Direct and indirect questions
Many people are curious to know "
What does question mean?", that is why we will start with the basics. The
question definition is a sentence that requests information. The information is given as an answer to the question. What are
direct questions? They are the questions in their normal form.
Direct questions are those questions that you can give to a close person or people you know well. An example of a
direct question is: "Did you see my glasses?".
Direct and indirect questions, as you might have guessed, are not the same thing. The difference is that
indirect questions are more polite and formal. While
direct questions are used to ask a relative or friend something, the
indirect questions are used to ask a person you don't know well. They are also used in professional conversations.
How to make an indirect question out of a direct question?
The
direct question can be simply turned into an indirect one. All you need to do is use some special phrases that you will add to the
direct questions. Here are some examples of phrases that can turn a
direct question into an indirect one:
- 1. I'd like to know if...
- 2. Could you tell me...
- 3. Is there a chance...
- 4. Would it be possible...
- 5. I was wondering...
There are more phrases that you can add to
direct questions and also, there are more things you should know on this topic, for example, the order of the words in a sentence.
Learn how to form an indirect question
This great flashcard lesson will teach you everything about
direct questions and
indirect questions. You will find examples of questions and see how they are formed. Also, you will see how to use auxiliary verbs in
direct questions, how to use a question word as the subject of the question. You will find examples of questions with a preposition at the end and some important rules when forming
indirect questions. If you want to learn more on this topic, take a look at another great lesson:
Polite enquiries. Learn with VocApp to impress native speakers with the way you speak!