Embedded Question

To make our conversational English look good, we may pay attention to the rules of Embedded Question because this is a part of conversational English. It's sometimes called an indirect question as it asks the same thing but in a polite way.

1. Embedded Question By Kamol Karmakar Lecturer, DELL, USTC.

2. What is an Embedded Question? “An embedded question is one which is included inside another question or statement.”

3. The following phrases  are commonly used to introduce embedded questions: I'm not sure Would you mind explaining I wanted to know I wonder The question is Who knows Could you tell me Do you know Can you remember Let's ask We need to find out I'd like to know In a regular question the verb sits before the subject, but in an embedded one the verb sits after the subject.

4. Sub. + verb (phrase) + question word + sub. + verb 1. When will the guests arrive? Emb . Q.: The question is when the guests will arrive. Here, when: question word, the guests: subject, will arrive: verb phrase * In between the question word and the subject there can not be any auxiliary verb. 2. Why didn’t the selectors keep him in the squad? Emb . Q.: I'd like to know why the selectors didn’t keep him in the squad.

5. Auxiliary + sub. + verb + question word+ sub. + verb 1. Why does he hesitate to join the discussion? Emb . Q.: Would you mind explaining why he hesitates to join the discussion? * Here the embedded question is embedded inside another question! 2. When did we meet for the first time? Emb . Q.: Can you remember when we met for the first time?

6. 1. What sort of human being is he? Emb . Q.: I wonder what sort of human being he is. * Question words can be phrases too, namely, what kind, how many, how much, how long, how often, what time, and whose + noun. 2. How often should I shampoo my hair in a week? Emb . Q.: Could you tell me how often I should shampoo my hair in a week?

7. Subject position question: 1. Who loves April? Emb . Q.: We need to find out who loves April. * If we start with a subject question, we don't need to change the grammar much, because it’s already similar to a statement/ the question word functions as the subject. 2. What happened last night? Emb . Q.: I’m not sure what happened last night.

8. Thank You