Search results for 'tag:Direct questions tag:Auxiliaries' matching tags 'Direct questions' and 'Auxiliaries'

Re: ..why do I have vs ..why I have

EagerSeeker — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:43:25 GMT

Tanit

Hi,

As Goodman says, only the first one is correct,
From your post and your examples, I understand you've got Swann's book, right?
So, may I suggest another approach to clear your doubt?
That's an indirect question.
If you've got the same edition as me (the 3rd), have a look at section 276, "Indirect speech: questions and answers":

In reported questions the subject normally comes before the verb in standard English, and auxiliary do is not used.
- DIRECT: Where's Alice?
- INDIRECT: I asked where Alice was. (NOT ... ~~where was Alice~~.)
...
- DIRECT: What do I need?
- INDIRECT: She asked what she needed. (NOT ... ~~what did she need~~.)
...

If we try and use the same approach:

- DIRECT: Why do I have two cars?
- INDIRECT: You may wonder why I have two cars. (NOT ... ~~why do I have two cars~~.)

Yes, you are absolutely right! It is indeed indirect speech (I realized it later after reading more) and then we don't use auxiliary "do" in indirect questions.
But I found this to be a tricky one. Yes, I have Swan's book but he doesn't mention that we can use auxiliary do in indirect speech when the sentence
is negative.

I found this from my Finnish-English grammar book: "Auxiliary do is not used in indirect questions except in negative sentences".
Example: "Philip asked why children didn't read anymore."

So on the basis of what has been said so far I would find these examples correct:

"You may wonder why I have two cars."
"You may wonder why I don't have two cars." (negative sentence)
"You may wonder why I do have two cars." (emphatic sentence)

That emphasis is a nice suggestion from you guys!

Re: ..why do I have vs ..why I have

Tanit — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:47:12 GMT

"You may wonder why I have two cars."
"You may wonder why do I have two cars."

Hi,

As Goodman says, only the first one is correct,
From your post and your examples, I understand you've got Swann's book, right?
So, may I suggest another approach to clear your doubt?
That's an indirect question.
If you've got the same edition as me (the 3rd), have a look at section 276, "Indirect speech: questions and answers":

In reported questions the subject normally comes before the verb in standard English, and auxiliary do is not used.
- DIRECT: Where's Alice?
- INDIRECT: I asked where Alice was. (NOT ... ~~where was Alice~~.)
...
- DIRECT: What do I need?
- INDIRECT: She asked what she needed. (NOT ... ~~what did she need~~.)
...

If we try and use the same approach:

- DIRECT: Why do I have two cars?
- INDIRECT: You may wonder why I have two cars. (NOT ... ~~why do I have two cars~~.)

Re: Is there any difference of nuance between the two?

Hoa Thai — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 04:49:34 GMT

Anonymous wrote:
Thank you all for your replying to my stupid question. I really appreciate it.

Hi Anon,

In contrary, I donât think your question is stupid. It brings up an issue that has stirred many good discussions in this forum and elsewhere. Here is an extracted text that represents one of the views regarding subjunctive mood - http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/061.html:

âEnglish has had a subjunctive mood since Old English times, but most of the functions of the old subjunctive have been taken over by auxiliary verbs like may and should, and the subjunctive survives only in very limited situations. It has a present and past form. The present form is identical to the base form of the verb, so you only notice it in the third person singular, which has no final -s, and in the case of the verb be, which has the form be instead of am, is, and are.

We insist that he do the job properly.
Whether he be opposed to the plan or not, we must seek his opinion.

The past subjunctive is sometimes called the were subjunctive, since were is the only subjunctive form that is distinct from the indicative past tense.

If he were sorry, heâd have apologized by now.
Suppose she were to resign, what would you do then?

According to traditional rules, you use the subjunctive to describe an occurrence that you have presupposed to be contrary to fact: If I were ten years younger, I would consider entering the marathon. â¦ When the situation described by the if clause is not presupposed to be false, however, that clause must contain an indicative verb.... He would always call her from the office if he was (not were) going to be late for dinner.

Another traditional rule states that you are not supposed to use the subjunctive following verbs such as ask or wonder in if clauses that express indirect questions, even if the content of the question is presumed to be contrary to fact: We wondered if dinner was (not were) included in the room price. Some of the people we met even asked us if California was (not were) an island.

In practice, of course, many people ignore the rules. In fact, over the last 200 years even well-respected writers have tended to use the indicative was where the traditional rule would require the subjunctive were. A usage such as If I was the only boy in the world may break the rules, but it sounds perfectly natural.â

As you have seen, Amy showed us a graceful exit from being half right (or half wrong) by not using either was or were - a lesson for us to recognize the good English, which ârarely sparks the expressed or unexpressed reaction âThatâs not Good English,â either from those who really do know better or from those who merely think they do.â â Edward D. Johnson, The Handbook of Good English.

Re: conjunction and verb

CalifJim — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:02:53 GMT

Conjunction

Does he know "when" the concert is starting?
No. Interrogative pronoun in an indirect question.
James had to retype his document "when" his computer crashed OK
Kevin learned Japanese language "when" he was in Japan OK

Verb

I "was doing" my homework when the doorbell rang. OK.
She "was doing" her homework OK
John "was doing" his regular physical exercise OK

"Have" you done your homework? OK (Auxiliary verb.)
They "have" several kinds of vitamins in the display case OK
They "have" not delivered the document on time OK (Auxiliary verb.)

Those books "cost" thirty dollars. OK
I find that the "cost" of traveling to Europe is to high No. Noun.
It "cost" me a fortune to buy that necklace OK.

Re: A strange sentence

Cool Breeze — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 09:21:13 GMT

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 comfortable with the words 'would like answered' at the end. Is it correct?

Hi Rex

It isn't a direct question but a so-called indirect question, which means that it's not a real question at all. This is obvious from the fact that the subject precedes the auxiliary verb. Cf.:

Affirmative: These people have got a car.
Question: Have these people got a car?

There is nothing wrong with like answered either.

Cheers
CB

Re: Embedded Questions

CalifJim — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 07:09:46 GMT

Subject-auxiliary verb inversion is used only in direct questions, not in indirect (embedded) questions.

The store opens ...
I don't know when the store opens. (No inversion, because it's indirect.)
The store does open ... (Expand opens into does open in preparation for the inversion process.*)
When does the store open? (Invert the order of subject and auxiliary verb.)

They live ...
I have no idea where they live. (No inversion, because it's indirect.)
They do live ... (Expand live into do live in preparation for the inversion process.*)
Where do they live? (Invert the order of subject and auxiliary verb.)

They have put the book ...
I'm not sure where they have put the book.
They have put the book ... (No expansion needed for inversion because have is already an auxiliary verb.)
Where have they put the book?

*This step is needed because the original form has no auxiliary verb to invert with the subject.

CJ

Re: DIRECT QUESTION (USAGE)

paco2004 — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 06:23:00 GMT

Hello Krish

I think you are an advanced English learner, maybe more advanced than me. So I was a bit surprised at the fact you are asking such a basic rule.
A question form of S V O is made into <Does S V O?> with use of an auxiliary <do>. This rule can be applied even in WH-word questions (except the cases where the WH-word stands as the subject).
John went to school. --> Did John go to school? --> Where did John go?

paco

Re: "No future tense in time clause"

Jack-in-the-box — Sun, 12 Sep 2004 23:54:03 GMT

Thank you very much.
As for number 7: I was thinking of sentences like "If you will pardon me for saying so, it's... (it'll be...)" I suppose that "will" is not the auxiliary verb here, but means "are willing to, want to" or something like that; so, it doesn't seem to be a true exception. Nevertheless, if one simply says, e. g., " never put 'will' after 'if' ", such a rule really doesn't work: because "if" may introduce an indirect question (= "whether"), as you noticed yourself; and because of such common phrases as "if you will pardon me".
"My heart is in the coffin": don't worry, I'm not that depressed. But I had written "Bear with me", and those words reminded me of what follows in Marc Antony's speech:

"Bear with me;
my heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
and I must pause till it come back to me."

Just a silly quotation! (The second emoticon means: "Please come and have a good cup of coffee with us".)

Re: Am I or I am

miriam — Sat, 29 May 2004 13:37:00 GMT

"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.