Sometimes we want to talk about a question someone asked us in the past.
To do that, we use reported questions.

This lesson will help you understand how to change direct questions into reported questions in a simple, clear way.

1. What is a reported question?

A reported question tells us what someone asked, but we don’t use the exact words.

Direct Question	Reported Question

“Where are you going?”, she asked.

She asked where I was going.

Look at the differences:
✔ no question mark
✔ no question word order
✔ the tense changes (are going → was going)

2. How to change a question into a reported question

Here are the three rules you need to know.

Rule 1: Remove do / does / did

Many questions use do, does, or did. When we report the question, these words disappear and we change the tense.

Direct:
“How do you make that?”

Reported:
He asked me how I made that.

make → made

Rule 2: Change the word order

If the question uses am / is / are / can / will, move the auxiliary verb after the subject.

Direct:
“Where are you going?”

Reported:
She asked me where I was going.

No question form.
It looks like a normal statement.

Rule 3: Use ask somebody to for requests

If someone asks us to do something, we use:
ask + somebody + to + verb

Direct:
“Could you give me an example?”

Reported:
She asked me to give her an example.

✔ no “could”
✔ use to + verb

3. Reported Questions – Quick Table

Type	Direct Question	Reported Question	What changes?
Wh- + do/does/did	“How do you make that?”	He asked how I made that.	Remove do. Change tense.
Wh- + be/auxiliary	“Where are you going?”	She asked where I was going.	Change word order.
Yes/No question	“Do you like it?”	He asked if I liked it.	Use if/whether. Remove do.
Request	“Could you help me?”	She asked me to help her.	Use ask somebody to.

Let’s Practice!

Practice 1

Practice 2

Speaking

Practice 1

Transform the direct questions into reported questions