English — Reported questions
When you report a question, you turn it into a statement inside a longer sentence: She asked where I lived. The word order becomes subject + verb, the question mark disappears, and the auxiliary do/does/did is dropped.
How it works
For wh- questions, keep the question word and follow it with statement order: 'Where do you live?' becomes She asked where I lived. For yes/no questions there is no question word, so add if or whether: 'Do you speak French?' becomes He asked if I spoke French / whether I spoke French. Never invert the subject and verb, and never keep do/does/did.
Examples
| Direct question | Reported question |
|---|---|
| "Where do you live?" | She asked where I lived. |
| "What time is it?" | He asked what time it was. |
| "Why are you late?" | She asked why I was late. |
| "Do you speak French?" | He asked if I spoke French. |
| "Have you finished?" | She asked whether I had finished. |
| "Can you swim?" | They asked if I could swim. |
| "Did she call?" | He asked whether she had called. |
Good to know
A common mistake is to keep question word order or the auxiliary: not 'She asked where did I live' but She asked where I lived. If and whether are usually interchangeable, but only whether works directly before 'or not' and after a preposition: He wondered whether or not to go.