Indirect Quotation 265 In many languages, indirect questions merely repeat the original direct questions after the verb of reporting. Speakers of those languages sometimes carry over into English that way of forming indirect questions. Here is an example of such an error with a yes-no question: Direct: He asked, “Are you fi nished?” Indirect: X He asked are you fi nished? English uses if and (less commonly) whether in forming indirect yes-no questions. For example: Direct: He asked, “Are you fi nished?” Indirect: He asked if you were fi nished. Indirect: He asked whether you were fi nished. Notice that the indirect question is punctuated with a period rather than a question mark. There are also two other changes between direct and indirect questions. One of the changes is not new: the backshifting of is to was. The other change in the indirect question is new: changing the question word order of verb ϩ subject (are you in this example) in the direct quotation to the statement word order of subject ϩ verb (you were) in the indirect quotation. Here are some more examples of the changed word order of indirect yes-no questions with the fi rst verb in bold and the subject in italics: Direct: He asked, “Can we go now?” Indirect: He asked if we could go now. Direct: He asked, “Have you fi nished?” Indirect: He asked if you had fi nished. Direct: He asked, “Are they OK?” Indirect: He asked if they were OK. If the yes-no question uses the dummy helping verb do, the form of the indirect question changes in a surprising way. For example: Direct: He asked, “Does John know where we are going?” Indirect: He asked if John knew where we were going. T he dummy helping verb do has disappeared from the indirect question. The reason is essentially a side effect of changing the question word order of verb ϩ subject in the direct question back to the statement word order of subject ϩ verb in the indirect question. Here in slow motion is (i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 265 3/16/09 12:34:27 PM 266 Sentences what happens when we reverse the positions of the dummy helping verb do and the subject in our example sentence: Does John know . . . ⇒ John does know . . . Now the dummy helping verb do and the present tense marker it carries have been put back in front of the main verb know. Since the present tense marker is now next to a real verb (know), there is no longer any need for the dummy verb do to carry the present tense marker, and so do disappears. John does know . . . ⇒ John ∅ knows Finally, we have to change knows to knew according to the basic rule of backshifting in indi- rect questions. John ∅ knows . . . ⇒ John knew Here are some more examples with the helping verb do: Direct: She asked, “Does Sally plan to join us?” Indirect: She asked if Sally planned to join them. Direct: They asked, “Did Fred call the meeting?” Indirect: They asked if Fred had called the meeting. Exercise 15.4 Change the following direct quotation yes-no questions to their corresponding indirect question forms. He asked Tim, “Are you tired after your trip?” He asked Tim if he were tired after his trip. 1. He asked me, “Will you be able to come to the reception?” 2. I asked the kids, “Did you set the table for six people?” 3. He asked, “Has Ruth written her essay yet?” (i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 266 3/16/09 12:34:27 PM Indirect Quotation 267 4. They asked Bob, “Is it true that you are moving to Dallas?” 5. She asked me, “Do you work at J.P. Morgan?” 6. They asked us, “Is the reception starting at six?” 7. I asked, “Has the coach announced when the game starts?” 8. She asked me, “Will you turn off the lights in your offi ce?” 9. I asked them, “Did you hear the news?” 10. He asked, “Is Tina leaving for Seattle Sunday?” 11. The waiter asked me, “Did you have a reservation?” 12. The receptionist asked me, “Are we holding your mail while you are away?” 13. He asked me, “Do you have any idea how late you are?” 14. I asked Sarah, “Can you return the book to the library for me?” 15. I asked my brother, “Did Mom give you a call about the party?” The formation of indirect information questions is much like the formation of indirect yes- no questions. Here is an example: Direct: He asked, “Where are the kids going?” Indirect: He asked where the kids were going. (i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 267 3/16/09 12:34:27 PM 268 Sentences The one difference is that indirect information questions do not use if or whether. Everything else is the same: the verb ϩ subject word order of the direct question changes to the statement word order of subject ϩ verb. Here are two more examples: Direct: She asked, “Why is it so hot in here?” Indirect: She asked why it was so hot in there. Direct: They asked, “Whom should we contact?” Indirect: They asked whom we should contact. If the interrogative pronoun happens to play the role of the subject, then the direct question has a special word order in which the subject (the interrogative pronoun) and the verb are already in statement word order (rather than the expected question word order). For example: Direct: He asked, “Who gave us the information?” The subject who is in front of the verb gave. In other words, the word order of the direct question is exactly the same as the word order of the indirect question: Indirect: He asked who had given us the information. The peculiar word order results from the fact that the interrogative pronoun is also the subject. In all other cases, the interrogative pronoun plays the role of object or adverb, and as such, the interrogative pronoun plays no role in subject ϩ verb word order issues. As we would expect, when the direct question uses the dummy helping verb do, the do will disappear from the indirect question for exactly the same reasons it disappears from indirect yes- no questions. For example: Direct: He asked, “When does the movie start?” Indirect: He asked when the movie started. When the tense marker is moved back to the fi rst real verb, there is no need for the dummy do to continue to carry the tense marker, and so do disappears. Here are some more examples involving do: Direct: John asked, “What did Sally say?” Indirect: John asked what Sally said. Di r ect: John asked, “Whom did Bob want to see?” Indirect: John asked whom Bob wanted to see. (i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 268 3/16/09 12:34:28 PM Indirect Quotation 269 Exercise 15.5 Change the following direct quotation information questions to their corresponding indirect question forms. Kerry asked, “Why did you want to know that?” Kerry asked why I wanted to know that. 1. Sam asked Harriet, “When will she begin the lesson?” 2. I asked him, “How often do you go shopping?” 3. They asked me, “Why did you want to move back to the city?” 4. She asked him, “Where did you park the car?” 5. I asked her, “Whom were you looking for?” 6. He asked the waitress, “How long will we wait before getting a table?” 7. She asked the children, “What story do you want to hear?” 8. He asked us, “How come the class broke up so early?” 9. She asked us, “Who knows where the library is?” 10. The cabdriver asked me, “Where do you want me to take you?” (i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 269 3/16/09 12:34:28 PM 270 Final Review Use the following exercises to test your comprehension of all the lessons in this book. Exercise 16.1 (Chapter 1: Proper and common nouns) The following pairs of nouns contain one uncapitalized proper noun and a related common noun. Put the two nouns in the correct columns and capitalize the proper noun. Proper noun Common noun movie, star wars Star Wars movie 1. soccer player, david villa 2. airplane, boeing 3. burger king, restaurant 4. nation, canada 5. erie, lake 6. simba, lion 7. company, disney 8. wuthering heights, book 9. london, city 10. schwinn, bicycle 16 (i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 270 3/16/09 12:34:28 PM Final Review 271 Exercise 16.2 (Chapter 1: Noncount nouns) All of the underlined nouns in the following sentences are in the plural. Some plurals are cor- rectly used with count nouns. However, many plurals are incorrectly used with noncount nouns. Draw a line through each incorrectly used noncount noun and write the corrected form above it. If the plural is correctly used with a count noun, write OK above the noun. wood OK Please be careful of the woods on the desks. 1. Traveling through spaces takes a lot of times. 2. The teacher’s knowledges of electricities is immense. 3. Did you put peppers on those pizzas? 4. The baseball team had bloods on their uniforms. 5. Astronauts need oxygens in their spacecraft. 6. What hopes do they have of succeeding? 7. The basketball team lost their luggages at the airport. 8. Our government is investigating the power of winds for energies. 9. My mother and father cannot eat cheeses or milks. 10. Police officers enforce justices. Exercise 16.3 (Chapter 1: Plural and possessives of nouns) Fill in the following chart with all of the forms for each noun. Singular Possessive only Plural only Plural and possessive wife wife’s wives wives’ 1. boy 2. boss 3. friend 4. plane 5. city 6. deer (i-viiiB,001-328B) whl bk.indd 271 3/16/09 12:34:28 PM . into English that way of forming indirect questions. Here is an example of such an error with a yes-no question: Direct: He asked, “Are you fi nished?” Indirect: X He asked are you fi nished? English. the book to the library for me?” 15. I asked my brother, “Did Mom give you a call about the party?” The formation of indirect information questions is much like the formation of indirect