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Embedded Questions

November 21, 2016

An embedded question is a question that is inside another question or statement. This grammar point is sometimes explained on its own or in a lesson on noun clauses or reported speech (more on this below).

Tip

To help students remember what an embedded question is, think of “embed” as “in bed.” When you’re in bed, you’re tucked in between the sheets. An embedded question is simply a question tucked inside another one!

Embedded questions can cause confusion for English language learners because they follow a normal Subject-Verb-Object pattern instead of a typical inverted question pattern. Let’s take a closer look!

Two Types

1. Embedded Questions within Questions

Here are some examples of an embedded question within another question. For patterns and uses, see the notes below the charts.

Embedded Questions within Questions chart

Embedded Questions – Grammar & Usage Resources

2. Embedded Questions within Statements

Here are some examples of an embedded question within an affirmative or negative sentence. Note that we do not use a question mark for these statements even though they contain a question.

Embedded Questions within Statements chart

Embedded Questions – Grammar & Usage Resources

Patterns

1. Sentence Pattern

A normal English sentence follows this pattern: Subject + Verb (+ Object) or SVO.

  • She (S) sang (V).
  • The girl (S) walked (V) her dog (O).

2. Question Pattern

A normal question has an inversion of the sentence pattern, and looks like this: (Question Word) + Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb (+ Object) or VSVO. For the Be verb, it looks like this: VSO.

  • What (Question Word) did (Aux V) he (S) say (V)?
  • Do (Aux V) you (S) like (V) pizza (O)?
  • Is (Be) he (S) sleepy?

3. Embedded Question Pattern

In an embedded question, the question inside the statement or other question follows a sentence pattern instead of a question pattern: SVO. The introductory phrases follow the normal sentence (SV) or question (VS) patterns.

  • I (S) don’t know (V) [what (question word) I (S) should do (V)].
  • Do (Aux V) you (S) think (V) [we (S) need (V) more time (O)]?

Uses

When and why do we use embedded questions in English?

1. To be more polite

  • What time is it? (normal question)
  • Could you (please) tell me what time it is? (embedded question = more polite)

2. To give more information

  • I wonder if she’ll call me. (expresses curiosity)
  • I don’t know where my bag is. (expresses lack of knowledge)
  • I want to know when this meeting will start. (expresses desire for knowledge)

3. To change direct speech to reported (indirect) speech

  • “What do you want to know?” (direct speech)
  • He asked me what I wanted to know. (reported speech)

Notes

Note #1

Embedded questions are a type of noun clause. A noun clause is a complete sentence (SVO) that serves as a subject or object of another sentence.

  • What do you mean? (SV)
  • I don’t know (SV) [what you meant (SV)]. (What you meant serves as the object of the sentence I don’t know.)

Note #2

Don’t use contractions at the end of an embedded clause. (Tell students this follows the same rule as short answers in English—we can say Yes, he is but we can never say Yes, he’s.)

  • Do you know what time it is?
  • Do you know what time it’s?

Note #3

Who knows is used for questions, but it can also be used for statements. English speakers often use this phrase as a statement when they are surprised or frustrated.

  • Who knows the answer to #2?
  • Who knows what she meant by that.
  • Who knows when this week will start getting better!

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Comments (40)

WK (Guest)

Dear Tanya,

Do they have the standard English score requirement for deaf who graduated from college or high school? Where should I find these information?

Sincerely yours,
WK

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

I'm sorry, but I don't have any information on that. I am only familiar with TOEIC, TOEFL, and IELTS score requirements, and I know that they differ depending on the university or company. Like those tests, it might depend on where you're applying to. Please let me know if you find out any information about this. :)

Shanker Banavath(Guest)

Very good information.

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thank you, Shanker!

Allan B.(Teacher)

What about this question:
How many people were there?
Do I invert the order of 'were' and 'there'?

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Allan,
If you embedded this question within another, you could invert or not depending on the meaning. For example, in the embedded question with inversion 'Do you know how many people there were?' (with 'there' acting as an empty subject), you would answer 'There were 12 people.' (In that case, the location would be understood in the context.) But without inversion, 'Do you know how many people were there?' (with 'there' meaning 'location'), you would answer 'There were 12 people there' as in 'There were 12 people at the party.' And yes, you could even say 'Do you know how many people there were there?' though it's not common because it sounds repetitive.

Allan Benavides(Guest)

I got it! Thanks a lot, Tanya.

Tanya Trusler(Author)

You're welcome!

MUHAMMAD (Guest)

HELLO Tanya,
I have been looking for this clarification for a while and you have explained the topic very nicely.
I have a question:
Do you know when the class will start
do you know when will the class start
1st is an example of embedded question but would it be wrong to use the second sentence for the same purpose??
thanks

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Thanks for your comment, Muhammad! To answer your question:

'Do you know when the class will start?' is correct.
'Do you know when will the class start?' is incorrect.

Mahmud Sazid(Guest)

Hi Tania,
I have a question.

Normal sentence --He doesn't read newspaper daily.
How to convert it into embedded ques??

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Mahmud,

The original sentence isn't a question, but you can still embed it. But in this case, we would call the second clause a 'noun clause' rather than an embedded question. For example:
- I know (that) he doesn't read the newspaper daily.
- I think (that) he doesn't read the newspaper daily.

To make it into question form, you will need to lose the negative part of the sentence (because asking a question implies that you don't know the answer):
- Do you know if he reads the newspaper daily?
- She asked if he reads the newspaper daily.

Hope that helps!

Jamie Lee(Guest)

What is the difference between indirect and embedded questions?

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Jamie,

Indirect speech is just one of the uses of embedded questions (see Uses above), and vice versa. So, for example, when you say She asked me if I could come over on Monday it is BOTH an embedded question (from Can you come over on Monday?) and indirect speech (from She asked).

Just keep in mind that there are instances where something is indirect speech but NOT an embedded question (e.g., They told me to check in at noon / from Check in at noon and They told me), and instances where something is an embedded question but NOT indirect speech (e.g., I wonder if the class will start on time / from Will the class start on time? and I wonder). Hope that helps!

Maryam (Guest)

Dear Tenya Trusler,

I've got a q. I want to know which one of the questions below is correct and why?

1- Who do you think is he?
2- Who do you think he is?

Thanks for time allocation.
Regards,
Maryam

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Maryam,

Great question! #2 is correct (Who do you think he is?) and #1 is not possible. In English, the first clause of a question contains the subject-verb inversion while the second clause follows a normal sentence pattern (SV). Your question is tricky because of the multiple words that appear to be subjects. For your question, you can break it down like this:

Who (O of second clause) do (Aux V of first clause) you (S of first clause) think (V of first clause) / he (S of second clause) is (V of second clause) ?

Here's another way to think of the underlying sentences used in your question:
He is X [X = who].
and
You think Y [Y = he is X].

Hope that helps!

Vicky (Guest)

Hi Tanya,
In the direct question 'What's in the casserole?', when changed to embedded, the order doesn't change and it's 'Can you tell me what's in the casserole?'
Why doesn't the order become inverted like most embedded questions?

Thanks!

Reply to Comment

Tanya Trusler(Author)

Hi Vicky,

Good question! It all depends on if the Wh- word is the subject or object of a sentence. If it's an object (as is usually the case), there is inversion, but if it's a subject, inversion is not required.

For example:
- What [direct object] is [aux V] that man [subject] carrying [main V]?
- That man [subject] is [aux V] carrying [main V] a vase [direct object].
- Can you tell me what that man is carrying? (= Inversion is required in an embedded question because 'what' is the object of the clause.)

  • What [subject] is [main verb] in the casserole [indirect object]?
  • Beef and noodles [subject] are [main V] in the casserole [indirect object].
  • Can you tell me what's in the casserole? (= No inversion is required in an embedded question because 'what' is the subject of the clause.)

Gopal Bhattarai(Guest)

Dear Tanya,
What is the embedded question of 'Was he alone? Did you notice...?
Somebody taught me 'Did you notice if he was alone? the other teacher taught me 'Did you notice if he had been alone?
I have learnt that there should not be tense change in the embedded questions. Is it right?
Yours sincerely,
Gopal

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    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Gopal,

    The correct answer is: 'Did you notice if he was alone?'

    This is because the tense doesn't usually change with embedded questions. So 'he was alone' + 'did you notice that?' = 'Did you notice if he was alone?' More importantly, you're talking about two past actions that both happened at the SAME time (e.g., yesterday).

    The reason why your other teacher may have been confused is because this is so similar to reported speech. With reported speech, the tense usually does change. So 'he was alone' + 'she asked me' = 'She asked if he had been alone.' With reported speech, you're talking about two past actions that happened at DIFFERENT times. He was alone yesterday, and she asked me about it an hour ago today, for example. However, with the Be verb and reported speech, we can also choose not to use the more formal past perfect (had been) and just use the simple past (was). In other words, 'She asked if he was alone' and 'She asked if he had been alone' are both correct, and you're actually more likely to hear the casual simple past form (was). Hope that helps!

    Masoud (Guest)

    Could you tell me what the embedded question of ' why didn't you come' is?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Masoud, here are some examples on how to embed 'why didn't you come' into a question or statement:
    - Can you tell me why you didn't come?
    - Could you tell me why you didn't come?
    - Would you mind telling me why you didn't come?
    - Does he know why you didn't come?
    - I'm wondering why you didn't come.
    - I don't know why you didn't come.
    etc.

    Ashna (Guest)

    Could you tell me what is the embedded question of 'where do you prefer to go for the vacation' is?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Ashna, there is no embedded question in 'Where do you prefer to go on vacation?' It might be easier to see this if you make it a Yes/No question: 'Do you prefer to go to X or Y on vacation?' In both cases, it's just a straight question with the infinitive verb 'to go' after the verb 'prefer.' If you see an infinitive (to + V) or a gerund (V + -ing) then this usually means there is no embedded question.

    If you asked 'Can you tell me where you prefer to go on vacation?' then 'Where do you prefer to go on vacation?' is the embedded question. Another example would be 'I was wondering where you prefer to go on vacation.' Again, 'Where do you prefer to go on vacation?' is embedded in that statement. You can see that there are two main verbs—'tell' (simple present)/'was wondering' (past progressive) and 'prefer' (simple present)—in those examples. Hope that helps!

    ati dh(Guest)

    dear friend
    thanx alot for ur useful tips
    it just dropped for me!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Happy to hear it!

    Liena Rose(Guest)

    With the example: “Do you think..” why is there no “if” since it would be a yes or no question. I understand it’s correct without the “if” but don’t know how to explain it since the other yes/no questions like “do you know if it will rain?” include the “if

    Thanks!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Great question, Liena! As you said, with the verb "think" we can almost never use "if," but we normally use "if" with other verbs like know, decide, tell, say, etc. I'm actually not sure why this is! My guess is that "think" already has the meaning that it's an opinion and not a fact, so we don't need the hypothetical meaning of "if" or "whether." You could also tell your students to memorize it as an exception to the normal rule.

    Ba S.(Member)

    Hello, could you please tell why some embedded questions don't change the structure?
    For example, I can say: "Do you know how tall this building is", but in "How long was this the tallest building in the world?" when you change it to an embedded question, why does the "was" cannot be at the end of the sentence?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Ba,

    Great question! Your first example uses an embedded question. It includes "How tall is this building?" and "Do you know this?" and it follows the normal embedded question pattern where the subject precedes the verb after the Wh- word [how tall (Wh-) this building (S) is (V)].

    Your second example is not an embedded question, so it follows the normal Wh- question pattern with subject–verb inversion [how long (Wh-) was (V) this (S) the tallest building in the world (O)]. In longer questions like this one, it can be difficult to distinguish all the elements in a question. It might help to think of the answer: This (S) was (V) the tallest building in the world (O) for 10 years (O). Then you can see that "this was" gets switched in your second example but not in the first ("this building is"). If the subject and verb switch, it's not an embedded question—it's just a regular question.

    To make your first example embedded, you could say something like "Do you know how long this was the tallest building in the world?" or "Could you tell me how long this was the tallest building in the world?"

    For more examples of Wh- questions, scroll down to the Patterns section in this post: https://ellii.com/blog/wh-questions

    Hope that helps!

    Akbarshoh (Guest)

    Hi Tanya
    I have a questions on this topic. Can we use "say" to connect the main statement to the question?
    For example, would it be correct if we said: "She says who are doing this project."

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Akbarshoh, we wouldn't normally introduce an embedded question with "say." "Tell" or "ask" sound much more natural. (E.g., "She asked who was doing this project." or "She told us who was doing this project.") If you want to use "say," you should use an embedded statement rather than a question, E.g., "She said they were doing this project." Hope that helps!

    Paula H.(Member)

    Is it possible to say, I don't know what it is going on?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Paula, not quite. The correct sentence would be:
    "I don't know what is going on."
    When the wh- word is acting as the subject of the embedded question ("what is going on"), there is no need for a second subject ("it").
    To figure out if a wh- word is a subject, it helps to think of the original question and answer:
    Q: What is going on?
    A: Something is going on.

    Constanza Q.(Teacher)

    Dear Tanya,
    I hope you can help me with the explanation behind this phenomenon. I was teaching embedded questions today and I explained that embedded Yes/No questions should contain "if/whether" at the beginning. That is often the case, right? However, when it comes to the expression "Do you think...?", I think using whether/if is not correct. The problem is that I know this by instinct, and I couldn't find a proper explanation (I'm a Spanish native speaker.)
    I wonder whether/if she likes sushi.
    Can you tell me whether/if she likes sushi?
    #Do you think whether** she likes sushi?
    Is it something related to the verb "think"? I haven't been able to figure it out. Maybe it's right, but it just sounds funny to me.
    Thanks in advance!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Constanza, this is a really great question, and I don't have a great answer for you! For some reason, embedded questions with "think" take a noun clause with "that" (sometimes referred to as a "that-clause") instead of "if" or "whether" that Yes/No questions normally take.
    - Do you think (that) she likes sushi? ("that" is often omitted)

    Let's compare it with "know":
    - Do you know if/whether she likes sushi? = Does she like sushi? + Do you know this?
    - Do you think (that) she likes sushi? = Does she like sushi? + Do you think that this is true?

    I believe the slight difference in meaning is that questions with "think" are asking for an opinion rather than a fact. You can tell your students that embedded questions with "think" are an exception in that they follow a normal noun clause pattern with "that." (I.e., the clause "she (S) likes (V) sushi (O)" is taking the object position in the main sentence: "I (S) think (V) she likes sushi (O).")

    Jenalee P.(Teacher)

    Hi Tanya, I have a question about the introductory statement "do you think...?"

    Why is it correct to say:
    Does he think it will rain tomorrow?

    And incorrect to say:
    Does he think if it will rain tomorrow?

    I had trouble explaining this to my students because technically this is a yes/no question, so we should add the 'if' (following the rules). However, as a native speaker it sounded strange to add the 'if' here, but I couldn't explain why. Could you help me? Thanks!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Jenalee,

    This is a good, but tough, question! I see you're a subscriber, so you'll be able to see the note on page 4 of the PDF (or task 1 in the digital version) of our Grammar Practice Worksheets lesson on Embedded Questions: https://ellii.com/lessons/grammar-practice-worksheets/2364-embedded-questions

    For those that can't, it reads: "Unlike embedded WH questions, embedded Yes/No questions usually start with if or whether (except when following the verb think). If and whether have the same meaning, but if is more common."

    Here are some examples:
    - Will you come over later? > Could you tell me if/whether you will come over later?
    - Will you come over later? > Do you think you will come over later?

    I used to tell my students to memorize this case as an exception. When writing this lesson and this blog post, I couldn't find a logical explanation anywhere as to why "think" behaved this way. If I had to guess, I'd say it's because "think" is such a common verb, and it's commonly used to give an opinion. An opinion is more of a statement than a question, so perhaps this is why we wouldn't expect to hear "if" or "whether" after "think" even if the embedded part was originally a question. I'm sorry that I can't give you a better answer than that!

    Jenalee P.(Teacher)

    Thanks for that explanation Tanya! I appreciate your response :)

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome! Happy teaching, Jenalee!

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