# I don't know what the reason for his death was



## Peter_Gabriel

Dear all,
Please write me which sentence is correct and natural, or maybe both of them are.
I am not sure of the position of 'was' in both sentences.


1) I don't know what the reason for his death was
2) I don't know what was the reason for his death


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## zaffy

Jakbyś pisał egzamin to pierwsza wersja. Ale native speakerzy stosują zwykle inwersje.


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## karaluszek

Takie pytania lepiej zadawać na forum English Only
​


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## numerator

I wouldn't be so sure Rafayel Mkrtchyan is a native English speaker:
"for web which I love"
"I am completely in love with [it] now"...


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## bwac14

Tylko pierwsze zdanie brzmi dla mnie poprawnie. A Rafayel Mkrtchyan nie pisze jak rodowity Anglik.


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## zaffy

Tak jak mówiłem, gramatycznie ma być bez inwersji i tylko taka wersja będzie uznana za poprawną na egzaminach. Ale w j. codziennym nieformalnym, native speakerzy robią sobie inwersję, zwłaszcza jak grupa dopełnienia jest długa/bardzo długa.

Practical English Usage by Swan:


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## magster 999

Peter_Gabriel said:


> Dear all,
> Please write me which sentence is correct and natural, or maybe both of them are.
> I am not sure of the position of 'was' in both sentences.
> 
> 
> 1) I don't know what the reason for his death was
> 2) I don't know what was the reason for his death


1 is correct . The second gives an example of a DIRECT  question when the question is NOT direct.


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## elroy

bwac14 said:


> Tylko pierwsze zdanie brzmi dla mnie poprawnie.


Same.  I would never use the second one.  This is not an example where I would expect a native speaker to use inversion.


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