Indirect Questions in English

Ways to Express Indirect Questions

• We use indirect questions to be more polite
• In indirect questions, the order is subject + verb
• Examples of indirect questions:
  • Can you tell me …?
  • Could you tell me …?
  • Do you know …?
  • Would you mind telling me …?
  • Can I ask you …?
  • I was wondering…
  • Do you have any idea …?

Ways to Express Future

• Using present continuous for plans or arrangements
• Using present simple for something scheduled
• Using "will" to express beliefs about the future
• Using "be going to" to talk about plans and intentions
• Using "should" if we think there's a good chance of something happening

Ways to Express Purpose

• Using "to"
• Using "so as not to"
• Using "so that"
• Using "in order to"
• Using "for" + noun/gerund

Uses of Present Simple

• To talk about things that are always/generally true or facts
• To give directions or instructions
• To talk about short actions that are happening "now"
• To talk about habits or things we do regularly
• To talk about future actions or events set by a timetable
• To talk about permanent situations that we feel will continue for a long time
• To use in the first and zero conditionals

Uses of Present Progressive (Continuous)

• To talk about actions that are taking place at the moment of speaking
• To talk about actions that are taking place around "now" but not at the exact moment of speech
• To use with words such as "always" or "constantly" to express the idea that something annoying or irritating happens very often
• To talk about an action or event in the near future, which has already been planned
• To talk about temporary or new habits
• To describe situations that are changing
• To describe temporary situations

Uses of Past Simple

• To talk about a completed action in the past
• To talk about a series of completed actions in the past
• To use in stories or lists of events in the past
• To use with the second conditional
• To talk about things that are generally true, especially for laws or rules

Uses of the Passive

• When who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant
• When is obvious to the listener or reader who the agent is
• When we want to change the focus from the agent to the recipient of the action
• To focus on objective or factual information
• With a generalised agent (people in general are the agents)
• In describing processes, when the emphasis is on the actions and not on the people who perform them

Uses of the Definite Article "the"

• With a superlative adjective
• With adjectives like rich, poor, elderly to talk about groups of people
• With countries whose names include words like kingdom, states or republic
• With nouns that refer to something or someone that is unique
• When a particular noun has already been mentioned previously

State Verbs that Change their Meaning when in the Continuous Form

• Have: I'm having breakfast now = I am eating breakfast now
• Be: Johnny is being silly again = Johnny is behaving in a silly way again
• See: We are seeing our friends tonight = We are meeting our friends tonight
• Think: She is thinking about her future = She is considering her future
• Weigh: The man is weighing the fruit = The man is measuring the weight of the fruit

Five Categories of Verbs that are not Normally Used in Progressive Forms

• Verbs of feeling: I love rain
• Verbs of thinking: She didn't believe him at first
• Verbs used for the senses: I often see her crying
• Verbs of measurement: The red dress fits me perfectly
• Verbs of possession: Does this book belong to you?

Uses of Could

• To express possibility in the present and the future
• To make suggestions
• To ask for permission
• To talk about past ability
• As a conditional

Uses of Would

• To make polite requests or offers
• As a conditional to describe what we would do in imaginary situations
• To talk about repeated actions in the past
• To describe past beliefs about the future
• As the past form of "will" in reported speech

Uses of the Pronoun "it"

• Singular noun (a thing/place/organization/animal/abstract)
• To represent a young baby of either sex
• To "anticipate" something which appears later in the sentence
• To refer to an already stated action or information

Uses of the To-Infinitive

• After certain verbs particularly verbs of thinking, feeling, and saying
• To express purpose
• With the adverbs too and enough to express the reasoning behind our satisfaction or insatisfaction
• After adjectives of emotion such as angry, happy, glad, sad, sorry, surprised
• After a WH- word such as how, what, where, whether, which, who, whom

Uses of Bare Infinitive (Short Infinitive)

• After modal verbs
• After the interrogative word 'why'
• After the expressions 'had better' and 'would rather'
• After the prepositions 'except', 'but', and 'than'
• After verbs of perception (see, watch, notice, observe, feel, hear…)

Uses of the Gerund

• In compound nouns
• After the expressions can't help, can't stand, to be worth, & it's no use
• Verbs followed by gerund/infinitive (e.g. love, prefer, remember, forget, like)

Uses of Inversion

• To be added