“I need some help.”

“We are having lunch.”

“I have lost my keys.”

“I wrote two

letters.”

“We are going to be back next

week.”

“I will be back at 8

p.m.”

“I can paint.”

• We can repot questions with verbs like ask, wonder and want to know.“Where do you live” he asked He asked me where I live (be careful with the order of the words)

• With Yes or No quetions, we use if or whether

“Does the London train stop here?” she asked.She asked if the London train stopped here.

• Commands are reported with tell and the infinitive:

“Wait! Wait!”I told you to wait.

• Requests are reported with ask and the infinitive:

“Please wait!”I asked her to wait.

Reporting verbs

ADVISE

AGREE

APOLOGIZE FOR

ASK

CONGRATULATIONS

DECIDE

DENY

INVITE

OFFERPROMISE

REFUSE

REMIND

SUGGEST

Reporting questions

We usually introduce reported questions with the verb "ask":

direct question reported question

She said: "Are you cold?" She asked me if I was cold.

He said: "Where's my pen?" He asked where his pen was.

He asked (me) if/whether... (YES/NO questions)He asked (me) why/when/where/what/how... (question-word questions)

Reporting questionsAs with reported statements, we may need to change pronouns and tense (backshift) as well as time and place in reported questions.But we also need to change the word order. After we report a question, it is no longer a question (and in writing there is no question mark). The word order is like that of a normal statement (subject-verb-object).

Reporting questionsWe introduce reported YES/NO questions with ask + if:Note the reported question has no auxiliary "do". But there is pronoun change and backshift.Note that we sometimes use "whether" instead of "if". The meaning is the same. "Whether" is a little more formal and more usual in writing:•They asked us if we wanted luch.•They asked us whether we wanted lunch.

direct question She said, "Do you like coffee?"

reported question She asked if I liked coffee.

Reporting questions

direct question He said, "Where do you live?"

reported question

He asked me where I lived.

Reported question-word questionsWe introduce reported question-word questions with ask + question word:Note that in the example the reported question has no auxiliary "do". But there is pronoun change and backshift.