Indirect Questions

• We use indirect questions to sound more polite and professional during a client meeting. They start with a polite phrase like 'Could you tell me…?' or 'Do you know…?' followed by standard word order.
• Direct Question
• Indirect Question
• What is the budget?
• Could you tell me what the budget is?
• Who leads the project?
• Do you know who leads the project?
• When will we launch?
• Could you tell me when we will launch?
• Remember
• Start with a polite introductory phrase such as 'Could you tell me…?' or 'Do you know…?'
• Use affirmative word order (subject + verb) after the introductory phrase, not question word order.
• Do not use 'do', 'does', or 'did' in the second part of an indirect question.
• Use 'if' or 'whether' for yes/no questions.
• Examples
• Could you tell me what your primary business goal is?
• Do you know who made this decision?
• Could you tell me if you have any technical limitations?
• Do you know when the team will finish the wireframes?
• Common mistakes
• Could you tell me what is your budget?
• Could you tell me what your budget is?
• Do you know where did they build the studio?
• Do you know where they built the studio?

Complete the sentences

• Could you tell me what your primary (goal) ____ is for this application?
• Do you know who designed the (product) ____ in New York?
• Could you tell me if there are any technical (limit) ____ in Boston?
• Do you know which (stake) ____ approved this feature in Chicago?
• Could you tell me how your (team) ____ handles user testing?
• Do you know what (constraint) ____ the Seattle agency faced?

Sources: photo by Thư Tiêu on Pexels