .

Wh -questions

reporting clause + wh-clause (with no inversion)

When we report a wh -question, we repeat the original question word ( who, what, when, where, how etc.) in the reported clause:

Rebecca: Where do you live? Rebecca asked me where I lived .

Tim: Who are you waiting for? Tim wanted to know who I was waiting for .

A wh -clause can be used to report exclamations:

Ivan: How funny! Ivan exclaimed how funny it was .

Examples of reporting verbs used to report questions:

We can use an indirect question after other reporting verbs when we are not reporting a question but we are talking about the answer to a question:

I've told you before why I don't like shopping malls . She didn't say what time she would be back .

When we want to make a question more polite, we often introduce the sentence with expressions such as Could you tell me...?, Do you know...? etc. and continue with an indirect question:

Could you tell me how I can get to the railway station ? Do you know if this shop sells second-hand records ? Can you remember what time the play starts ?

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