Embedded questions, also known as noun clauses, can sound more polite (softer) than a direct question. Compare:
Direct Question: What are you doing ?
Embedded Question: Could you tell me what you are doing ?
As you can see, an embedded question is a question inside another sentence (the question is embedded within another sentence.). The sentence can be a statement or a question. For example:
I would like to know what your name is . (statement)
*Note that the question mark is removed because the sentence is a statement).
The same question can also be put inside another question. For example,
Can you tell me what your name is ? (a question embedded in another question)
Do you mind telling me what your name is ? (a question embedded in another question)
Thankfully, if you are putting a question into a sentence or another question, the grammar rules are the same. Let's review question-types in English before we look at the rules.
Do you know how embedded questions are made?
1. Yes/No Questions: The answer to these questions are "Yes" or "No". Here are some examples:
2. WH-Questions (also known as Information Questions)
These begin with a "WH" question word (Who/What/Which/Where/Why/When/How/How long/How far). These questions ask for information (not a Yes or No).
If you need to review the different patterns for forming Yes/No questions, see this page. To review the patterns for forming WH-Questions, see this page.
Question patterns:
Statements patterns:
Do is an auxiliary verb (helping verb) used to make questions. This word is not needed because embedded questions are not structured like questions (they use statement word order, which will be explained below).
If the direct question is a Yes/No question, then you will always need to add if or whether (whether is a little more formal) to the beginning of the embedded question.
Direct Yes/No Question: Can she dance?
Embedded Yes/No Question: I wonder if/whether she can dance.
In a regular question, the subject comes after either the main verb or an auxiliary verb (note: auxiliary verbs are helping verbs such as can/could/would/should/may/might/do/will/ought to). For example:
To make an embedded question, you have to use statement word order, which has the subject before the main verb or auxiliary verb. For example:
Can you tell me.
Let's review with this question, "Do you have a dog?"
Step 1. Delete the helping verb "do"
I wonder . Do you have a dog?
Step 2. Add 'If' or 'Whether' for a Yes/No Question
I wonder if you have a dog . ( correct !)
We don't need to do step #3 because we deleted 'do', which means the embedded question is already in statement order (if you have a dog = if + subject + verb + object). Let's practice another with "Where is he?"
Step 1: Not necessary (no 'do' in question)
Step 2: Not necessary (not a Yes/No question)
Step 3: Change to statement word order:
I wonder where he is . ( correct !)
Those are the main rules. There are some special notes to learn, however, which will come below. First, let's practice the rules above.
Notes: Remember to add punctuation (a period for a statement or question mark for a question).
If the helping verb 'do' is in the past tense, then after you delete it, you must change the main verb to past tense. For example:
If the helping verb is 'does' (third person singular), then after you delete it, you must change the main verb to third person singular (by adding 's'). For example:
(Note: Do not delete 'didn't/did not' when making an embedded questions because these words are needed to make a verb negative. E.g. Why didn't he come? > I wonder why he did not come)
Please remember to add punctuation (a period for a statement or question mark for a question).
Some WH-Questions (information questions) are about the subject. In this case, you don't have to change anything because the sentence is already in statement order. For example:
Question: Who ate the cake?
Answer: John ate it.
In the answer " John ate it", the word John is the subject of the sentence. For questions about subjects, you do not need to make any changes to the word order. (Note: Only 'Who/What/Which/Which(noun)' can ask questions about the subject.)
Who ate the cake? > I wonder who ate the cake . (No change)
What happened? > I wonder what happened . (No change)
Which is ours? >I wonder which is ours . (No change)
[Which classroom] is ours? > I wonder which classroom is ours . (No change)
Remember to add punctuation (a period for a statement or question mark for a question).
Those are the main rules for creating embedded questions. The rules are the same for noun clauses as well. If you have found a mistake or have a question, please leave a comment below.
- Written by Matthew Barton of Englishcurrent.com (copyright)
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