Reported Questions

🎯 Lesson Goal:

Learn how to report questions naturally and correctly using indirect question forms (without question word order).

1. Warm-Up (3 min)

🗣️ Discuss:

1. What’s a question someone asked you today?

2. How do you usually tell someone what another person asked you?

3. Do you change the word order when you report a question?

💬 Sample answers:

She asked me what time the class started.
He wanted to know if I liked football.

🎯 Focus:
When we report questions, we don’t use question word order (no inversion).

2. Presentation (8 min)

A. What Are Reported Questions?

Reported questions are used to tell someone what another person asked — not the exact words, but the meaning.

💬 Example:

“Where do you live?” she asked.
✅ She asked where I lived.

🧠 Key Change:

• No question word order (no “do/does/did”).

• Verb tense usually moves one step back (if the reporting verb is in the past).

B. Types of Reported Questions

1️⃣ Wh- Questions (what, where, when, why, who, how)

Pattern:
ask / want to know / wonder + wh-word + clause

“Where is he?”
✅ She asked where he was.

“Why are you late?”
✅ He wanted to know why I was late.

🧠 Remember:
No question mark, no inversion, no “do/does/did.”

2️⃣ Yes/No Questions

Pattern:
ask / want to know / wonder + if / whether + clause

“Do you like pizza?”
✅ He asked if I liked pizza.

“Will you come tomorrow?”
✅ She wanted to know whether I would come the next day.

“If” and “whether” mean the same thing — both are fine in reported speech.

3️⃣ Questions with an Object

Pattern:
ask + object + wh-word/if/whether + clause

“What’s your name?” the teacher asked me.
✅ The teacher asked me what my name was.

“Can you help me?” she asked him.
✅ She asked him if he could help her.

C. Common Reporting Verbs Used for Questions

• ask → She asked if I was tired.

• want to know → He wanted to know where I was.

• wonder → I wondered what time it was.

• inquire → She inquired whether the shop was open.

3. Controlled Practice (5 min)

Rewrite the direct questions as reported questions.

1. “What time does the train leave?” she asked.
   → ______________________

2. “Do you like sushi?” he asked me.
   → ______________________

3. “Where are they going?” he asked.
   → ______________________

4. “Can you help me with this?” she asked.
   → ______________________

5. “Is it raining outside?” they asked.
   → ______________________

6. “Why didn’t you call me?” he asked.
   → ______________________

7. “Will she come to the meeting?” they asked.
   → ______________________

8. “What are you doing?” she asked him.
   → ______________________

✅ Answers + Explanations

1. She asked what time the train left.

2. He asked me if I liked sushi.

3. He asked where they were going.

4. She asked if I could help her with that.

5. They asked if it was raining outside.

6. He asked why I hadn’t called him.

7. They asked whether she would come to the meeting.

8. She asked him what he was doing.

🧠 Notice:

• The auxiliary verbs (do, does, did) disappear.

• Tenses move one step back (does → did, is → was, will → would).

4. Transformation Practice (4 min)

Report these questions using the correct structure.

1. “Where have you been?” (ask)
   → ______________________

2. “Do you want something to drink?” (want to know)
   → ______________________

3. “Can I help you?” (wonder)
   → ______________________

4. “Who’s coming to the party?” (ask)
   → ______________________

5. “Did they finish the report?” (inquire)
   → ______________________

✅ Sample Answers

1. She asked where I had been.

2. He wanted to know if I wanted something to drink.

3. She wondered if she could help me.

4. He asked who was coming to the party.

5. They inquired whether they had finished the report.

💡 Tip: “Wonder” and “want to know” sound softer or more polite than “ask.”

5. Engaging Discussion (5 min)

🗣️ Answer these questions using reported question structures:

1. What’s a question your boss or teacher asked you recently?

2. What’s a question your parents often ask you?

3. What’s a question you asked someone today?

4. What’s the strangest question someone has ever asked you?

💬 Encourage reported answers:

My teacher asked me when I would hand in the project.
My mum asked if I was hungry.

6. Extra Discussion (3–4 min)

💬 Deeper prompts:

1. When do we usually need to report questions in real life (work, school, travel)?

2. Do you think it’s easy or difficult to change the tense and structure when reporting a question?

3. How does reporting a question make your speech more formal or professional?

🎯 Goal: Build fluency with reported questions in natural speech.

7. Wrap-Up & Review (2 min)

🧾 Quick Recap

• Reported questions tell what someone asked — without direct question form.

• No question word order: subject + verb, not verb + subject.

• Wh- questions → ask + wh-word + clause

  He asked where I was.

• Yes/No questions → ask + if / whether + clause

  She asked if I liked it.

• Tense change (if reporting in past):

  is → was, do → did, will → would, have → had.

• No question marks in reported questions.

💬 Mini Challenge:
Say three reported questions from your own life.

My friend asked if I wanted to go out.
My teacher wanted to know why I was late.
My boss asked when I could send the report.