Reporting questions

7.29 As well as reporting what someone says or thinks, you can also report a question that they ask or wonder about.

Questions in report structures are sometimes called reported questions or indirect questions.

7.30 The reporting verb most often used for reporting questions is 'ask' Questions can be reported in a more formal way using 'enquire' or 'inquire'.

I asked if I could stay with them.

He asked me where I was going.

She inquired how Ibrahim was getting on.

7.31 When you report a question:

• you do not treat it as a question by using interrogative word order

• you do not use a question mark.

So the question 'Did you enjoy it?' could be reported: 'I asked her if she had enjoyed it'.

Questions are explained in paragraphs 4.10 to 4.30.

7.32 There are two main types of question, and so two main types of report structure for questions.

One type of question is called a 'yes/no' question. These are questions which can be answered simply with 'yes' or 'no'.

When you report a 'yes/no' question, you use an 'if'-clause beginning with the conjunction 'if', or a 'whether'-clause beginning with the conjunction 'whether'.

You use 'if' when the speaker has suggested one possibility that may be true. 'Do you know my name?' could be reported as 'A woman asked if I knew her name'.

She asked him if his parents spoke French.

Someone asked me if the work was going well.

He inquired if her hair had always been that colour.

You use 'whether' when the speaker has suggested one possibility but has left open the question of their possibilities. After 'whether', you can suggest another possibility, or you can leave it unstated.

I was asked whether I wanted to stay at hotel or at his home.

She asked whether the servants were still there.

I asked Professor Fred Bailey whether he agreed.

A policeman asked me whether he could be of help.

Sometimes the alternative possibility is represented by 'or not'.

The barman didn't ask whether or not they were over eighteen.

They asked whether Britain was or was not a Christian country.

For more information about 'yes/no' questions, see paragraphs 4.12 to 4.16.

7.33 There are a few other verbs which can be used before 'if'-clauses or 'whether'-clauses, because they refer to being unsure of facts or to discovering facts.

I didn't know whether to believe him or not.

Simon wondered if he should make conversation.

She didn't say whether he was still alive.

Here is a list of other verbs which can be used before 'if'-clauses and 'whether'-clauses:

discover know

remember say

see wonder

Note that 'know', 'remember', 'say', and 'see' are usually used in a negative or interrogative clause, or a clause with a modal.

All the verbs in the list, except 'wonder', can also be used with 'that'-clauses: see paragraph 7.27. They can all also be used with clauses beginning with 'wh'-words: see paragraph 7.35.

'wh'-questions 7.34 The other type of question is called a 'wh'-question. These are questions in which someone asks for information about an event or situation. 'Wh'-questions cannot be answered with 'yes' or 'no'.

When you report a 'wh'-question, you use a 'wh'-word at the beginning of the reported clause.

He asked where I was going.

She enquired why l was so late.

She leaned over the stairs and called down to ask what had happened.

I asked how they liked the film.

It never occurred to me to ask who put it there.

When the details of the question are clear from the context, you can sometimes leave out everything except the 'wh'-word. This happens mostly in spoken English, especially with 'why'.

I asked why.

They enquired how.

For more information about 'wh'-questions see paragraphs 4.17 to 4.30.

7.35 Other verbs can be used before clauses beginning with 'wh'-words, because they refer to knowing, learning, or mentioning one of the circumstances of an event or situation.

She doesn't know what we were talking about.

They couldn't see how they would manage without her.

I wonder what's happened.

Here is a list of other verbs which can be used before clauses beginning with 'wh'-words:

decide describe discover discuss explain

forget guess imagine know learn

realize remember reveal say see

suggest teach tell think understand

wonder

Note that 'imagine', 'say', 'see', 'suggest', and 'think' are usually used in a negative or interrogative clause, or a clause with a modal.

All the verbs in the list, except 'describe', 'discuss', and 'wonder', can also be used with 'that'-clauses: see paragraph 7.27.