REPORTED QUESTION

If you put a question into Reported speech there are some steps which are the same like in statements: (changing of the person, backshift of tenses, changing of expressions of time).
In Reported speech there is no question anymore, the sentence becomes a statement.
That's why the word order is: subject - verb
Questions without question words (yes/no questions):
Peter: "Do you play football?" - Peter asked me whether (if) I played football.
Questions with question words:
Peter: "When do you play football?" - Peter asked me when I played football.

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REPORTED STATEMENTS

Statements

1) If the introductory sentence starts in the present (Susan says), there is no backshift of tenses in Reported speech.

Example:
Direct speech: Susan: "I work in an office."
Reported speech: Susan says (that) she works in an office.

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2) If the introductory sentence starts in the past (Susan said), there is often backshift of tenses in Reported speech. (see: Note)

Example:
Susan: "I work in an office."
Susan said (that) she worked in an office.

Backshift of tenses
from	to
Simple Present	Simple Past
Simple Past	Past Perfect
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
will	would
Progressive forms
am/are/is	was/were
was/were	had been
has been
had been

Backshift of tenses
from	to
Peter: "I work in the garden."	Peter said (that) he worked in the garden.
Peter: "I worked in the garden."	Peter said (that) he had worked in the garden.
Peter: "I have worked in the garden."
Peter: "I had worked in the garden."
Peter: "I will work in the garden."	Peter said (that) he would work in the garden.
Peter: "I can work in the garden."	Peter said (that) he could work in the garden.
Peter: "I may work in the garden."	Peter said (that) he might work in the garden.
Peter: "I would work in the garden." (could, might, should, ought to)	Peter said (that) he would work in the garden. (could, might, should, ought to)
Progressive forms
Peter: "I'm working in the garden."	Peter said (that) he was working in the garden.
Peter: "I was working in the garden."	Peter said (that) he had been working in the garden.
Peter: "I have been working in the garden."
Peter: "I had been working in the garden."

If the sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it as well.

Peter: "I worked in the garden yesterday."
Peter said that he had worked in the garden the day before.

Shifting/Conversion of expressions of time

this (evening)	that (evening)
today/this day	that day
these (days)	those (days)
now	then
(a week) ago	(a week) before
last weekend	the weekend before / the previous weekend
here	there
next (week)	the following (week)
tomorrow	the next/following day

Note:

In some cases the backshift of tenses is not necessary, e.g. when statements are still true.
John: "My brother is at Leipzig university."
John said (that) his brother was at Leipzig university. or
John said (that) his brother is at Leipzig university.
or
Mandy: "The sun rises in the east."
Mandy said (that) the sun rose in the east. or
Mandy said (that) the sun rises in the east.

Note:

The word >that< can be left out.

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REPORTED COMMANDS

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If you put a command into Reported speech there are only the person and the expressions of time that have to be adapted. There is no backshift of tenses.
The form is mostly: form of to tell + to + infinitive.

Affirmative commands	Negative commands
Father: "Do your homework."	Teacher. "Don't talk to your neighbour."
Father told me to do my homework.	The teacher told me not to talk to my neighbour.

QUESTION FUTURE TENSE

1) Questions without question words in the will-future

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Will	you	lend	him the book?	Yes,	I	will.
				No,	I	will not.
				No,	I	won't.
Will	Jane	arrive	on time?	Yes,	she	will
				No,	she	will not.
				No,	she	won't.

2) Questions with question words in the will-future

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
When	will	you	send	me the e-mail?	I will send you the e-mail tonight.
What	will	we	need	for the party?	We will need cola, sandwiches and crisps.

Note:
Use will every time regardless the subject.

The verb is used in the infinitive

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QUESTION IN PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

1) Questions without question words in the Present Progressive

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Are	they	writing	e-mails?	Yes,	they	are.
				No,	they	are not.
				No,	they	aren't.
				No,	they're not.
Is	Peter	playing	football?	Yes,	he	is.
				No,	he	is not.
				No,	he	isn't.
				No,	he's not.
Are	they	singing	a song?	Yes,	they	are.
				No,	they	are not.
				No,	they	aren't.
				No,	they're not.

2) Questions with question words in the Present Progressive

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
What	are	you	doing	right now?	I am working on my computer.
Where	is	Tyler	going?		He is going to the pet shop.
Why	are	they	carrying	the buckets?	They are carrying the buckets because they want to clean their bikes.

Note:
Use is with the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), am with the 1st person singular (I) and in all other persons are.
Add -ing to the infinitive

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QUESTION IN PRESENT PERFECT

1) Questions without question words in the Present Perfect

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Have	you	done	the shopping?	Yes,	I	have.
				No,	I	have not.
				No,	I	haven't.
Has	Jane	played	basketball?	Yes,	she	has.
				No,	she	has not.
				No,	she	hasn't.
Have	they	been	in Canada?	Yes,	they	have.
				No,	they	have not.
				No,	they	haven't.

2) Questions with question words in the Present Perfect

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
How often	have	you	tried	to download the file?	I have tried to download the file three times.
How long	have	they	lived	in Ottawa?	They have lived in Ottawa since 2009.
Where	has	he	been?		He has been at home.

Note:
Use has with the 3rd person singular (he, she, it) and in all other persons have.
Use the verb in the past participle:
(regular verbs: infinitive + -ed
irregular verbs: 3rd column of the table of the irregular verbs)

QUESTION IN PAST PROGRESSIVE

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1) Questions without question words in the Past Progressive

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Were	you	reading	books?	Yes,	I	was.
				No,	I	was not.
				No,	I	wasn't.
Was	Peter	playing	football?	Yes,	he	was.
				No,	he	was not.
				No,	he	wasn't.
Were	they	singing	a song?	Yes,	they	were.
				No,	they	were not.
				No,	they	weren't.

2) Questions with question words in the Past Progressive

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
What	were	you	doing	yesterday evening?	I was working on my computer.
Where	was	Diana	going	at ten last night?	She was going to a concert.
Why	were	they	carrying	the buckets?	They were carrying the buckets because they wanted to clean the car.

Note:
Use was with the 1st and 3rd person singular (I, he, she, it) and in all other persons were.
Add -ing to the infinitive.

QUESTION IN GOING TO FUTURE

 QUESTION IN GOING TO FUTURE

1) Questions without question words in the going to-future

Auxiliary	Subject	going to	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Are	you	going to	watch	TV tonight?	Yes,	I	am.
					No,	I	am not.
					No,	I'm not.
Is	Hillary	going to	read	a book over the weekend?	Yes,	she	is.
					No,	she	is not.
					No,	she	isn't.
					No,	she isn't.

2) Questions with question words in the going to-future

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	going to	Verb	Rest	Answer
Where	are	you	going to	spend	your summer holidays?	I am going to spend my summer holidays in Italy.
						I'm going to spend my summer holidays in Italy.
What	is	Frank	going to	have	for dinner?	He is going to have a pizza.
						He's going to have a pizza.

Note:
Use is with the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), am with the 1st person singular (I) and in all other persons are.
Use going to and the infinitive after the subject in all persons.

QUESTION IN PASSIVE

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Questions in Passive are formed with to be and the past particple.

1a. Questions without question words in Passive (Simple Present)

Form of to be	Subject	past participle	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Is	the test	written	in room 311?	Yes,	it	is.
				No,	it	is not.
				No,	it	isn't.
Are	grapes	grown	in California?	Yes,	they	are.
				No,	they	are not.
				No,	they	aren't.

1b. Questions with question words in Passive (Simple Present)

Question word	Form of to be	Subject	past participle	Rest	Answer
Where	is	the test	written?		The test is written in room 311.
Why	are	grapes	grown	in California?	Grapes are grown in California because it's warm and sunny.

2a. Questions without question words in Passive (Simple Past)

Form of to be	Subject	past participle	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Was	the book	taken	to the classroom?	Yes,	it	was.
				No,	it	was not.
				No,	it	wasn't.
Were	the students	taught	at home?	Yes,	they	were.
				No,	they	were not.
				No,	they	weren't.

2b. Questions with question words in Passive (Simple Past)

Question word	Form of to be	Subject	past participle	Rest	Answer
Where	was	the book	taken?		The book was taken to the classroom.
Why	were	the students	taught	at home?	The students were taught at home because the school was closed.

Here are some more example in other tenses. Let's start with the Simple froms:

Tense	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb
Present Perfect	Has	the house	been built?
Past Perfect	Had	the house	been built?
will-future	Will	the house	be built?
going to-future	Is	the house	going to be built?
Future Perfect	Will	the house	have been built?
Conditional I	Would	the house	be built?
Conditional II	Would	the house	have been built?

And now two Progessive forms:

Tense	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb
Present Progressive	Is	the house	being built?
Past Progressive	Was	the house	being built?

QUESTION TAG

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Use

frequently used in spoken English when you want s.o. to agree or disagree

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Form

positive statement ->question tag negative - You are Tom, aren't you?
negative statement->question tag positive - He isn't Joe, is he?

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Examples

with auxiliaries
You've got a car, haven't you?
without auxiliaries (use: don't, doesn't, didn't)
They play football on Sundays, don't they?
She plays football on Sundays, doesn't she?
They played football on Sundays, didn't they?
Questions tags are used to keep a conversation going. You can agree or refuse to a sentence with a question tag.

You go to school, don't you?
You agree.	You refuse.
Yes, I do.	No, I don't.

You aren't from Germany, are you?
You agree.	You refuse.
No, I'm not.	Yes, I am.

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Questions tags - Special

Although the negative word not is not in the sentence, the sentence can be negative. Then we use the "positive" question tag.

He never goes out with his dog, does he?

have is a main verb in the sentence -> two possibilities (when referring to states)

We have a car, _____?
We have a car, haven't we?	We have a car, don't we?
mostly British English	mostly American English

We use will/would with the imperative (Simple Present).

Open the window, will you? Open the window, would you?

Don't open your books, will you?

We use won't with a polite request.

Open the window, won't you?

We use shall after Let's.

Let's take the next bus, shall we?

Auxiliary must

We must be at home at 8 pm, mustn't we?
Yes, we must.	No, we needn't.

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Procedure adding a question tag

Look at the sentence.
1	Is an auxiliary or a form of to be in the sentence?
	yes	no
	auxiliary or form of to be affirmative -> negate auxiliary (add n't) auxiliary or form of to be negative -> (delete n't)	affirmative sentence -> Negate sentence (e.g. don't; doesn't; didn't) negative sentence -> (delete n't)
2	Is a personal pronoun the subject of the sentence?
	yes	no
	Use the personal pronoun.	Form the personal pronoun.
3	Complete the sentence.

 

Example 1: He can play football, ________.
1	Is an auxiliary or a form of to be in the sentence?
	yes -> can
	auxiliary or form of to be affirmative -> negate auxiliary (add n't) can't
2	Is a personal pronoun the subject of the sentence?
	yes
	Use the personal pronoun.
3	He can play football, can't he?

 

Example 2: Peter can play football, ________.
1	Is an auxiliary or a form of to be in the sentence?
	yes -> can
	auxiliary or form of to be affirmative -> negate auxiliary (add n't) can't
2	Is a personal pronoun the subject of the sentence?
		no
		Form the personal pronoun. Peter -> he
3	Peter can play football, can't he?

 

Example 3: Peter plays football, ________.
1	Is an auxiliary or a form of to be in the sentence?
		no
		affirmative sentence -> Negate the verb. verb plays -> Negation: doesn't play We only use the auxiliary doesn't.
2	Is a personal pronoun the subject of the sentence?
		no
		Form the personal pronoun. Peter -> he
3	Peter plays football, doesn't he?

SUMMARY OF QUESTION

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1) Yes/No questions - be

Subject and verb change their position in statement and question.

statement	You are from Germany.
question	Are you from Germany?

We always use the short answer, not only "Yes" or "No". This sounds rude.
NOTE:
If the answer is "Yes", we always use the long form.
Example: Yes, I am.
If the answer is "No", we either use the long or the contracted form (short form).
Example: No, I am not - No, I'm not.

Are	you	from Germany?	Yes,	I	am.
			No,	I	am not. 'm not.
Is	he	your friend?	Yes,	he	is.
Are	Peter and John	from England?	Yes,	they	are.

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2) Questions with question words - be

Question word	Verb	Rest	Answer
Where	are	you from?	I'm from Stuttgart.
What	is	your name?	My name is Peter.
How	are	Pat and Sue?	They're fine.

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3) Yes/No Questions and short answers - have

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Have	you	got	a cat?	Yes,	I	have.
Have	you	got	a new car?	No,	we	haven't.
Has	your brother	got	a bike?	Yes,	he	has.
Do	you	have	a cat?	Yes,	I	do.
Do	you	have	a new car?	No,	we	don't.
Does	your brother	have	a bike?	Yes,	he	does.

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4) Questions with question words - have

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
Where	have	you	got	your ruler?	I've got it in my pencil case.
Where	do	you	have	your ruler?	I have it in my pencil case.

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5) Questions without question words in the Simple Present

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Do	you	read	books?	Yes,	I	do.
				No,	I	don't.
Does	Peter	play	football?	Yes,	he	does.

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6) Questions with question words in the Simple Present

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
What	do	you	play	on your computer?	I play games on my computer.
When	does	your mother	go	to work?	She goes to work at 6 o'clock.
Where	do	you	meet	your friends?	I meet them at the bus stop.

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7) Questions without question words in the Simple Past

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Did	Max	play	football?	Yes,	he	did.
				No,	he	didn't.
Did	you	watch	the film yesterday?	Yes,	I	did.
				No,	I	didn't.

BUT:

to be	Subject	xxx	Rest	Yes/No	Subject	Auxiliary (+ n't)
Were	you		in Leipzig last week?	Yes,	I	was.
				No,	I	wasn't.

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8) Questions with question words in the Simple Past

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
What	did	you	do	yesterday evening?	I did my homework.
When	did	she	meet	her boyfriend?	She met him yesterday.
Where	did	they	go	after the match?	They went to a café.

BUT:

Question word	to be	Subject	xxxxx	Rest	Answer
Where	were	you		yesterday?	I was at the cinema.

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9) Subject question

Question word	Verb	Rest	Subject	Verb	Object - Place - Time
Who	runs	to the shop?	Peter	runs	to the shop.

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10) Object question

Question word	Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Rest	Answer
Who	do	you	like?		I like my mum.
Who	did	Mandy	phone	last Monday?	Mandy phoned her uncle.

NOTE!

Subject question			Object question
Who	phoned	John?	Who	did	John	phone?
Answer: Peggy phoned John.			Answer: John phoned Peggy.

a lot of/lots of

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much or many

These phrases are mainly used in informal English. lots of sounds a bit more informal than a lot of. Both forms are used in singular and in plural sentences.
It is not the phrase a lot of or lots of which determines singular or plural, but the subject of the sentence (here water and computers).

A lot of water is wasted. Lots of water is wasted.	singular
A lot of computers are needed at schools. Lots of computers are needed at schools.	plural

In formal English plenty of or much and many is used for a lot of/lots of.

Plenty of water is wasted. Much water is wasted.	singular
Plenty computers are needed at schools. Many computers are needed at schools.	plural

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

Reflexive pronouns

myself yourself himself herself itself ourselves yourselves He carries the buckets himself. themselves

each other They help each other.  DOWNLOAD IN HERE