By Indirect questions, Verbs

"Do you know what did he say to me last week?"Too many subject-verb inversions! You may want to see Post:274270 and Post:296571 to learn more about indirect questions (embedded questions). For a more complex discussion of the rules for forming these structures see Post:304410. CJ

Pucca wrote: Pucca wrote:"Do you know what did he say to me last week?"Hello Yankee, Would that sentence be wrong? Why so? I have just checked in my dictionary and it "says", or at least I understand, that it is a correct sentence! Why am I always wrong?Hi PuccaFirst of all, you are not always...

Rex wrote:How exactly these people have got hold of such vast wealth in such a short time is a very good question, and one many ordinary Russians would like answered.It started with 'How' . So there should be a question mark at the end of the sentence.Is it grammatically correct. I am not...

I already asked whether someone (anyone) studies (is studying) generative grammar. I have some questions concerning excercises taken from a book. I do not want to ask my Prof. if everything is correct or not. There will be lots of questions, and I´m going to ask all of them. I would be very...

You mean that the tendency is to use sentences like #2? Do sentences like that really sound good? I didn't thought they were possible, I thought only sentences like #1 were natural and acceptable. But if #2 is possible too, well, that complicate matters for learners, doesn't it? You mean...

Oh, I'm really sorry, I didn't realize you edited your post. the recent tendency is to invert subject and verb in an indirect question, just as if it were a direct question, forming a structure that can be called a semi-indirect question. Now I understand what you mean, even though it sounds...

It was a misstatement. Here is the edited version. Do you not see it on your screen? the recent tendency is to invert subject and verb in an indirect question, just as if it were a direct question, forming a structure that can be called a semi-indirect question. Does that help? CJ

Yep, I understand, that's what I thought too... it basically depends on what you consider to be the subject.Sorry to bother you again, but the problem is my question was actually another one, that is: CalifJim wrote: ...the recent tendency is not to invert subject and verb in an indirect...

CalifJim wrote: ...the recent tendency is not to invert subject and verb in an indirect question, forming a structure that can be called a semi-indirect question. This tendency becomes more evident as the question becomes longer, so my observation of this point is not necessarily relevant...

Either form is possible for Ask them what . It does seem to be peculiar to "What is the matter?" because people say Ask them what the problem is in preference to Ask them what is the problem. Nevertheless, it should be noted that, at least in the U.S., the recent tendency is to invert...