Grammar-Quizzes › Clauses › Subordinate Clauses › Yes/No-Questions
Subordinate Yes/No-Questions(reported or indirect speech)
Restate a question within a clause
Quoted vs. Restated Questions
| QUOTED QUESTION | |
|---|---|
A quoted yes-no question begins with a main clause that includes the speaker and the verb say or ask, followed by a comma and the exact words of the quote, enclosed in quotation marks. The quoted speech may also be placed before the main clause: "Are you OK?," my friend asked. |
|
| MAIN CLAUSE | YES-NO QUESTION |
My friend says, |
"Are you coming with us?" |
My friend asked, |
"Is your brother coming too?" |
My friend asked, |
"Can you drive us?' |
My friend asked, |
"Will you have enough gas?" |
My friend asked, |
"Do we have enough money for gas?" |
| REPORTED QUESTION | |
|---|---|
A reported yes-no question also begins with the main clause, but is followed by the content of the quote as it relates to the speaker in time, person, place, and direction, at the moment of speaking. A subordinator (marker) if or whether subordinates the reported speech to the main clause. |
|
| MAIN CLAUSE | REPORTED SPEECH |
My friend asked |
if I was going with them. |
My friend asked |
if my brother was going too. |
My friends asked |
whether I could drive them. |
My friend asked |
if I would have enough gas. |
My friend wanted to know |
whether we had enough money for gas. |
A yes-no question differs from a Wh-question. In a yes-no question, the quoted question begins with an auxiliary verb form such as is, are, am, do, does, has, have, can, will, must. The expected answer is either yes or no (+ or -).
In reported speech, no additional punctuation (quotation marks, comma, or question mark) is used. Related page Quotation Marks.
Related page If vs. Whether
Ask Synonyms
- ask (V) — request information → My father always asks if I am well. (most commonly used!)
- inquire (V) — request information (formal) → Mr. Smith inquired whether my family was well.
- question (V) — settle doubt, challenge someone's answers → My father questioned if we were being truthful. (not used with quoted speech)
- request (V) — ask for → Mr Jones requested information about whether we were hiring or not. (not used with quoted speech)
- Also see Said Synonyms.
Steps to Subordinating a Yes-No Question
"Repackage" a question into the object position of a clause
Adjust Person and Number
| WORD ORDER ADJUSTMENT | |
|---|---|
The subordinate clause changes from question to statement word order: (1) the word order changes from [Aux-Subj-Verb] to [S- Aux+Verb]. That is, the subject is placed before the verb in the subordinate clause. |
|
| MAIN CLAUSE | SUBORDINATE CLAUSE |
Remove punctuation. My friend always asks, |
"Are they ready?" |
(1) subord. marker¹ |
if are they ready. |
(2) word order [S-V] |
|
(3) person & number |
— |
(4) tense |
— |
(5) time / place |
— |
My friend always asks |
if they are ready. |
| PERSON & NUMBER ADJUSTMENT | |
|---|---|
The subordinate clause also adjusts in person and number: (2) personal pronouns (i.e., I→you, me→you, we→you, etc.) and verb agreement (e.g., I am→you are) adjust to the perspective of the speaker. |
|
| MAIN CLAUSE | SUBORDINATE CLAUSE |
My friend always asks, |
"Are you ready?" |
(1) subord. marker¹ |
if are you ready |
(2) word order [S-V] |
|
(3) person & number |
|
(4) tense |
— |
(5) time / place |
— |
My friend always asks |
if I am ready. |
perspective (N) — point of view; how someone relates to surroundings: person (you, i we); place (here, there); time (now, then); direction (coming, going) See deixis.
¹subordinate marker – whether or if
| TIME ADJUSTMENT | |
|---|---|
The subordinate clause adjusts in time: (3) adverbs and prepositional phrases adjust if the verb in the main clause is an earlier time. |
|
| MAIN CLAUSE | SUBORDINATE CLAUSE |
Remove punctuation. My friend asked, |
"Are they leaving tomorrow?" |
(1) subord. marker¹ |
if are they leaving tomorrow. |
(2) word order [S-V] |
|
(3) person & number |
— |
(4) tense / verb form |
|
(5) time / place |
|
My friend asked |
if they were leaving the next day. |
| LOCATION ADJUSTMENT | |
|---|---|
The subordinate clause adjusts in location and direction: (4) adverbs and prepositional phrases for location are changed to reflect something that is near or far from the speaker. |
|
| MAIN CLAUSE | SUBORDINATE CLAUSE |
My friend asked, |
"Are they coming here? |
(1) subord. marker¹ |
if are they coming here |
(2) word order [S-V] |
|
(3) person & number |
— |
(4) tense |
|
(5) time / place |
|
My friend asked |
if they were going there. |
¹subordinate markers – whether or if
²direction: change coming to going if both speaker and listener do not share a location
See Adjusting Perspective (Deixis)
Adjust Tense (Agreement)
Relate the timing of subordinate clause to main clause
Verb Tense in Reported Questions
| QUESTION VERB TENSE |
|---|
| PRESENT |
"Are you tired? " |
| PRESENT PROGRESSIVE |
"Are you working?" |
| PAST |
" Were you married?" |
| PRESENT PROGRESSIVE |
" Were you calling?" |
| PRESENT PERFECT |
" Have you called yet?" |
| PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE |
" Have you been calling me?" |
| PRESENT – GENERAL TRUTH |
"Do you like dancing?" |
| REPORTED QUESTION |
|---|
| PAST |
She asked whether I was/were tired. |
| PAST PROGRESSIVE |
She asked whether I was/were working. |
| PAST PERFECT |
She asked whether I had been married. |
| PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE |
She asked whether I had been calling. |
| PAST PERFECT |
She asked if I had called yet. |
| PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE |
She asked if I had been calling her. |
| PRESENT – GENERAL TRUTH |
*She asked whether I like dancing. |
*must changes to need to or had to in past tense
* If the tense reflects "general truth", it does not change to past form.
Comment on Question
Express opinion or thought about the question
Subordinate Question-clause
| QUOTED WH-QUESTION |
|---|
A question with a modal or auxiliary verb can be placed within a comment stating opinion. If or whether links the subordinate clause to the main clause. |
"Did he go?" |
"Were you there?" |
"Should we turn here?" |
"Is it time to go?" |
"Can you meet me tonight?" |
"Is she his girlfriend?" |
"Will you be late?" |
| COMMENT WITH WH-QUESTION |
|---|
The opinion or comment is placed first followed by the subordinated question clause which is adjusted to the perspective of the main clause. |
I don't know if he went. (go → went) |
I can't remember if I was here. (there → here.) |
I have no idea if we should turn here. |
Can you tell me if it is time to go? |
He couldn't tell me if he could meet me that night. (tonight → that night.) |
Do you happen to know if she is his girlfriend? (there → here) |
She couldn't answer if she would be late. |
¹Use whether not if in a stressed sentence position.
Related page That/What Clauses | Adjusting perspective
Subordinate Connectors – if vs. whether
Understand differences in usage
| IF |
|---|
In the following situations, speakers favor using if. |
| REPORTED SPEECH |
I asked them if they were leaving. |
| SLIGHTLY LESS FORMAL |
I asked him if he is going to visit. (informal context) |
| WHETHER |
|---|
In the following situations, speakers prefer using whether. |
| WORDS USED IN FORMAL CONTEXTS |
We inquired whether the President would attend the summit meeting. (investigate, explain, examine, study, decide, determine) |
| AFTER A PREPOSITION |
They asked about whether the President would attend the meeting. (look into) |
Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet's Soliloquy" To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune…
Related page If vs. Whether
Keep Question Word Order
Create an effect on listeners (rhetorical device)
Examples of Keeping the Question Word Order for Impact
| QUESTION WITHIN A COMMENT |
|---|
More and more, we are hearing an embedded question with [Aux+Subj+Verb] word order rather than [Subj+Aux-Verb] word order. This usage is creeping into formal situations such as political speeches and news reports. Is it an error or intentional? |
| ORATORICAL DEVICE |
Let's think carefully about (if) ARE we going to deny them equal rights. (emphasis) [Aux-S-V] |
| PARENTHETICAL SPEECH |
Let's think carefully, are we going to deny them equal rights? |
| THOUGHT SHIFT |
Let's think carefully… Are we going to deny them equal rights." (Mental shift and restart?) |
| PREFERRED USE |
Let's think carefully about whether we are going to deny them equal rights. [S-Aux-V] |
| QUESTION WITHIN A QUESTION |
|---|
An embedded question with [Aux+Subj+Verb] word order doesn't seem to occur as much within a question as it does within a comment, or a wh-question. This usage occurs mostly in speech. Why do you suppose the speaker is shifting from direct to reported speech? |
| EMPHASIS—NOT USED |
*Is there any doubt whether are we going to give them equal rights? [Aux-S-V] |
| PREPARATORY PHRASE |
~Is there any doubt— are we going to give them equal rights? [Aux-S-V] ~The key thing is—will they settle the border issue? (intonation rising ↑) [Aux-S-V] |
| FORMAL SPEAKING—WHETHER OR NOT |
Is there any doubt whether we are going to give them equal rights? [S-Aux-V] |
| FORMAL SPEAKING—THAT |
Is there any doubt that we are going to give them equal rights? [S-Aux-V] |
Note whether or if is omitted. if and whether are categorized as subordinators.
* not used / ~ used by some speakers but not by others (informal use)
deny (V) — withhold, not give in, or say something is not true
oratory (N) – the skill of making public questiones
rhetorical device – creative and effective means of public speaking with the goal of making an impact on listeners. See Rhetorical Device (Wikipedia)
parenthetical (Adj) – a comment which interrupts thought and which is set off with comma(s) [informal use] See Comma-comments.
shift (N) – put something aside and replace it with something else
Also see Pop-Q – What Phrase.
Common Mistakes
Errors and Solutions
Error and Solution
| ERROR |
|---|
*Can you tell me is it a boy or a girl? |
*She asked me when we are coming or not. |
They asked if we wanted to have dinner with them sometime. (Using if implies possibly never) |
| SOLUTION |
|---|
Can you tell me if it is a boy or a girl? |
She asked me whether we are coming or not. |
They asked when we wanted to have dinner with them sometime. (Using when means sometime in the future.) |
Grammar Notes (Advanced)
Traditional and Linguistic Description
Traditional and Linguistic Descriptions
| TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION |
|---|
Direct and Indirect Speech (Swan 274) "Words that are spoken or thought in one place by one person may be reported in another place at a different time, and perhaps by another person. Because of this, there are often grammatical differences between direct and indirect speech : word order, pronouns, 'here and now' words', tense, question marks (Swan 276) Whether and If. (Swan 621) Both introduce indirect questions
if, whether
|
| LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION |
|---|
Direct reported speech gives the actual wording of the original. The major difference between direct and indirect speech is deixis. The deictic expressions are interpreted in relation to the original utterance, whereas in indirect speech they are interpreted wholly or predominantly in relation to the act of reporting. (Huddleston 1025) deictic – specifying identity or spatial or temporal location from the perspective of one or more of the participants in an act of speech or writing, in the context of either an external situation or the surrounding discourse, as we, you, here, there, now, then, this, that, the former, or the latter. Interrogative content clauses. Subordinated Questions: The main structural difference between subordinate and main clause interrogatives is that subject-auxiliary inversion does not generally apply to the subordinate structure. (Huddleston 11 §5.1) Construction where only whether is permitted. (Huddleston 11 §5.2)
Construction where if is favored:
if, whether – marker of subordination in interrogative clauses (Huddleston 956)
|
Word Categories: N – Noun; V – Verb; Aux – Auxiliary; Adj – Adjective; Adv – Adverb; P –Preposition; Det –Determiner.
Phrasal Categories: NP – Noun Phrase; VP – Verb Phrase; AdjP – Adjective Phrase; AdvP – Adverb Phrase; PP – Prepositional Phrase; DP – Determinative Phrase.
Clausal Categories: Cls – clause; F – finite clause; NF – nonfinite clause (Ger – gerund; Inf – infinitive; PPart – past participle).
Word Functions: Subj – subject; Pred – predicate/predicator; Comp – complement: an element or elements required by a word or structure to complete its meaning in the clause (e.g., DO – direct object; IO – indirect object; PP - prep. phrase); Adjunct – adjunct: elements not required by an expression to complete its meaning (Subord – subordinator; Coord – coordinator); Supl – supplement: a clause or phrase added onto a clause that is not closely related to the central thought or structure of the main clause.
- Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.
- Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
- Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
Practice 1
Planning a Day Trip
Change the quoted question to a reported question.
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 1-15" button.
Practice 2
Doctor, Doctor!
Context
DOCTOR: Does your neck hurt?
PATIENT: No, my head hurts.
DOCTOR: Does it hurt more in front or in back?
PATIENT: No, it hurts in front, around my eyes.
DOCTOR: Do you have any allergies?
PATIENT: I have hay fever.
DOCTOR: Is your nose running? (discharge)
PATIENT: No, but I have a sore throat.
DOCTOR: Did you get a flu shot this year?
PATIENT: No, I don't usually get the flu.
DOCTOR: Well, it looks like you've got it now. Why don't you go home and rest, drink plenty of fluids and stay away from others for a couple days.
PATIENT: OK. Thank you.
allergy (N) — a condition in which someone reacts to something such as dust, food, mold, pollen, or cat hair. The reaction may be itchy eyes, runny nose, wheezing, skin
hay fever (expression) — being allergic to the pollen of common plants and grasses;
fluids (N) — water, liquids
rash, and so on.
runny nose – fluids drip from the nose
Correct or Incorrect?
- Select a response correct or incorrect.
- Compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 16-20" button.
Practice 3
Rent a Wife or Husband
Context
INTERVIEWER: Jane, you started your company one year ago. Is it doing well now?
JANE OLSON: Oh yes! It's really taken off. We were surprised to find out how many working couples were desperate for help with household chores.
INTERVIEWER: You named your business "Rent a Wife or Husband". Are the services you offer different from a house cleaner or handyman?
JANE OLSON: Yes, we hire people who are capable of doing a wide range of chores around the house.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of services do you offer? For example, do you offer childcare, dog walking, food shopping, or tutoring?
JANE OLSON: Yes, we do exactly these kinds of chores.
INTERVIEWER: Are your employees licensed?
JANE OLSON: Licensed? They all have driver's licenses. A couple have contractor licenses. Another has a design license. Another has extensive computer skills. Our employees offer a variety of skills from different professional backgrounds and fields.
INTERVIEWER: Are your employees mostly young people?
JANE OLSON: A large number of our employees are retired. They are people who enjoy using their skills, interacting with young families, and bringing home some extra money.
INTERVIEWER: Let's say, for example, I wanted to have a party here, could your people host it?
JANE OLSON: Well yes, we could, but you would still be the host. Our people could do the food shopping, decorating, cooking, and serving of the food.
INTERVIEWER: What about healthcare? Can your service send a stand-in mommy for a sick child.
JANE OLSON: No. That is something we cannot do. If a child has a cold we can help, but a child with a fever or an elderly parent with healthcare problems requires a healthcare professional.
INTERVIEWER: Are there any requests that surprise you?
JANE OLSON: Yes. Some people want us to decorate their Christmas trees and hang house lights. Though it is traditionally done by the family, we can send a couple elves to decorate for the holidays.
INTERVIEWER: So in a way, are you offering the kinds of things that a grandmother or grandfather used to do for younger family members.
JANE OLSON: Yes. We are the absent aunts, uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers.
INTERVIEWER: Are you planning on expanding your business to other cities next year.
JANE OLSON: Not right now. Currently, we are expanding our resources here by reaching out to the retired community and to the young working couples in need.
chore (N) — work; task; daily jobs usually around home
contractor (N) — home builder
decorate (V) — adorn, change the appearance of a room, especially for the holidays or a special occasion (e.g., paint, change fabric, add pictures or ornaments)
desperate (Adj) — very much in need
diverse (Adj) — different
elf / elves (N) — helpers to Santa Claus
extenstive (Adj) wide, broad, reaching over a wide area; comprehensive (a lot)
household (N) — matters of the house; related to the home
licensed (Adj) – having proper training or certification for a specific skill
rent (V) – allow someone to use something (car, bicycle, condo, etc. ) for a short time in return for payment (very unusual with "wife" or "husband".)
staff (N) — employees, workers within a company
stand-in – temporary, substitute
take off (V) — fly, rise, succeed
wide range (expression) — a variety
Editing
- Edit the sentence(s) in the text box.
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