Our first tip: How to ask indirect questions in English

In English if you want to ask a question the process is very known and common with the use of the traditional auxiliaries 'Do', 'Does', 'Did', 'Will', 'Would', 'Can', 'Could' etc.Follow this example:

Do you know Marion ? (or)

Does she drive to work everyday ? (or)

Did your father buy a new house last year ?


But the fact is, if you want to ask different questions using other words meaning the same idea you have a possibility.This is called 'indirect questions':

In this question: Where is Rachel ?

You can have: Do you know where Rachel is ?

In this case we are using the form 'Do you know...?' together with the original sentence showed first.This means you have more than one option to express yourself, like in Portuguese:

a.'Onde estão os banheiros ?', in English we have: 'Where are the toilets ?'

b.'Você pode me dizer onde estão os banheiros ?' (more formal), in English the same way happens: 'Can you tell me where the toilets are ?'

Note that the verb in the first sentence moves to the end of the second sentece when you use 'Do you know...' or 'Can you tell me...?'

Some links for exercises will be given here.Just check the sidebar of your blog and you'll find suggestions of books and their respective chapters, links on the net that show exactly the topic we are showing in the post.So, enjoy it and have fun !!


Teacher Fábio Pires