56 Indirect Questions
Clauses
Indirect Questions are used in formal situations where we may need to ask something from someone we don’t know well.
Below is a list of the most common Indirect Question phrases:
- Can you tell me…?
- Could you…?
- Do you know…?
- Would it be possible…?
- I was wondering…?
Sentences containing Indirect Questions usually have this structure:
Indirect question phrase + “wh-” question word + affirmative clause + (?).
For Indirect Questions:
- We usually use modal verbs to pose a question or request something;
- When the question includes the auxiliary verbs “to have” and “to be”, they come after the subject;
- We don’t need to invert the order of the sentence to make these kinds of questions.
- Can you tell me at what time the next train will come?
- Could you please tell me where the tunnels are?
- Do you know how he has managed to fix the car?
We use Indirect Questions in formal context, such as professional situations where the speaker may need to ask a question or request something from someone that we don’t know well in a more polite way. In this way we avoid direct questions.
There are certain situations, like professional situations, where we may need to pose questions or request something in a more polite way. One way of doing this is by using Indirect Questions.
When a sentence contains an Indirect Question phrase, we usually structure the question as such:
Indirect question phrase + “wh-” question word + affirmative clause + (?) (e.g. Do you know what her name is?).
For example:
— “Do you know what her name is?” = Wh- question word follows Indirect Question phrase.
— “Would it be possible for you to open the window?” = When we want to request something in a more polite way, we use Indirect Questions.
Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.