Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.
A reported question is when we tell someone what another person asked. For example, direct speech: “Do you like working in sales?” he asked. And indirect speech: he asked if I liked working in sales.
Rules of Forming Reported Speech Questions
- Normal word order is used in reported questions in which subject comes before the verb, and it is not mandatory to use ‘do’ or ‘did’.
- Whenever we report Wh-questions, we usually use a reporting verb like asked or enquired.
- In Yes/No type of question is reported by using ‘ask’ + ‘if / whether’ + clause.
- If we use Question word then question is reported by using ‘verb like ‘said’ + question word + clause. The clause should contains the question, in proper word order and with the necessary tense changes that are required.
If you want to know, understand and learn more about reported speech questions, then you must see the following examples list. As a result, you get a much better idea about reported speech questions. So, let’s see.
Examples of Reported Speech Questions
| Direct Speech | Indirect Speech |
| Sheila’s mother asked her, “Who did you meet last night?” | Sheila’s mother asked her who she met the previous night. |
| Jack’s teacher asked him, “What have you done with your homework?” | Jack’s teacher asked him what he had done with his homework. |
| A tourist asked me, “Where is the Sagrada Familia?” | A tourist asked me where the Sagrada Familia was. |
| John’s boss asked him, “When do you want to take your holiday?” | John’s boss asked him when he wanted to take his holiday. |
| The flight attendant asked us, “Do you want to buy any duty-free goods?” | The flight attendant asked us if we wanted to buy any duty-free goods. |
| The waiter asked them, “Do you want to try the chef’s special?” | The waiter asked them if we wanted to try the chef’s special. |
| The psychologist asked her, “Why do you hate your parents?” | The psychologist asked her why she hated her parents. |
| The customs officer asked us, “How much money do you have?” | The customs officer asked us how much money we had. |
| The immigration officer asked him, “How long are you staying in India?” | The immigration officer asked him how long he was staying in India. |
| His mother asked him, “Will you be home later?” | His mother asked him if he would be home later. |
| He asked me, “Do you live with your family?” | He asked me if I lived with my family. |
| I asked my friend, “Can I borrow your lawn mower?” | I asked my friend if I could borrow his lawn mower. |
| My boss asked me, “Do you speak English?” | My boss asked me if I spoken English. |
| Veer asked his friend, “Will you come to my house warming party tomorrow?” | Veer asked his friend if he came to his house warming party the next day. |
| A man asked me, “Have you seen my car?” | A man asked me if I had seen his car. |
| My new neighbour asked me, “How are you?” | My new neighbour asked me how I was. |
| I asked my friend, “Where do you park your car?” | I asked my friend where he parked his car. |
| I asked a foreigner, “Where are you from?” | I asked a foreigner where he was from. |
| My father’s friend asked me, “How old are you?” | My father’s friend asked me how old I was. |
| Rahul asked his friend, “How often do you take out the trash?” | Rahul asked his friend how often he took out the trash. |
| A stranger asked him, “Where is the nearest bank?” | A stranger asked him where the nearest bank was. |
| Rohan’s new neighbour asked him, “How long have you been living there?” | Rohan’s new neighbour asked him how long he had been living there. |
| I asked my friend, “Where do you work?” | I asked my friend where he worked. |
| I asked my friend, “Is this your cat?” | I asked my friend if that was his cat. |
| A man asked me, “Are you a foreigner?” | A man asked me if I was a foreigner. |
Keep exploring EnglishBix to learn about direct and indirect questions, and how they are used for asking questions in English.