Reported Questions

When someone asks a question, and you need to share it with someone else, you use reported questions. This is a type of reported speech where a direct question is transformed into an indirect one. Let’s learn how to use reported questions with examples, tips, and rules designed to make it easy for beginners and children to understand.

What Are the Reported Questions?

Reported questions are indirect questions that convey what someone else has asked. Instead of repeating the exact words, we rephrase the question as a statement without using quotation marks or a question mark.

Direct vs. Reported Questions

• • Direct Question: She asked, “Where are you going?”
  • Reported Question: She asked me where I was going.

Key Features of Reported Questions

1. Verb Introduction: The verbs often introduce reported questions ask or inquire.

• • Example: He asked me if I liked chocolate.

2. No Question Mark: In reported questions, the sentence becomes a statement and does not end with a question mark.

• • Example: She asked where I was going.

3. Word Order Change: The question word order changes to a statement structure (subject + verb + object).

• • Direct: “Where are you?”
  • Reported: She asked where I was.

4. Backshifting Tenses: The verb tense often changes in reported questions to reflect the past.

• • Direct: “Did you see the movie?”
  • Reported: He asked if I had seen the movie.

5. Pronoun Changes: Pronouns and time expressions may need to be adjusted.

• • Direct: “Are you coming tomorrow?”
  • Reported: She asked if I was coming the next day.

Types of Reported Questions

1. Yes/No Questions

Reported Yes/No questions to begin with if or whether and are introduced by verbs like “ask.”

Examples:

• • Direct: “Do you like pizza?”
    • Reported: He asked if I liked pizza.
  • Direct: “Is it raining?”
    • Reported: She asked whether it was raining.

2. Question-Word Questions

These questions begin with words like “what,” “where,” “why,” “when,” “who,” or “how” and are introduced by verbs like “ask.”

Examples:

• • Direct: “Where are you from?”
    • Reported: He asked where I was from.
  • Direct: “Why are you late?”
    • Reported: She asked why I was late.

3. Choice Questions

These questions offer a choice and are reported using “if” or “whether.”

Examples:

• • Direct: “Do you want tea or coffee?”
    • Reported: He asked if I wanted tea or coffee.
  • Direct: “Is the car new or used?”
    • Reported: She asked whether the car was new or used.

How to Form Reported Questions

Steps to Convert a Direct Question to a Reported Question

1. Identify the Question Type: Is it a Yes/No question, a question-word question, or a choice question?

2. Choose the Correct Verb: Use verbs like “ask” or “inquire.”

3. Use Appropriate Words: Add “if,” “whether,” or the question word (what, where, etc.).

4. Change the Word Order: Rearrange the sentence into a statement format.

5. Apply Backshifting: Adjust the verb tense, pronouns, and time expressions if necessary.

Tense Changes in Reported Questions

When reporting questions, the tense of the verb often shifts back in time. Here is a quick guide:

Examples:

1. Present Simple to Past Simple

• • Direct: “Do you play football?”
  • Reported: He asked if I played football.

2. Present Continuous to Past Continuous

• • Direct: “What are you doing?”
  • Reported: She asked what I was doing.

3. Future Simple to Future in the Past

• • Direct: “Will you help me?”
  • Reported: He asked if I would help him.

Examples of Reported Questions

Yes/No Questions:

• • Direct: “Did you finish your homework?”
    • Reported: She asked if I had finished my homework.
  • Direct: “Is he coming to the party?”
    • Reported: They asked whether he was coming to the party.

Question-Word Questions:

• • Direct: “Where is my phone?”
    • Reported: He asked where his phone was.
  • Direct: “Who told you that?”
    • Reported: She asked who had told me that.

Choice Questions:

• • Direct: “Do you prefer tea or coffee?”
    • Reported: He asked if I preferred tea or coffee.
  • Direct: “Should we stay or leave?”
    • Reported: They asked whether we should stay or leave.

Common Time and Pronoun Changes

Example:

• • Direct: “Will you come tomorrow?”
    • Reported: He asked if I would come the next day.

Practice Exercise

Convert these direct questions into reported questions:

1. “Are you going to the mall?”

2. “What time does the train leave?”

3. “Did you see my keys?”

4. “Will they join us for dinner?”

5. “Where have you been?”

Answers:

1. He asked if I was going to the mall.

2. She asked what time the train left.

3. He asked if I had seen his keys.

4. She asked if they would join us for dinner.

5. He asked where I had been.

Frequently Asked Questions on Reported Questions

Q1: What is a reported question?
A reported question is an indirect way of reporting what someone else has asked.

Q2: How do you report Yes/No questions?
You report Yes/No questions by using “if” or “whether.”

Q3: Do reported questions have a question mark?
No, reported questions are statements and do not have a question mark.

Q4: How does the word order change in reported questions?
The word order changes to a subject-verb-object structure, like a statement.