How to Ask Indirect Questions in English

Indirect questions are more polite or formal ways to ask for information. Instead of starting with usual question words like what, who, or how, indirect questions often start with phrases like:

• Could you tell me…
• Do you know…
• I wonder…
• Can you explain…
• Would you mind telling me…

1. The Key Rule
🔑​ In indirect questions, we do NOT use the question word order (verb before subject).
Instead, we use the same word order as a normal statement, which is the subject before the verb.

Compare: 
Direct WH-question:
WH-word + verb + subject

• Where is the bank?

Indirect Question:
Polite phrase + WH-word + subject + verb (statement form)

• ​Could you tell me where the bank is?
• In the indirect question form, the subject 'the bank' goes before the verb 'is'.

​
2. Structure
🔑Indirect question general structure:
Polite phrase + WH-word/if + subject + verb

Examples:

• Do you know when the train leaves?
• Could you tell me what time it starts?
• I wonder if she is coming.

​3. Indirect Questions with Wh + do (uses do/does/did as auxiliary in direct form)
These are questions that start with a WH-word (what, where, when, why, how, etc.) and then use do/does/did to help form the question, such as in the example, 'Why do you like grape juice?'

When you turn a direct WH-question with do/does/did into an indirect question, you drop the auxiliary (do/does/did) and just use the use statement word order.

WH + do (for I/you/we/they and plural subjects)

• Direct: What do you eat​ for breakfast?
  • Indirect: Could you tell me what you eat for breakfast?
• Direct: How do the students usually spend their weekends?
  • Indirect: Do you know how the students usually spend their weekends?
• Direct: What do they need?
  • Indirect: Could you tell me what they need?

👉 Notice how “do” disappears in the indirect version.

WH + does (for he/she/it and singular subjects)​

• Direct: What books does she like to read?
  • Indirect: Can you tell me what books she likes to read?
• Direct: Where does her mother work?
  • Indirect: Do you know where her mother works?

👉 Again, with he/she/it and singular subjects, “does” is dropped, and the main verb goes back to its base + “s” form 

WH + did (for questions in past tense)​

• Direct: When did you arrive?
  • Indirect: Could you tell me when you arrived?
• Direct: What did she say?
  • Indirect: Do you know what she said?

👉 With did, we also drop it — and use the past tense form of the main verb directly.


4. Indirect Questions with Wh + be (uses am/is/are/was/were as main verb)
​These are questions that start with a WH-word (what, where, who, why, how, etc.) followed by a form of the verb be (am, is, are, was, were).

To make  Wh + be questions indirect, we keep the verb be, but we switch it into statement order (subject + verb).
Examples:

• Direct: Where is the bathroom?
  • Indirect: Could you tell me where the bathroom is?
• Direct: Who are your teachers?
  • Indirect: Do you know who your teachers are?
• Direct: How was the exam?
  • Indirect: Can you tell me how the exam was?

✅ Key: Be stays, but moves after the subject.

​
5. Yes/No Questions in Indirect Form
🔑If the question is a yes/no type, we use if or whether.

With be (am/is/are/was/were)

• Direct:  Is she at home?
  • Indirect: Do you know if she is at home?
  • Indirect: Do you know whether she is at home?​​

​​
​​With can

• Direct:  Can she drive?
  • Indirect: Do you know if she can drive?
  • Indirect: Do you know whether she can drive?
• Direct:  Can the children swim?
  • Indirect: Do you know whether the children can swim?

With will

• Direct:  Will they come to the party?
  • Indirect: Could you tell me whether they will come to the party?

With should​

• Direct:  Should I tell them the bad news?
  • Indirect: I wonder whether I should tell them the bad news.

​6. Common Mistakes Learners Make

1.  Keeping the auxiliary or helping verb do/does/did:
   • ❌ Incorrect: “Do you know what does it mean?”
   • ✅ Correct: “Do you know what it means?”
2.  Forgetting to change the word order into a normal statement order (subject before verb):
   • ❌Incorrect: “Could you tell me where is the bank?”
   • ✅ Correct: “Could you tell me where the bank is?”
3.  Mixing direct + indirect forms:
   • ❌Incorrect: “I wonder where is he going.”
   • ✅ Correct: “I wonder where he is going.”

​
7. Quick Practice
Turn these direct questions into indirect ones:

1. What time does the movie start?
2. Where is the nearest ATM?
3. Did she finish her homework?
4. Who is that man?​

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Possible Answers:
1. Could you tell me what time the movie starts?
2. Do you know where the nearest ATM is?
3. I wonder if she finished her homework.
4. Can you tell me who that man is?