Grammar: 🚀 Advanced Grammar: 💬➡️🗣️ Reported Speech (B2) - Lesson 2: Reported Questions (Wh- questions, Yes/No questions)

🚀 Lesson 2: Reported Questions

After learning to report statements, we now focus on how to report questions. When we change a direct question¹ into a reported question², there is one new, very important rule to remember: the sentence is no longer a question, so the word order³ must change back to a normal statement form. We also do not use a question mark.

Reporting Yes/No Questions

For questions that can be answered with "yes" or "no" (e.g., "Are you ready?", "Do you like coffee?"), we introduce the reported clause using if or whether⁴.

Structure: ... asked + if/whether + subject + verb (statement order) ...

Direct: "Are you from Cambodia?"

Reported: "He asked if I was from Cambodia."

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Direct: "Do you speak French?"

Reported: "She asked whether I spoke French." (Note: The auxiliary 'do' disappears).

Reporting Wh- Questions

For questions that begin with a question word (What, Where, When, Why, Who, How), we use that same question word to introduce the reported clause. We do not use 'if' or 'whether'. The word order still changes back to a statement.

Structure: ... asked + question word + subject + verb (statement order) ...

Direct: "Where is the post office?"
Reported: "She asked where the post office was."

Direct: "What time does the bus leave?"
Reported: "He asked what time the bus left."

Remember the other changes!
All the other rules from the last lesson still apply: you must still backshift the tense and change pronouns, time, and place words where necessary.

🧠 Practice Quiz: Report the Question

Convert these direct questions into reported questions.

1. Direct: "Are you coming to the party?"
   → She asked me _______ I was coming to the party.
   Answer: if / whether
2. Direct: "What is your favorite food?"
   → He asked me what my favorite food _______.
   Answer: was (The word order changes from 'is your food' to 'my food was').
3. Direct: "Did you visit the temples?"
   → They asked if I _______ the temples.
   Answer: had visited (Past Simple 'did visit' backshifts to Past Perfect).
4. Direct: "Where does your friend live?"
   → She wanted to know where my friend _______.
   Answer: lived
5. Which sentence has the correct word order?
   a) I asked him what was his job.
   b) I asked him what his job was.
   Answer: b. The reported question must have statement word order.

📝 Homework: A Tourist's Questions

Imagine a tourist stopped you in Battambang yesterday and asked these questions. Report the questions to a friend today.

1. "Is this the right way to the bat caves?"
   Answer: He asked if that was the right way to the bat caves.
2. "What time does the Phare circus start?"
   Answer: She asked what time the Phare circus started.
3. "Can I find a good restaurant near here?"
   Answer: He asked if he could find a good restaurant near there.

Vocabulary Glossary

1. Direct Question: (Noun Phrase) - សំណួរផ្ទាល់ (sâm'nuər phtŏəl) - The exact words someone asks, written with a question mark. ↩
2. Reported Question: (Noun Phrase) - សំណួររាយការណ៍ (sâm'nuər réay'kaa) - Reporting what someone asked without using their exact words or a question mark. ↩
3. Word Order: (Noun Phrase) - លំដាប់ពាក្យ (lum'dap péak) - The arrangement of words in a sentence or clause. ↩
4. Whether: (Conjunction) - ថា…ឬអត់ (tha... rɨɨ'ât) - A formal alternative to 'if', used to introduce a reported yes/no question. ↩
5. Wh- Question: (Noun Phrase) - សំណួរ Wh (sâm'nuər Wh) - A question that starts with a question word like what, where, when, why, who, or how. ↩