Reported Speech: Questions and Commands
When you report a question in English, you switch to statement word order, drop the question 'do/does/did', and add 'if' or 'whether' for yes/no questions. So 'Are you ready?' becomes "She asked if I was ready," and 'Where do you live?' becomes "He asked where I lived" (no inversion, no 'do'). For commands and requests, use 'tell' or 'ask' + a person + the 'to'-infinitive: the order 'Wait' becomes "They told us to wait," and a negative command takes 'not to,' as in 'told us not to wait.' Avoid the two classic slips: keeping question order ('She asked if was I ready') and using 'said' instead of 'told'/'asked' with commands.
Examples
- She asked if I was ready. reporting 'Are you ready?'
- He asked where I lived. reporting 'Where do you live?'
- They told us to wait. reporting the command 'Wait'
The full lesson
Everything in the video, in text.
-
When you report a question, do you keep the question word order? Most learners do — and it instantly sounds wrong.
-
A direct question flips the subject and verb. But the moment you report it, that flip disappears. Reported questions use plain statement order.
-
Compare the two. The direct question inverts and may add do. The reported version drops both and just states the facts.
-
Take a yes-no question. There's no question word, so you bridge it with if or whether, then use statement order. She asked if I was ready.
-
When there's already a question word like where, keep that word — but still no inversion and no do. He asked where I lived.
-
The tense shifts back too, just like other reported speech. What are you doing? becomes what they were doing. I asked what she was doing.
-
Now commands. To report an order or request, you don't quote it — you use tell or ask someone, plus to and the verb.
-
The command Wait becomes told us to wait. Notice you need an object — who was told. They told us to wait.
-
For a negative command, just put not before to. He told me not to worry.
-
A polite request uses ask instead of tell — same structure. She asked me to open the window.
-
Here's the number one mistake: keeping question order in the report. She asked if was I ready is wrong — the subject comes first. She asked if I was ready.
-
And don't use said for commands. Said takes no object — use told someone, or asked someone.
-
So: report questions with statement order and if or whether. Report commands with tell or ask someone to do something.