- B1-B2 grammar
Reported speech 2 – questions
Do you know how to report a question that somebody asked? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.
Look at these examples to see how we can tell someone what another person asked.
direct speech: 'Do you work from home?' he said. indirect speech: He asked me if I worked from home. direct speech: 'Who did you see?' she asked. indirect speech: She asked me who I'd seen. direct speech: 'Could you write that down for me?' she asked. indirect speech: She asked me to write it down.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 2: 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
A reported question is when we tell someone what another person asked. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.
direct speech: 'Do you like working in sales?' he asked. indirect speech: He asked me if I liked working in sales.
In indirect speech, we change the question structure (e.g. Do you like ) to a statement structure (e.g. I like ).
We also often make changes to the tenses and other words in the same way as for reported statements (e.g. have done → had done , today → that day ). You can learn about these changes on the Reported speech 1 – statements page.
Yes / no questions
In yes / no questions, we use if or whether to report the question. If is more common.
'Are you going to the Helsinki conference?' He asked me if I was going to the Helsinki conference. 'Have you finished the project yet?' She asked us whether we'd finished the project yet.
Questions with a question word
In what , where , why , who , when or how questions, we use the question word to report the question.
'What time does the train leave?' He asked me what time the train left. 'Where did he go?' She asked where he went.
Reporting verbs
The most common reporting verb for questions is ask , but we can also use verbs like enquire , want to know or wonder .
'Did you bring your passports?' She wanted to know if they'd brought their passports. 'When could you get this done by?' He wondered when we could get it done by.
Offers, requests and suggestions
If the question is making an offer, request or suggestion, we can use a specific verb pattern instead, for example offer + infinitive, ask + infinitive or suggest + ing.
'Would you like me to help you?' He offered to help me. 'Can you hold this for me, please?' She asked me to hold it. 'Why don't we check with Joel?' She suggested checking with Joel.
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
Grammar B1-B2: Reported speech 2: 2
Language level
reported speech of "he asked : which shoes are yours" isn t it he asked me which shoes were mine ?
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Hello holingutenderg,
Yes, that's correct. May I ask where you see that on our page?
All the best, Kirk LearnEnglish team
Hi, please how can solve this for me, thank. Q/ Change the following into reported speech.
1. "I'm really tired of all these questions," he said. 2. "My sister is cleaning her room," said Lisa. 3. "I can't wait to get home today," said Frank. 4. "I don't have much time today," she said.
Hello waad Ali,
I'm afraid we don't solve tasks from elsewhere for users. We're happy to give advice and explanations but we can't just provide answers or we'll end up doing our users' tests and homework for them!
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi, I want to ask about reported speech. He said: "Do you want me to send this postcard for you?" -> He asked if i wanted him to send that postcard for me. I think this is what is normally changed from direct to indirect speech. But it's kinda weird for me. And i changed the sentence like this: -> He asked whether to send that postcard for me. Could you answer this for me? Thanks in advanced.
Hi Jenny2101,
Yes, I think the first one ("He asked if I wanted ...") is the typical way to transform the question into indirect speech.
The second one ("He asked whether ...") is also grammatically fine and means pretty much the same thing. But compared to the first one, it doesn't explicitly contain the idea of you wanting him to do that, which might or might not be important, depending on the situation.
I hope that helps.
Hi "SHE COULD SWIM WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG ".
The conversion to reported speech -> She said that she could swim when she was young.This is right, isn't it? AND NOT She said that she could swim when she had been young. Please answer.
Hello englishforeverindia,
Yes, that's correct.
All the best, Kirk The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, i have a question. 'Where did he go?' changes and become 'He asked where he went'. So questions with question words have no backshift, isn't it?
Hi Blizzard93,
Backshifting is actually possible too - it depends on the context. It's also possible to report the question like this --> He asked where he had gone . (backshifted)
The version without the backshift is preferred when the thing being reported is still true or still relevant. Perhaps he left and then the speaker asked that question just a moment ago, for example.
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Lesson Worksheet: Reported Speech: Questions English
In this worksheet, we will practise using reported questions to talk about jobs and skills needed for work.
Which of the following is true?
- A When reporting open (wh-) questions, the reported question does not begin with the wh-word, such as what , where , when , which , how long , and so on.
- B Open (wh-) questions do not have a reported-question form.
- C When reporting open (wh-) questions, the reported question begins with the word if or whether , the same as closed (yes/no) questions.
- D When reporting open (wh-) questions, the reported question begins with the wh-word, such as what , where , when , which , how long , and so on.
- E When reporting open (wh-) questions, the reported question can begin with the word if but not with the word whether .
- A Only direct questions use quotation marks because they are not using the exact words used by the speaker.
- B Reported questions do not use quotation marks because they are not using the exact words used by the speaker.
- C Direct questions and reported questions use quotation marks.
- D Reported questions do not use quotation marks because they are using the exact words used by the speaker.
- E Only reported questions use quotation marks.
“What time are we meeting for the interview tomorrow?” he asked her.
Fill in the blanks to create a reported question of the direct question above:
He asked her what time for the interview .
- A were they meeting, the day after
- B we are meeting, that day
- C we were meeting, the day before
- D they were meeting, the day after
- E were they meeting, that day
“Which qualifications do I need to get a good job?” he asked the teacher.
Fill in the blank to create a reported question of the direct question above:
He asked the teacher to get a good job.
- A which qualifications he needed
- B which qualifications does he need
- C if I needed qualifications
- D whether he needed qualifications
- E which qualifications do I need
“Have you ever thought of a career in the police force?” she asked him.
She asked him if of a career in the police force.
- A he had ever thought
- B he had never thought
- C has he ever thought
- D he has ever thought
- E had he ever thought
“Do I need good maths and IT skills to work as a programmer?” he asked.
He asked whether good maths and IT skills to work as a programmer.
- A did he need
- C does he need
- D he didn’t need
- E he needed
“Have you ever been to Paris?” Emma asked Jackson.
Emma asked Jackson whether to Paris.
- A he had ever been
- B has he ever been
- C had he ever been
- D he had never been
- E he has ever been
“What time does my interview start today?” she asked them.
She asked them what time that day.
- A her interview was starting
- B does her interview start
- C did her interview starting
- D her interview started
- E did her interview start
“Is there anything you don’t like about your job?” he asked her.
He asked her was anything she didn’t like about her job.
- C whether their
“What do you want to do when you graduate from university?” she asked him.
She asked him wanted to do when he graduated from university.
- C whether he
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106 REPORTED QUESTION English ESL worksheets pdf & doc
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Reported questions worksheets and online activities. Free interactive exercises to practice online or download as pdf to print.
A reported question is when we tell someone what another person asked. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech. direct speech: 'Do you like working in sales?' he asked. indirect speech: He asked me if I liked working in sales. In indirect speech, we change the question structure (e.g. Do you like) to a statement structure (e.g.
In this worksheet, we will practise using reported questions to talk about jobs and skills needed for work. Which of the following is true? A When reporting open (wh-) questions, the reported question does not begin with the wh-word, such as what, where, when, which, how long, and so on. B Open (wh-) questions do not have a reported-question form.
Worksheet to practise reported speech with say/tell, reported statements & questions. Hope you find it useful! Thanks for downloading! 14625 uses loveteaching REPORTED SPEECH - questions This includes some information on the changes when reporting questions.
Reported questions Brief grammar notes and some exercises on reported questions. ID: 32234 Language: English School subject: English as a Second Language (ESL) Grade/level: Intermediate Age: 12+ Main content: Reported questions Other contents: Reported speech, reporting questions (2500) Link to this worksheet: Copy
Title: Reported Questions - PDF Grammar Worksheet - B1 - RS008 Author: Nikolaus ROSMANITZ Subject: Reported Questions - PDF Grammar Worksheet - B1 \(Intermediate\)