Embedded Questions Examples

An embedded question is a question that is reported to other people in speech or writing, rather than the exact words of the original question.

There are embedded questions and embedded sentences.

These are some examples of embedded questions:

These are some examples of embedded sentences:

Let’s explore in more detail all types of embedded sentences and questions you can make.

Table of Contents

Embedded Questions: Introductory Phrases

These are some common introductory phrases for embedded questions.

Introductory Phrases	Embedded Questions Examples
I wonder if…	I wonder if you could help me out
Could you tell me …?	Could you tell me where the station is?
Do you know …?	Do you know how to ride a bike?
Can you remember…?	Can you remember where you left it?
We need to know…	We need to know where you are
I am not sure	I am not sure where you were last night
Can you tell me…?	Can you tell me where he lives?

Here we can see several examples of Embedded Questions

Direct Questions	Indirect Questions
What time is it?	Can you tell me what time it is?
Where is she?	Could you tell me where she is?
What’s her name?	Do you know what her name is?
Who is a doctor?	I wonder who is a doctor
What is she doing?	I wonder what she is doing
Can she win?	Can you tell me whether or not she can swim?

These are examples of how direct questions change into indirect questions.

Tense	Direct Question	Indirect Question
Verb to be	Where is she?	Do you know where she is?
Simple Present	Where does he work?	Can you tell me where he works?
Verb to be	Was he sick?	Do you know if he was sick?
Simple past	What did he win?	Could you tell me what he won?
Present Perfect	Where have you been?	Can you tell me where you have been?
Future Continuous	Are you going to play	Can you tell me if you are going to play
Future with will	Will she be there?	Could you tell me if she will be there?
Modal Should	Should we start now?	Do you know if we should start now?

Do not use a verbal contraction at the end of the sentence when you make embedded or indirect questions.

For example:

Where is she?	Do you know where she is?
who are they?	Can you tell me who they are?
What’s her name?	Could you tell me where her name is?
How tall are they?	Could you tell me how tall they are?

These are some examples that show how whether and If are used in indirect questions

Direct Question	Indirect Question
Are you tired?	They asked me whether I was tired
Do the rooms have showers?	They asked whether the rooms have showers or not
Are you sick?	They asked if I was sick
Do the rooms have cable TV?	They asked if the rooms have cable TV.
is the Doctor available?	Could you tell me if the doctor is available?

These are some examples of embedded questions based on subject questions

This is a good video to understand more about embedded questions

These are some embedded questions exercise that can help you achieve your goals