Search results for 'tag:Indirect questions tag:Verbs' matching tags 'Indirect questions' and 'Verbs'

Tell me who is the winner

Lcwang — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:46:25 GMT

In a indirect question, we have verb follow the subject of the noun clause. Such as: I don't know who she is. But quite often we see sentence like:

Can anyone tell me who is the winner?

Is that a mistake, or is it also acceptable?

Please advise. Thanks a lot.

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: what

CalifJim — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:23:49 GMT

This one leans much more toward that which.

I work this out by substituting other indirect questions like whether It is permitted. If a large range of indirect questions doesn't work, I suspect that only that which is the correct interpretation.

a description of whether it is permitted doesn't work for my ear, so I think that which is probably a better characterization in that case.

learn whether it is permitted does work for me, as well as learn that which is permitted, so there I see a greater possibility for ambiguity.

The verbs of knowing, finding out, and learning tend to be followed by indirect questions, so when these are followed by what, where, whether, how, etc., I am suspicious that an indirect question is a possible interpretation, along with the that which interpretation, thereby creating the ambiguity you called attention to in your original post.

Re: Let's see who finishes/will finish first.

CalifJim — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:03:49 GMT

Only one s in present!!!

You can't use will with the stative verbs in this construction: [Let's see / Let me know / Tell me] plus an indirect question. I would not call these relative clauses.

to finish first - an action.

how you are - a state - not an action.

get there first - same as arrive first - an action.

you think - an internal activity; having an opinion - not an action.

_______

Thus, with the indirect question in brackets { }, ungrammatical choices prefixed with asterisk *:

[Let's see / Let me know / Tell me] {who [finishes / will finish / gets there / will get there] first}.

[Let's see / Let me know / Tell me] {how [you are / *you will be / what you think / *what you will think]}

_______

Your example with make sure does not belong to the pattern above. There's no indirect question.

Make sure (that) you come back soon.

A make sure that pattern is not followed by a future (will).

______

You can save yourself a lot of headaches by using the present tense for all of these. Even in cases where will is possible, it's almost always the inferior choice.

Re: when to?

CalifJim — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:28:55 GMT

Taka
I think what the author is trying to say is 'when you change trains',

Yes, that's most likely the intent.

Taka
but is that 'when to' grammatically acceptable?

Not here. No. when to clauses are indirect questions, hence, they function as noun phrases:

I didn't know when to change trains.

Be sure to tell him when to change trains.

They don't function as adverbs:

*You have to walk when to change trains.

*Be sure to read the posted signs when to change trains.

Re: did I / can I/ have I in affirmative clauses

giuseppe80 — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:42:15 GMT

Thank you very much for your aswer, Tanit, expecially for the first list you provide.

I had not included these cases:

In formal/emphatic conditional sentences: "Should you need further information, please call ..."
When expressing wishes starting with may: "May you find what you're searching for."

because they are not strictly affirmative sentences. They express a possibility or a wish.

Neither:

In short tags. "I like it!" "So do I"
Sometimes (quite literary) after as, so, than: "She was very pretty, as were her sisters."

because I think that here the reason of the inversion is the opposition topic-comment. ("I like it" is about like it or not, the new information provided by the other speaker is not a new verb, is the new subject 'I'. And the same goes with the sisters: they are not talking about the sisters, the topic is 'her' beauty, then the beauty remains the topic and the new information is that also her sisters are beautiful)

As for the indirect questions:

Sometimes in indirect questions, especially when the subject is too long (cannot think of an example right now, sorry!)

I think it is a simplier way to say them (they become just like direct questions. I noticed that lots of people -- in all languages -- are not very good in using subordinate clauses. They start as if they were introducing a subordinate clause, then put a main clause instead. When I was younger I was hosted by a British family in the summertime. One day my guest-father told me: "What I'll do tomorrow is: I prepare your packed lunch and leave it in the refrigerator")

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: can you tell me who is he / who he is

Yankee — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:46:45 GMT

Anonymous wrote:

Now, I am a bit confused, as in the post kindly quoted by Marius Hancu I have read that it's correct to say:

"I know who he is" (Subj: he, Verb: is; indirect question so subject, then verb: "he is") This is not an indirect question!

So, would you (or anybody else) be so kind to tell me something more about the two above?

Should't I say "Can you tell me who he is?" ?

Hi Anon
(a) "Can you tell me who he is?"
(b) "I know who he is."

Sentences (a) and (b) are two different types of sentence:

- Sentence (a) is a question, and it asks the question "Who is he?" indirectly.
- Sentence (b) is a statement. It is affirmative. It is not a question, nor does it ask an indirect question. There is no question of any kind in sentence (b).

Re: can you tell me who is he / who he is

Goodman — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:14:06 GMT

Anonymous wrote:
Anewcomer wrote:

Are these questions correct?
#1) Can you tell me who he is?
#2) Can you tell me who is he?
#3) Can you tell me, who is he? <--
#4) Can you recommend which will suit me?
#5) Can you tell me who will win?
Thanks

Feebs11 wrote:

#2 and #3 are essentially the same - #3 is the correct form (with a comma).
All the others are fine.

Hello Feebs11, you said that #3 is the correct form, right?
Now, I am a bit confused, as in the post kindly quoted by Marius Hancu I have read that it's correct to say:

"I know who he is" (Subj: he, Verb: is; indirect question so subject, then verb: "he is")

So, would you (or anybody else) be so kind to tell me something more about the two above?

Should't I say "Can you tell me who he is?" ?

Thank you very much for any help about the above!

Anon,

#3 is correct when a comma is inserted which makes the stress and the tone of the question very different. For illustration purpose, you can arrange the question "Who is he; can you ( or anybody) tell me?"