Embedded Questions and Quoted Questions

Level 6

First decide whether the speaker is quoting words or reporting their content.

How It Works

Quoted Words
She asked, "Where you put the key?" quotes a locally shaped direct question. Its wording belongs to the original speaker.

Reported Content
She asked where I put the key. reports the question rather than repeating the original words. Shared English embedded questions put the subject before the verb. Yes/no reports can use whether or if.

Read the Intended Construction
Conversation can mix quotation and indirect reporting, and local questions have their own word-order options. This card teaches the quoted-versus-reported distinction. It does not label every local departure from a Standard English embedded frame as a grammar error.

Examples (3)

  1. She asked, "Where you put the key?"

    She asked the listener where they had put the key.

    This directly quotes a locally shaped question. You refers to the original listener; the quotation alone does not identify that person as the current reporter.

  2. She asked where I put the key.

    She wanted to know where I had put the key.

    The content is embedded after asked rather than presented as a separate quoted question.

  3. I asked whether the shop was still open.

    I asked if the shop was still open.

    Whether introduces a reported yes/no question in a shared English frame.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Embedded Questions and Quoted QuestionsLevel 6

Learn This First

Recognize the original question frame before distinguishing its quoted words from an embedded report.