atm  +  31360 Sat, 29 May 04 02:31 PM Hi, Which is correct and why: Who am I? or Who I am? Thanks, ATM atm Joined on Sat, Jan 24 2004 New Member 13

	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. miriam Joined on Mon, May 10 2004 Argentina Regular Member 821 "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." Plato Verbs, Auxiliaries, Present Simple, Direct Speech, Indirect Speech, Affirmative Sentences, Direct Questions

	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 atm Indirect Questions, Direct Questions

	miriam  +  31952 Thu, 03 Jun 04 10:33 AM You're welcome, atm. 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 miriam Indirect Questions, Direct Questions