Reported questions and commands

• 6 Reported questions and commands

  6.1

  Indirect Questions

  

  

  When reporting a question, the word order changes back to statement word order (subject + verb), and the question mark is removed.

  • Yes/No questions → introduced by if / whether.
  • Wh- questions → introduced by the original question word (what, where…).

  她She 问asked 哪里where 我I 住lived.

  She asked me where I lived. (Original: "Where do you live?")

  他He 问asked 是否if 我I （过去）was 忙busy.

  He asked me if I was busy. (Original: "Are you busy?")

  Note: In indirect questions, auxiliary verbs do / does / did are not used, and there is no inversion: ~~where did I live~~ ✗ → where I lived ✓.

  6.2

  Indirect Commands and Requests

  When reporting a command, request, or suggestion, use tell / ask / advise + someone + (not) to + base verb.

  她She 叫told 我me （不定式）to 等wait.

  She told me to wait a moment. (Original: "Wait.")

  他He 请asked 我me 不要not to （是）be 迟到late.

  He asked me not to be late. (Original: "Please don't be late.")

  Note: Negative commands use not to: asked me not to go (asked me not to go).

  Common Errors

  • ❌ ~~He asked me am I busy.~~ → ✓ He asked me if I was busy. — You cannot simply insert the original sentence; it must become if + statement word order.
  • ❌ ~~She said me to wait.~~ → ✓ She told me to wait. — For reporting commands, use tell / ask / advise + person + to do; say cannot take this construction.
  • ❌ ~~He told me don't be late.~~ → ✓ He told me not to be late. — Negative commands become not to; don't cannot be inserted directly into reported speech.
  • ❌ ~~She suggested me to go home.~~ → ✓ She suggested that I (should) go home. / She suggested going home. — suggest cannot be followed by "person + to do".

All topics · English Grammar · B2