Hi Guys!

In today’s blog post we are going to be taking a look at ‘indirect questions’ and how we can use them.

First things first, what is an indirect question? Simply put, we use indirect questions when we want to be polite. We use indirect questions a lot in English, especially when we are talking to people we don’t know. Take a look at the following example:

• Direct Question: What is her name?
• Indirect Question: Can you tell me what her name is?

Notice how direct the first question is, in English you have to be slightly careful as asking a question this way could be considered rude! 

Another thing we need to know about indirect questions is that we do not need to invert the is like we do with direct questions. For Example

• Direct: Where is Jack?
• Indirect: Do you know where Jack is?

To make a Yes/No question we need to use «if » along with the word order of a normal positive sentence.

• Direct: Is Dave there?
• Indirect: Do you know if Dave is there?

I hope that you have found this post helpful!