Indirect ways of asking questions

A number of expressions can be used to ask questions in a more indirect way. Indirect questions can sound more polite than direct ones.
Could you tell me where she studies?
We'd like to know when you first started singing?
When asking indirect questions the same word order is used as when we make statements. The auxilary verbs, do, does and did, are omitted.
If or whether is used if there is no question word such as where, what, why, when, who and how.
Could you tell us if/whether you are married...

Question tags, Indirect questions

Question tags

Positive verb, negative tag	Negative verb, positive tag
It's cold today, isn't it?	She isn't here today, is she?
You're Polish, aren't you?	You aren't happy, are you?
They live in Ankara, don't they?	They don't smoke, do they?
The match finishes at 8.00, doesn't it?	She doesn't eat meat, does she?
She worked in a bank, didn't she?	You didn't like the film, did you?
We've met before, haven't we?	She hasn't been to Rome before, has she?
You'll be OK, won't you?	You won't tell anyone, will you?

Question tags are often used to check something you already think is true.
To form a question tag use:
the correct auxiliary verb.
a pronoun
a negative tag if the sentences is positive, ans a positive tag if the sentence is negative.


Indirect questions

Direct question	Indirect question
Where's the bank?	Could you tell me where the bank is?
What time do the shops close?	Do you know what time the shops close?
Is there a bus stop near here?	Do you know if there's a bus stop near here?
Does this train go to Victoria?	Could you tell me if this train goes to Victoria?

To make a question more polite we often begin Could you tell me...? or Do you know...? The word order changes to subject + verb. Do you know where the bus station is?
If the question begins with an auxiliary verb, add if after Could you tell me...?/Do you know...?
We also use this structure after Can you remember...?

Questions without an auxiliary

Questions without an auxiliary
Subject	Verb
What	happened	after the concert?
Which country	won	the Eurocup?
Who	writes	their songs?

When the question word (What, which, who, How many..?) is the SUBJECT of the verb in the question, we do NOT use an auxiliary (do, does, did) and the verb is in the third person.

Questions with an auxiliary

Questions with an auxiliary
QUestion	Auxiliary	Subject	Infinitive
What picture	do	you	like?
Which movie	did	he	see?
Who	did	you	go with?

To make questions in present and past simple, we normally use the auxiliary verbs do/does/did + infinitive. The normal order is QUASI.