Indirect questions (or embedded questions) - for when you need to be polite

Do you know where I am? Yes I know where you are.

Well, where am I? You are at 19th and Arch. No I'm not. No comment. I want to throw you

in the river! OK. The nearest river is at 17th and Arch.

No it's not!

Where's the Regional Rail line? This lesson

is about how to ask strangers for help. Polite questions you can ask when you need

information. Where's the Regional Rail line? Excuse me,

can you tell me where the Regional Rail line is?

Yeah, it's that way. Oh, thank you. You heard two different questions. Did you

catch them? Now, the first is straight forward. You've

got 'where' and then the verb 'be.' But look at the second one. The verb 'be'

is at the end. Let's look at another one. Where is room 401? Excuse me, could you tell

me where room 401 is? Why certainly ma'am. Just walk this way. Thank you.

'Could you tell me...' That one's an embedded

question; a question inside another question. The ending has the same word order as a statement.

We often use these embedded questions with strangers when we're asking for information

and we want to be polite. Now, we've looked at questions with the verb 'be'.

But what about other verbs? Can you tell me when the next train to Boston

leaves? 8:35 Could you tell me how much a one-way ticket

to Washington costs? 51 dollars. The word order changes in these questions too.

"Can you tell me...?' forms the question.

And then after that, it's like a statement. The auxiliary verb disappears, and the third

person 's' returns. Can you tell me when the next train to Boston leaves?

Could you tell me how much a one-way ticket

to Washington costs? Now, something else. Do you know if the train

to New York is on time? Yeah, it is. If it's a question with a 'yes' or 'no' answer,

you the word 'if.' Do you know if there's a restaurant car on

this train? No, there isn't. You can use use the word 'whether' in the

same way as 'if.' Now, here's a mistake a lot of students make.

They'll form a normal question after a phrase like 'Can you tell me... " or "Do you know....'

That's wrong. Don't do that.

Do you know if the train to New York is on time? Yeah, it is.

Do you know if there's a restaurant car on this train? No, there isn't.

And one last thing. We generally only use embedded questions at the start of a conversation.

Can you tell me when the next train to Boston leaves? 8:35

And what time does it get there? Uh, excuse me. Could you tell me where room

401 is? Why certainly ma'am. Just walk this way.