Home Grammar Wh- Questions ExercisesEmbedded Questions (Medium) — Indirect Questions Practice

Embedded Questions (Medium) — Indirect Questions Practice

B1 Level

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Embedded questions (also called indirect questions) are questions placed inside another sentence. Instead of asking directly 'Where is the station?', you say 'Do you know where the station is?' The most important rule is that the embedded part uses statement word order — the subject comes before the verb, not after it: 'where the station is' not 'where is the station.' This change makes the question sound more polite.

Common phrases that start embedded questions include 'Do you know...,' 'Can you tell me...,' 'I wonder...,' 'I'd like to know...,' and 'Could you explain...' For yes/no questions, add if or whether: 'Is it raining?' becomes 'Do you know if it is raining?' Another key change: you must remove the helper verbs 'do,' 'does,' and 'did' from the embedded part: 'Where does she live?' becomes 'Can you tell me where she lives?' — the 's' returns to the main verb. However, keep helper verbs like 'has,' 'will,' 'can,' and 'should' — these do not disappear in embedded questions.

Quick Rule

starter phrase + wh- word + subject + verb (statement order) | starter phrase + if/whether + subject + verb (yes/no)

1.Do you know where the nearest hospital is? (direct: Where is the hospital? → embedded with statement order)
2.Can you tell me how she got the job? (direct: How did she get the job? → 'did' removed, past tense on verb)
3.I wonder whether he has finished the report. (yes/no embedded with 'whether')
4.Could you explain why they aren't coming to the party? (negative embedded — 'aren't' kept)
5.I'd like to know what time the shop opens. (direct: What time does the shop open? → 'does' removed, -s on verb)