How do you report a yes/no question in English?

Use asked (or wanted to know, wondered) plus if or whether, then statement word order: She asked if the shop opened on Sundays. Do, does, and did disappear, pronouns shift to the reporter's point of view, and tenses usually move one step back after a past reporting verb. No question mark is needed unless the outer sentence is itself a question.

How do you report a wh-question?

Keep the question word and restore statement order after it: He asked where the toilets were, from Where are the toilets? Add nothing extra: no if, and no do. The same pronoun and tense shifts apply as in reported statements. Subject questions are the simplest, because they already had statement order: She asked who had called.

What is the difference between if and whether in reported questions?

After ask they often mean the same thing. Whether is slightly more formal, pairs naturally with or not, and is the form to use before an infinitive (whether to stay) and after a preposition (the question of whether). If is the lighter spoken choice for a plain yes/no report.

How do you report Can you wait here or Don't touch that?

Treat them as a request and a command, not as information questions. Ask or tell takes an object and a to-infinitive: He asked me to wait here. She told us not to touch that. Keeping the question shape (He asked if I could wait) is possible when you want to preserve the politeness, but the infinitive pattern is the default.

Why is She asked where was the station wrong?

Because only a direct question inverts the auxiliary. Once the question is embedded after asked, the inner clause is no longer asking; it is the content of what was asked, so it takes statement order: where the station was. The same repair applies to He asked did I want coffee, which needs if and wanted: He asked if I wanted coffee.

English grammar · Intermediate

Reported Speech Questions: If, Whether, Wh-Words, and Word Order

Written by Eleanor Whitfield, Lead English Curriculum Editor · Reviewed September 2026

Reported questions tell someone what was asked, without quoting the original question marks or inversion. A yes/no question is introduced by if or whether and then runs in statement order: She asked if the shop opened on Sundays. A wh-question keeps its question word and also loses inversion: He asked where the toilets were. Requests and commands are usually reported with a to-infinitive after ask, tell, or order, rather than with if or a wh-word.

She asked me if the shop opened on Sundays.

yes/no question reported with if and statement word order

What it is

A reported question is not a question in the sentence that contains it. The outer verb (asked, wanted to know, wondered, enquired) does the asking, so the inner clause returns to subject-then-verb order and drops do, does, and did. What remains is a choice of linker. If the original question could be answered yes or no, the linker is if or whether. If the original question already had a question word, that word is the linker and nothing extra is added. The tense and pronoun shifts that apply to reported statements still apply, but the new work on this page is the linker and the word order.

“Does the shop open on Sundays?” she asked. She asked if the shop opened on Sundays. (If added; does disappears; opened is backshifted; no question mark needed in the report.)

How to spot it

After asked, wanted to know, or wondered, look for if, whether, or a wh-word, then a subject, then a verb. If you still see an inverted auxiliary (asked where is the station, asked did I eat), the report has not been finished.

She asked me if the shop opened on Sundays. (yes/no question: if plus statement order)
He wanted to know whether the train had left. (whether as a slightly more formal alternative to if)
They asked where the toilets were. (wh-question: where stays, were follows the toilets)
I asked what time the last bus left. (what time is the question phrase; left stays after the subject)

The question mark belongs to a direct question. A reported question sits inside a statement (She asked if…) and takes a full stop, unless the outer sentence is itself a question: Did she ask if the shop opened?

Reported Speech Questions Quick Reference

From a direct question to a reported one

Direct question	Reported question	What changed
“Are you ready?”	She asked if I was ready.	if added; are you becomes I was
“Do you speak Italian?”	He asked whether I spoke Italian.	whether added; do disappears; speak → spoke
“Did the post arrive?”	They asked if the post had arrived.	if added; did disappears; past → past perfect
“Where is the station?”	She asked where the station was.	where kept; is the station → the station was
“What time does it open?”	He asked what time it opened.	what time kept; does disappears
“Who called you?”	She asked who had called me.	who is still the subject, so no extra auxiliary
“Can you wait here?”	He asked me to wait here.	a request: ask + object + to-infinitive
“Don't touch anything.”	She told us not to touch anything.	a command: tell + object + not to + infinitive

Common Reported Speech Questions Examples in English

Reported questions grouped by what was originally being asked, because yes/no, wh-, and requests each pick a different structure:

Passing On Yes/No Questions

She asked me if the shop opened on Sundays.: from Does the shop open on Sundays
He wanted to know whether I had eaten.: from Have you eaten; present perfect → past perfect
They asked if we could stay an extra night.: from Can you stay; can → could
I asked whether the museum charged for bags.: whether as the linker; charged is backshifted

If and whether are both correct after ask, want to know, and wonder. Whether is a little more formal and is the form to keep before or not.

Passing On Wh-Questions

They asked where the toilets were.: from Where are the toilets
I asked what time the last bus left.: from What time does the last bus leave
She asked why we had cancelled.: from Why did you cancel; did disappears, past → past perfect
He asked how long I had been waiting.: from How long have you been waiting

The question word (or phrase: what time, how long, which platform) stays at the front of the inner clause. Nothing else is added, and do is not kept.

Reporting Requests to Act

He asked me to wait in the corridor.: from Could you wait / Please wait: ask + object + to
She asked us not to mention the surprise.: negative request: not to plus infinitive
I asked her to send the invoice that afternoon.: from Can you send; pronouns and time shift
They asked if I would mind moving my car.: a very polite request kept as a whether/if clause with would mind

Ask plus an object plus a to-infinitive is the default for requests. Keeping Could you as if I would is possible but heavier, and it is what you do when the politeness itself matters.

Reporting Orders and Instructions

The warden told us not to feed the birds.: from Don't feed the birds: tell + object + not to
She ordered him to leave the keys on the desk.: order + object + to-infinitive
He instructed the team to assemble at six.: instruct: same pattern as tell
I was told to wait until my name was called.: passive: the listener becomes the subject

Tell, order, instruct, and warn take an object and a to-infinitive. Suggest does not: She suggested waiting, or She suggested that we wait, never She suggested us to wait.

How Reported Questions Work

Four steps: pick the linker, restore statement order, drop do, then apply the usual pronoun and tense shifts.

Yes/No Questions Take If or Whether

If the original question had no question word, the report needs a linker to attach it to asked. If is the everyday choice. Whether is a little more formal, is preferred in writing, and is required immediately before or not (whether or not the shop opened). Both are followed by statement order, not by an inverted auxiliary.

She asked if I was ready. She asked whether or not I was ready.

if for a plain yes/no; whether or not as a pair

No wh-word in the original: add if or whether.

Wh-Questions Keep the Question Word and Lose Inversion

The question word is already a linker, so you do not add if. What does change is the order after it: the subject comes back in front of the verb, and do, does, or did disappears. Where is the station? becomes where the station was, not where was the station. This is the same order as an indirect question after Do you know.

He asked where the station was.

where plus the station plus was: statement order

Wh-word, then subject, then verb.

Subject Questions Keep Their Verb

When the question word is the subject (Who called? What happened?), there was no inversion and no do in the original, so there is none to undo. The report keeps the question word as subject and only applies backshift and pronoun changes: She asked who had called. This is the one reported question that still looks rather like a statement with a wh-word at the front.

She asked who had called. He asked what had caused the delay.

who and what remain the subjects

Wh-word as subject: no extra if, no extra do.

Requests and Commands Switch to a To-Infinitive

When the original utterance was asking or telling someone to act, English usually stops treating it as a question or a quote and reports the action instead. Ask, tell, order, instruct, warn, and remind take an object plus a to-infinitive, with not in front of to for a negative: He asked me to wait. She told us not to touch the exhibits. The if/whether pattern is reserved for genuine information questions.

He asked me to wait. She told us not to touch the exhibits.

request and prohibition, both as to-infinitives

Ask or tell plus object plus (not) to plus verb.

Common Mistakes with Reported Speech Questions

Incorrect: She asked me where was the station.

Correct: She asked me where the station was.

A reported question uses statement order. The inversion that marks a direct question (where is the station) has to be undone once asked has already done the asking.

Incorrect: He asked did I want coffee.

Correct: He asked if I wanted coffee.

A yes/no question needs if or whether as a linker, and did disappears. Keeping did and the inversion treats the inner clause as a direct question, which it no longer is.

Incorrect: She asked me that I was ready.

Correct: She asked me if I was ready.

That introduces a reported statement, not a reported question. After ask, the linker for a yes/no question is if or whether. That would only work after say or tell: She told me that she was ready.

Incorrect: He asked me that I wait in the corridor.

Correct: He asked me to wait in the corridor.

A request is reported with a to-infinitive after ask plus an object, not with that. That plus a clause is the pattern for reported statements after say and tell.

Whether or Not, and Reporting Requests and Commands

Two refinements: when whether is not just a synonym of if, and how the reporting verb chooses the pattern.

Whether versus if

After ask, wonder, and want to know, if and whether are both fine. Use whether before or not, before an infinitive (whether to stay), and after a preposition (the question of whether). If is the lighter spoken choice and is slightly odd in those three positions.

She asked whether or not the shop opened on Sundays.: or not sits comfortably with whether
We couldn't decide whether to wait.: whether plus to-infinitive
It depends on whether the train is running.: whether after a preposition; if is awkward here

If after ask is never wrong in everyday speech for a plain yes/no question. The extra rules for whether matter most in writing and after prepositions.

Choosing the reporting verb

Asked is the default for information questions and for polite requests. Told is the default for instructions and for passing on information to a named listener. Wondered and wanted to know report the question as a thought rather than as speech. Ordered, instructed, and warned raise the force of a command.

She wondered whether the shop was still open.: a thought, not necessarily spoken
He told me to wait in the corridor.: an instruction, not a question
They warned us not to leave bags unattended.: a prohibition with a reason of risk

Say cannot take this pattern: She said me to wait is impossible. Switch to tell, or keep say and report the words as a statement: She said that I should wait.

Quick Check: Reported Speech Questions

Report each question or request, starting with the words in brackets.

1. “Are you ready?” (She asked me)

Answer: She asked me if / whether I was ready.

if or whether; are you becomes I was

2. “Where are the toilets?” (They asked)

Answer: They asked where the toilets were.

where kept; statement order

3. “What time does the last bus leave?” (I asked)

Answer: I asked what time the last bus left.

does disappears; leave → left

4. “Have you eaten?” (He wanted to know)

Answer: He wanted to know if / whether I had eaten.

present perfect → past perfect

5. “Please wait in the corridor.” (She asked me)

Answer: She asked me to wait in the corridor.

request: ask + object + to-infinitive

Reported Speech Questions FAQs

How do you report a yes/no question in English?: Use asked (or wanted to know, wondered) plus if or whether, then statement word order: She asked if the shop opened on Sundays. Do, does, and did disappear, pronouns shift to the reporter's point of view, and tenses usually move one step back after a past reporting verb. No question mark is needed unless the outer sentence is itself a question.
How do you report a wh-question?: Keep the question word and restore statement order after it: He asked where the toilets were, from Where are the toilets? Add nothing extra: no if, and no do. The same pronoun and tense shifts apply as in reported statements. Subject questions are the simplest, because they already had statement order: She asked who had called.
What is the difference between if and whether in reported questions?: After ask they often mean the same thing. Whether is slightly more formal, pairs naturally with or not, and is the form to use before an infinitive (whether to stay) and after a preposition (the question of whether). If is the lighter spoken choice for a plain yes/no report.
How do you report Can you wait here or Don't touch that?: Treat them as a request and a command, not as information questions. Ask or tell takes an object and a to-infinitive: He asked me to wait here. She told us not to touch that. Keeping the question shape (He asked if I could wait) is possible when you want to preserve the politeness, but the infinitive pattern is the default.
Why is She asked where was the station wrong?: Because only a direct question inverts the auxiliary. Once the question is embedded after asked, the inner clause is no longer asking; it is the content of what was asked, so it takes statement order: where the station was. The same repair applies to He asked did I want coffee, which needs if and wanted: He asked if I wanted coffee.