# Indirect Questions



## MateuszMoś

Which of these forms is appropriate:


Could you tell me if he *did disclose* it?

Could you tell me if he *disclosed* it?


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## BezierCurve

The second one would be normally used. 

You could probably use the first one when emphasizing that "did" part.


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## NotNow

Aren't those direct questions?


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## MateuszMoś

NotNow said:


> Aren't those direct questions?



Why?


Thanks for answer.


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## NotNow

They are direct questions because they ask a question.  An example of an indirect questiion would be_ You asked if he desposited it._


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## Thomas1

They have also an indirect question in them: if he *did disclose* it/if he* disclosed* it. Usually, you don't say: could you tell me did he disclose it?


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## MateuszMoś

NotNow said:


> They are direct questions because they ask a question.  An example of an indirect questiion would be_ You asked if he desposited it._



You mean deposited.

I am sure that these questions are indirect.


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## Ben Jamin

MateuszMoś said:


> Why?
> 
> 
> Thanks for answer.


 Because you do not report another person's speech (reported speech).


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## MateuszMoś

Ben Jamin said:


> Because you do not report another person's speech (reported speech).



But there is no clear direct question. There(in the sentence) may be lighted on direct and indirect scopes which are intermingled.Nevertheless, thanks for answer.


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## Ben Jamin

MateuszMoś said:


> But there is no clear direct question. There(in the sentence) may be lighted on direct and indirect scopes which are intermingled.Nevertheless, thanks for answer.


 1. I wrote that 
Could you tell me if he *did disclose* it?
Could you tell me if he *disclosed* it?
are not indirect questions.

2. Is "could you?" not a question?


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## majlo

Hmm, I don't think they're indirect questions, either. An example of an indirect question could be:

- Did he disclose it?
- He asked me if he'd disclosed it. 

In indirect questions we don't use question marks, so I would agree with others that they're indeed not indirect questions but direct ones.

EDIT: You beat me to it, Ben Jamin.


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## BezierCurve

Actually, it's all about semantics, isn't it?

And questions like "could you tell me what the time is" are in fact called "indirect", as you don't ask directly "what is the time?" but go around using that "could you..." phrase.


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## majlo

BezierCurve said:


> Actually, it's all about semantics, isn't it?



It might be. However, I think it's clear that we're using the terms "direct" and "indirect" (speech/questions) purely on grammar grounds. *



BezierCurve said:


> And questions like "could you tell me what the time is" are in fact called "indirect", as you don't ask directly "what is the time?" but go around using that "could you..." phrase.



No, they aren't. There are certain features which preclude them from being indirect questions. Firstly, question marks are used, which isn't the case with indirect questions. And secondly, inversion is used, which isn't the case with reported questions either.
* And as far as grammar is concerned, I think the above example is a direct question. Some questions, as indirectly-worded as they might be, still remain direct ones nonetheless.


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## BezierCurve

All the sources I know state something else though. For example, have a look there:

(Oxford):
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/intermediate/a_grammar/unit11/hwy_int_unit11_1/

or here:
http://www.eslbase.com/grammar/indirect-questions


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## majlo

Don't these seem sort of detached from the whole concept of indirect speech? OK, let's say these are indirect questions. What was the original utterance then?

So far as I can tell, indirect questions report somebody else's questions, and question marks are not used in this instance. That's at least what Swan (Practical English Usage, 276.1 p. 250) and Wiki say (for Wiki haters: there's a footnote  )

Is this possible, then, that indirect questions are not reported questions, _vide_ reported speech?


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## BezierCurve

> Don't these seem sort of detached from the whole concept of indirect speech?


 
They do. I guess their "indirectness" has not much in common with the "indirectness" resulting from reported (or indirect) speech. Maybe this term includes both.


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## mokinga

From my observations 'an indirect question' was always basically a statement that reported somebody else's question (as Majlo already said). It is the same as 'indirect speech' - it had no question mark at the end and so is not a question.  

Nowadays, I see the term also used in reference to *polite *questions such as "Could you please tell me what time it is?" so the question is not a "direct" (and perhaps impolite) one. In this case, *indirect *is synonymous with _*polite*_. This is what BezierCurve's  links refer to.

A question such as "Do you know what he did on the weekend?" is not traditionally referred to as 'an indirect question' because you are actually, 'directly' asking someone a question.

Going back to the very, very original request by MateuszMoś - as BezierCurve already said - both are fine, providing the first question (*'did disclose it*') is meant to emphasise the verb *disclose* for eg:

"One person tells me that he disclosed it and another that he didn't. Could you tell me if he *did *disclose it (or not)?" (you would emphasise *'did' *in speech).


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