Am I or I am

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atm  #31360  Sat, 29 May 04 02:31 PM
Hi,

Which is correct and why:

Who am I?

or

Who I am?

Thanks,

ATM
  
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miriam  #31362  Sat, 29 May 04 02:37 PM
"Who am I?" is correct if you are asking a direct question.

In indirect speech you might say something like "I wonder who I am."

Miriam
------------------------------

~comes back to edit~

I forgot you asked "why".
The verb "to be" doesn't use any auxiliaries in the present simple, so in order to make a question you only need to invert the position of the subject and the verb.
In an affirmative sentence, you say:
"I am atm."

In a question, you turn "I am" into "am I", so you have:
"Who am I?" (for a wh-question)
or
"Am I atm?" (for a yes-no question)

Affirmative:
I am
You are
He/she/it is
We/you/they are

Interrogative:
Am I?
Are you?
Is he/she/it?
Are we/you/they?

Hope it helps.

  
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atm  #31908  Thu, 03 Jun 04 12:46 AM
Thank you, Mariam.

When a company uses a question like "who are we" to introduce itself (e.g., in a corporate profile), will it be considered a direct or indirect question? In this case, although the company is asking the question, but the answer is aimed at someone else.

ATM
  
miriam  #31952  Thu, 03 Jun 04 10:33 AM
You're welcome, atm. Smile [:)]

I've seen those "who we are" pages in many websites. The company is not really asking the reader a question; rather, they are saying "We're going to tell you who we are" or "We're going to tell you something about us" ("Who are we?" would be a direct question).
They are similar to pages such as "where we are", "what we do/offer".
The form, as you said, is that of an indirect question, but you're not really being asked anything.


Miriam

  
lindamao  #31997  Thu, 03 Jun 04 03:49 PM
What is the negative interrogation of "I am"? Need your help.
  
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molihua  #32002  Thu, 03 Jun 04 04:26 PM
am I not?
  
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lindamao  #32155  Sat, 05 Jun 04 01:03 PM
Thank you! So, it's a little different from " aren't you?" " isn't he?" etc.
  
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