Unit 6: an awkward moment, friendship and reported questions
Week 13 · Unit 6 Let’s Hang Out! (A): the opener, a story about an awkward moment at a restaurant (reference only), idioms, synonyms and antonyms, making and answering invitations, a talk on the benefits of socialising (our own read-aloud text), a listening about a day out with friends, reported questions · 3 lessons
3
Reported questions: yes / no and wh- questions
English Secondary 3 Term 1, Unit 6 Lesson 3: pp. 88–89
GoalReport yes / no questions with if or whether and wh- questions with the question word, without inversion and with the right tense.
New words
reported question · a question that we tell to another person in our own wordsinversion · putting the verb before the subject, as in a direct questionif / whether · the words that start a reported yes / no questionquestion word · what, where, when, why, howone step back · the tense moves back in timewonder · to ask yourself a question
Explanation
A reported question tells what another person asked, without the exact words. Rules: 1. Use asked, wondered or inquired. 2. Yes / no questions: use if or whether. Wh- questions: keep the question word. 3. Change the word order: subject before verb, no do / does / did, no question mark. 4. Go one step back in tense: am / is → was; do / does → past simple; did → had + past participle; have been → had been; will → would; can → could. 5. Change time words: today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, next week → the following week, last night → the night before, now → then. Slips: asked do I want, asked where did I. The book’s items on pages 88 and 89 are named by page.
Direct question
Reported question
What changed
“Do you walk to school?”
She asked if I walked to school.
do → past simple, if
“Where did you stay?”
She asked where I had stayed.
did → had stayed
“Will you come tomorrow?”
He asked whether I would come the next day.
will → would, tomorrow → the next day
“Can you help me?”
He wondered if I could help him.
can → could
Worked examples
Yes / no: “Do you like the new timetable?” Dina asked. → Dina asked if I liked the new timetable. No inversion and no question mark.
Wh-: “Where are you going?” he asked. → He asked where I was going. The question word stays; the verb is after the subject.
Time shift: “Will you join the club next week?” she asked. → She asked whether I would join the club the following week.
Slip: “He asked me where did I live” is wrong; write He asked me where I lived.
Class activity
Write four direct questions that a new student might ask on the first day (about the canteen, the timetable, the library and the bus). Then change each one into a reported question that begins She asked … or He wondered …. Check word order and tense.
Practice
1
Report: “Do you walk to school?” Ziad asked me.
Ziad asked me if I walked to school.
2
Report: “Where are you going?” he asked.
He asked where I was going.
3
Report: “Will you join the club next week?” she asked.
She asked if I would join the club the following week.
4
Report: “Why didn’t you call me last night?” he asked.
He asked why I had not called him the night before.
5
Correct the mistake: “He asked me where did I live.”
