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Reported questions and commands
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Reporting questions and instructions
- We can report the content of questions, requests and commands: She asked where I lived. He told me to wait. A report does not reproduce every original word.
- Outcome: preserve who asked or instructed whom, and the intended meaning, with an appropriate reporting frame. Start with reported statements. Starting check: does She asked what I did contain an error simply because it contains did? No.
She asked where the meeting was; the calendar asked the same thing.
Reported questions
- The embedded question uses statement order: She asked where I lived, not where did I live. Use if / whether for a yes/no question: He asked if I was busy. Keep the wh-word for an information question.
- Remove question-forming do/does/did, not every form of do: She asked what I did is natural. Emphatic did can remain when it carries contrastive emphasis: “But you DO want the job!” → She insisted that I did want the job. Time and pronouns follow the reporting context; backshift is not an automatic word substitution.
- A statement report ends in a full stop: She asked where I lived. A larger sentence that is itself a question can end in a question mark: Did she ask where I lived? The embedded clause still has statement order.
Among these options, choose a report of “Where do you live?” with embedded statement order.
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Among these options, where I lived has the required embedded statement order. Where did I live retains direct-question inversion. A present live can also be natural in another report if the location remains current; backshift depends on context.
Report the yes/no question “Are you busy?”: “He asked ___ I was busy.”
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Yes/No questions are reported with “if” or “whether”.
Translate into English: 她问我住在哪里。
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She asked where I lived is the model with embedded statement order. Where I live can also fit a still-current residence; the unrestricted translation does not require automatic backshift.
Which sentence asks whether a question was asked, while keeping its embedded clause in statement order?
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Only the outer did she ask has inversion. Where the tickets were keeps embedded order. Its question mark belongs to the whole question, not an inverted embedded clause.
Reported requests and commands
- One useful pattern is tell / ask + someone + to + base verb: She told me to wait. He asked me to help. The person is the one asked or told to act. The form alone does not guarantee politeness or a harsh tone.
- Other frames have other meanings: He asked to leave means he requested permission for himself to leave; He asked me to leave asks me to go. Do not insert a person after every use of ask.
Compare “Maya asked to carry the box” and “Maya asked Jo to carry the box”. What changes?
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Ask to carry concerns Maya’s own requested action. Ask Jo to carry makes Jo the requested actor. Naming the actor is part of meaning, not an optional mechanical insertion.
Negative instructions
- For an instruction not to act, use not to: He asked me not to be late. She told us not to enter reports an instruction against entering.
- Keep the negative's meaning clear: He didn't ask me to leave denies the request; He asked me not to leave reports a request to stay. These are different reports.
Question, command or negative command?
Distinguish the question and instruction frames in these examples; preserve embedded order, participants and negative scope.
Is this a grammatical reported negative request? “He asked me not to be late.”
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Asked me not to be late is a grammatical reported negative request. Me is the person asked to act; not to be late is the requested restraint. It does not establish that the request was obeyed.
“They didn’t tell us to stop” means the same as “They told us not to stop”.
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The first denies an instruction to stop; it does not establish an instruction to continue. The second reports an instruction against stopping. Keep the negative attached to the meaning you intend.
Common mistakes
- In this report, use He asked me if I was busy, not He asked me am I busy. The original question Am I busy? is grammatical as direct speech in a different context.
- Use He told me not to be late, not He told me don't be late, when using this indirect instruction frame.
- Use She suggested going or She suggested that I go, not She suggested me to go. She suggested to me that I go is another frame; keep the grammar and intended participants together.
Match the direct speech to its reported form.
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These supplied reports preserve questions with embedded order and requests/instructions with (not) to. Asked me not to shout asks me to refrain from shouting; didn’t ask me to shout would only deny a request. Other natural reports can use different appropriate frames.
Which sentence is correct?
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Told me to sit down fits tell + person + to + base verb. The other supplied options do not fit this instruction frame. Said to me, “Sit down” would be grammatical direct speech in another frame; the supplied said me to sit down is not that construction.
A guest says “Could you carry this bag, please?” as a request. Which report preserves that intended action?
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The first reports a request for me to act. The others assert completed action or reverse the requested actor. A suitable if I could report can also preserve the request; the infinitive is not the only possible frame.
- Embedded questions keep statement order. Lexical or emphatic do is not the same as question-forming do; punctuation follows the whole sentence.
- In instructions, track the person who should act and where the negative belongs. Changing ask to into ask someone to can change that person.
Think of a question someone asked you, or invent one. Report it in one English sentence using She/He asked or an equivalent reporting frame. Preserve who asked whom and the topic.
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Example: “My teacher asked if I had finished my homework.”
Worked contrasts: preserve the report
- The larger question: Did Noor ask where the keys were? asks whether Noor made a request for information. Only the outer Did Noor ask has question order; where the keys were keeps statement order.
- Who leaves: Alex asked to leave early reports Alex's request to leave. Alex asked Lee to leave early asks Lee to leave. Both are grammatical; adding Lee changes the actor rather than merely improving the first sentence.
- Do as the action: “What do you do after school?” can become She asked what I did after school. The first do forms the direct question; the second names the activity and becomes did in this backshifted report. A current report can keep do when the present context warrants it.
A tutor asks, “What do you do on Saturdays?” You later report, “The tutor asked what I did on Saturdays.” Why is did acceptable?
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In what I did, I precedes the verb and did is the activity verb. The direct question’s question-forming do has been removed. Repair: identify each do by its job before deleting it. Fresh check: report What did you do yesterday? while preserving the activity verb.
Apply and review
- Report a question and a negative request in English. Check the embedded order, who acts and what the negative denies. Do not impose yesterday's time words on a report made today.
- Later, explain the difference between didn't ask me to wait and asked me not to wait without looking back. Continue with past modals. Practise the fresh decisions next; independent review remains pending.
A meeting note says, “Ravi asked to leave early.” Which restatement preserves who requested permission to go?
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Ask to leave reports Ravi’s own request. Adding someone after asked would make that person the requested actor and change the report. The original does not say permission was granted. Repair: identify the requester and intended actor separately. Fresh check: explain Ravi asked Chen to leave without adding a claim about whether Chen left.
Facts: yesterday Noor asked you, “Where do you keep the spare keys?” She also said, “Please don’t lock the side door yet.” The keys are still kept in the same place. Write two English sentences reporting the question and request. Keep the person asked and the negative clear. Compare, then revise one word-order, time or participant mismatch.
Compare the stated facts, your English forms and the intended meaning. Revise one actual mismatch, or explain why no change is needed. This written self-review does not award correctness or certify proficiency.
Supply a yes/no reporting linker: “Omar asked ___ the desk was open.”
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Whether and if both introduce this embedded yes/no question. Neither asks for a time; keep the desk before was.
Complete this stated instruction frame: “The guide told us ___ wait beside the gate.”
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Tell + person + to + base verb gives told us to wait. Us names the people instructed; the report alone does not say they waited.
The instruction is not to touch the switch. Complete: “The engineer told me ___ to touch the switch.”
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Not before to touch preserves the negative instruction. Didn’t tell me to touch would deny a request instead of reporting this prohibition.
Use the past form of the action verb do: “The interviewer asked what I ___ at the repair shop.”
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Did names the activity in what I did. It is not question-forming inversion. The sentence already places I before the verb; deleting the action verb would leave the report incomplete.
Which report preserves the question “Who broke the handle?” without inventing an answer?
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Who is the subject of broke. The report does not need a second subject or question-forming did, and it does not identify the culprit. Subject questions already have this order.
Which analysis fits “He asked why I did not sign the form”?
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Did not sign is a negative past verb phrase after the subject I. The question concerns a reason; it is not a negative instruction or a ban on signing every form.
A speaker insists that she really wanted the job. What does “He asked why I did want the job” allow?
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Emphatic did + base want is possible in this context. Removing question-forming inversion does not ban a meaningful emphatic auxiliary. The report does not supply the answer to why.
You are Jo. Yesterday Sara asked you, “Can you help me?” Which report preserves both participants?
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You in Sara’s question addresses Jo; me refers to Sara. From Jo’s reporting viewpoint they become I and her. The other choices reverse the helper or beneficiary.
Read “Tao told Mina to send him the plan”. Who is instructed to send it?
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Mina is the object of told and the understood actor of to send. Him marks the recipient, but without context it need not uniquely identify Tao. Do not infer obedience or resolve an ambiguous pronoun without evidence.
A workshop note says, “Lena asked to use the printer”. Which account keeps the requested actor?
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Asked to use reports Lena’s own requested use. It neither requires an omitted object after asked nor establishes that permission was granted.
A customer asks “Would you close the window, please?” as a request. Which comparison is accurate?
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A question form can serve as a request. Both appropriate frames can preserve that function; the report is not proof of compliance. Check participants and purpose rather than copying punctuation alone.
This morning Wen asked where you keep a spare charger. Its location is still current. Which judgment is sound?
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Still-current information can remain present; backshift can also be natural in a past report. Where I keep/kept both have embedded order. Time context matters, not a compulsory word swap.
On Monday Eli asked you, “Can you come tomorrow?” You report on Wednesday, after that Tuesday. Which report preserves the requested day?
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Tomorrow in the Monday question denotes Tuesday. The Wednesday report must preserve that day, not re-anchor tomorrow to Thursday. This records the request without claiming you attended.
Which option uses a grammatical suggestion frame?
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Suggested that I check has a finite that-clause. Suggested checking the source and suggested to me that I check are other possible frames. Do not apply tell + person + to mechanically to suggest.
What does “Did Ravi ask where the parcel was?” ask?
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The outer question concerns the occurrence of Ravi’s question. The embedded where-clause identifies its topic. A question about asking does not prove asking happened or give the parcel’s location.
Choose the faithful restatement of “I didn’t ask Nia to cancel the booking”.
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Negating asked denies the request. It does not create the opposite instruction, identify Nia’s action or establish a reason for it.
“The guard asked whether the back gate was locked” establishes that the back gate was locked.
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The clause states what information the guard sought, not the answer. Locked and unlocked remain possible; do not convert a reported question into an asserted fact.
The word told in “She told me to wait” alone proves that she spoke rudely.
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Told reports an instruction frame, not its full tone. Relationship, wording, situation and delivery affect how it is received; a verb label is not sufficient evidence of rudeness.
Which report keeps the information requested by “How many batteries do we need?”?
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How many batteries asks for a quantity. A whether-clause asks a yes/no question instead, and two invents an answer. Preserve the whole question phrase and embedded subject-before-verb order.
Transfer: keep the handoff faithful
- A question can perform a request: “Could you close the lid, please?” can be reported with asked me to close it or a suitable asked if I could close it frame. Neither confirms that I did it. Choose by function and participants, not the question mark alone.
- Work through nineteen fresh decisions alongside the earlier action-verb check, then report Neri’s two messages without changing notebook ownership, the person told or the requested restraint. Compare your own key-and-door report with its model only after drafting; revise a factual mismatch as well as grammar.
You are Ivo. Neri asked you “Where is my notebook?” and told Paz “Don’t move the red box.” Which handoff preserves the facts?
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Her retains Neri’s ownership; Paz retains the requested actor; not to move retains the restraint. Neither the notebook’s location nor Paz’s compliance is established.
Later review: distinguish the request from its result
- Tomorrow, interpret the new deletion request and complete the chair question without looking back. Then draft Sumi’s handoff before opening its model. Check embedded order, tense, participants and where the negative belongs.
- A question reports an information gap, not its answer; an instruction reports a requested action, not compliance. Next: past modals, reported statements or practical writing. Written practice and self-comparison do not certify proficiency.
Usage guidance checked 21 October 2026: British Council, reported questions covers embedded structure, context-sensitive tense and request frames. New examples/tasks are original local teaching. Independent specialist, language, answer, accessibility and learner review remains pending.
Later, interpret “Jules asked An not to delete the draft”.
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Not to delete belongs to the requested action, not a denial of asking. Keep the actor An and avoid inventing an outcome.
Later, supply a yes/no linker: “The organiser wanted to know ___ we needed more chairs.”
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If and whether both fit wanted to know plus this embedded yes/no clause. We needed keeps statement order; the question does not confirm a shortage.
Later, write a two-sentence English handoff from these notes. Yesterday Sumi asked you “Where do you store the paper forms?” and asked Lee “Please don’t recycle the blue folder yet.” The storage place is still current, but no location or compliance is supplied. Draft before opening the model; revise one real mismatch.
Compare the reporting frame and facts against both notes. A faithful alternative is acceptable; self-comparison and revision do not establish independent correctness or proficiency.