This topic asks you to recognise or build a question inside a larger sentence. You need to choose the right opening word and arrange the inner subject and verb as a statement, even when the whole sentence ends with a question mark.
Build the inner clause in two decisions
First identify what information is missing. Keep the appropriate wh-word for a question about a person, thing, place, time, reason or manner. For a yes/no meaning, choose if or whether. Then rebuild everything after that opening word in subject-before-verb order. Could you show me where the switch is? and She asked why the engine stopped are embedded forms, so is does not move before the subject and did does not remain before stopped.
| Signal | Form to use |
|---|---|
| A missing detail such as place, time, reason or manner | Use the relevant wh-word, then subject plus verb: We discovered how the lock works. |
| A plain yes/no meaning | Use either if or whether before a finite clause: I asked if the room was warm and I asked whether the room was warm are both standard. |
| Or not immediately after the connector | Use whether: We need to know whether or not the gate opens. |
| An unresolved choice compressed into a to-infinitive | Use whether directly before to: We must decide whether to wait. |
A useful check is to cover the introductory phrase and inspect only the embedded clause. If it looks like a direct question, undo the inversion. With be or another auxiliary, place the subject first. With a simple lexical verb, remove do, does or did and put the tense marking back on that verb. The punctuation belongs to the complete sentence and does not change this inner order.
Where the wrong forms come from
| Tempting form | How to reject it |
|---|---|
| A wh-word followed by an auxiliary and then the subject | That keeps direct-question inversion inside the larger sentence. Put the subject before the auxiliary in the embedded clause. |
| Does or did retained before a subject or lexical verb | Embedded order does not use question-forming do-support. Remove it and let the lexical verb carry present or past tense. |
| Why, how or what used to introduce a yes/no choice | Those wh-words ask for a particular kind of missing detail. A plain yes/no choice takes if or whether - both standard in an ordinary finite clause; whether becomes the required connector only directly before or not or before a to-infinitive. |
| Whether treated as compulsory in every finite clause or after one particular introductory verb | Do not overgeneralise the restricted frames. A plain embedded yes/no clause can normally begin with either if or whether. |
| If before to, or an extra subject inserted before the infinitive | The compact unresolved-choice pattern is whether plus to-infinitive, with no finite subject between those two parts. |
Try it
Classify the clause 'when the replacement arrives' in 'Do you know when the replacement arrives?'
- An embedded wh-question
- A direct yes/no question
- A question tag
- A negative imperative
Transform the direct question 'Where is the depot?' into an embedded clause after 'Could you tell me'. Rewrite the exact fragment 'Where is the depot' in the blank: Could you tell me ___?
Use whether. Transform the source sentence 'The board is deciding: should it renew the lease?' Rewrite the exact fragment 'should it renew the lease' as an embedded to-infinitive: The board is deciding ___ .