A. Match the situations to the indirect questions.
1 You have been waiting for a bus for one hour.
2 You need to borrow 200 euros from your dad.
3 Somebody has taken your favourite pen without asking you.
4 You have a test tomorrow but you know nothing.
5 Your aunty has given you a book on gardening for your birthday.
6 There was a very exciting film on TV but you missed the end of it.
7 Your friend wants to wear a bright green dress to the party.
8 You are at a great party but your mum rings and tells you to come home.
a I don’t know what to say to her.
b I wonder whether my friend Louise can help me.
c I want to know why she chose this present for me.
d I doubt if it is coming.
e I’ll ask if I can stay for another hour.
f I’m not sure if he will say yes.
g I’ll find out who took it.
h I’m interested in what happened next.
Answers
1 d 2 f 3 g 4 b 5 c 6 h 7 a 8 e
B. Make sentences by putting the words in the correct order. The first word is underlined.
1 me / was / date / what / asked / it / she
She asked me what date it was.
2 birthday / wonder / is / when / I / Jack’s
……………………………………………………….
3 care / what / say / Liz / doesn’t / I
……………………………………………………….
4 Simon / nobody / his / knows / exam / passed / if
……………………………………………………….
5 happened / where / it / me / told / she
……………………………………………………….
6 asked / I / all / right / the / whether / was / doctor
……………………………………………………….
7 do / is / Charles / what / thinking / to
……………………………………………………….
8 of / money / where / the / get / problem / is / the / we / there
……………………………………………………….
Answers
2 I wonder when Jack’s birthday is.
3 Liz doesn’t care what I say.
4 Nobody knows if Simon passed his exam.
5 She told me where it happened.
6 The doctor asked whether I was all right.
7 Charles is thinking what to do.
8 There is the problem of where we get the money.
C. Complete the sentences with indirect questions.
1 ‘Six o’clock.’
I wanted to know ……what time it was. ……
2 ‘February 15th.’
I asked ………………………………………………………. .
3 ‘I’m not feeling very well.’
I wondered ………………………………………………………. .
4 ‘Yes, it should be great!’
I asked ………………………………………………………. .
5 ‘My friend Sam.’
I was interested to know ………………………………………………………. .
6 ‘No, I don’t have enough money.’
Do you know ………………………………………………………. .
Answers
Possible answers
2 when her birthday was.
3 why she hadn’t come to school.
4 if he was coming to the party.
5 who gave her the flowers.
6 if you are going to buy a new computer?
D. Circle the correct option.
A hundred years ago, a team of explorers found a glacier in Antarctica. They weren’t sure 1……, so they named it the Mertz Glacier after the explorer Xavier Mertz. Although the Mertz Glacier is one of the biggest glaciers in the world, many people can’t even say 2…… .
Xavier Mertz (1883-1913) was part of a team which wanted to find out 3…… Antarctica. There weren’t even any maps of Antarctica at that time. They needed to know 4…… this very big continent, and 5…… possible to get from Antarctica to South Australia.
In November 1912, Mertz and two men, Ninnis and Mawson, were on a long difficult journey across the ice. There was a scream. At first, Mertz didn’t understand 6…… . Then he saw that Ninnis had fallen through the ice. Even worse, he had fallen with most of their food. Mertz had no idea 7…… and asked Mawson 8…… to wait to help. Mawson told him they had to continue.
The two men were soon tired and hungry. On 7 January, 100 miles from their camp, Mertz asked 9…… . He wasn’t sure 10…… . Sadly, Mertz soon died. Mawson managed to get back to camp safely and went on many more Antarctic journeys.
1 a what is it called b what to call it c what was it called
2 a who was Mertz b who Mertz was c what did Mertz
3 a was what in b what it was c what was in
4 a how do you cross b how was crossed c how to cross
5 a if it was b was it c what was it
6 a if happened b was what happening c what had happened
7 a what to do b if to do c if or not
8 a if b whether or not c if or not
9 a if he had stopped b why to stop c to stop
10 a how he continued b he could continue c if to continue
Answers
2 b 3 c 4 c 5 a 6 c 7 a 8 b 9 c 10 b
E. Write indirect questions for what they are saying or thinking.
1 He is asking if he can have an ice cream.
2 ……………………………………………….
3 ……………………………………………….
4 ……………………………………………….
5 ……………………………………………….
6 ……………………………………………….
Answers
Possible answers
2 They are wondering where they are.
3 She can’t understand why her daughter did it.
4 He’s asking what is in the bag.
5 He’s not sure if it’s warm enough.
6 She’s asking how it happened.
F. Complete the indirect questions.
It was midnight. Jill was in bed (1) but her husband Jack wasn’t home. Jill phoned Jack (2) but there was no answer. Then she called Jack’s friend Tom (3) about Jack. Tom knew nothing. Two hours later Jack came home. Jill wanted (4) an explanation. Jack said he would tell her in the morning. Then they both went to sleep.
Jill woke up very early because of (5) a strange noise. (6) Had Jack heard it too? she thought. Jack then got up and went downstairs. The noise stopped but then there was a very bright light. (7) Jill was confused and frightened. Jack came back to the bedroom. He was carrying two spacesuits. (8) Jill was very surprised.
(9) Jack asked and Jill agreed to put on the spacesuit. They went outside and Jill saw the spaceship. Jill kissed Jack and answered (10) his question by saying that yes, she was happy. At last they were going back to Earth.
1 Jill didn’t know ……where Jack was…… .
2 Jill wondered ………………………………………………… .
3 Jill asked ………………………………………………… .
4 Jill wanted to know ………………………………………………… .
5 Jill didn’t know ………………………………………………… .
6 Jill wondered ………………………………………………… .
7 Jill didn’t understand ………………………………………………… .
8 Jill wondered ………………………………………………… .
9 Jack asked Jill ………………………………………………… .
10 Jack wanted to know ………………………………………………… .
Answers
Possible answers
2 Jill wondered why his phone was switched off.
3 Jill asked Tom if he had seen Jack.
4 Jill wanted to know where Jack had been.
5 Jill didn’t know what the noise was.
6 Jill wondered if Jack had heard it.
7 Jill didn’t understand what was happening.
8 Jill wondered what the spacesuits were for.
9 Jack asked Jill if she would put on the spacesuit.
10 Jack wanted to know if Jill was happy.
G. Write indirect questions about these people.
1 James Bond
I’d ask him if he liked detective stories.
2 Your favourite sports star
…………………………………………………
3 William Shakespeare
…………………………………………………
4 Xavier Mertz
…………………………………………………
5 Your favourite actress
…………………………………………………
6 The cleverest person in the world
…………………………………………………
Answers
Possible answers
2 I wonder if Serena Williams likes her sister.
3 I want to know if he wrote all the plays himself.
4 My question is why he became an explorer.
5 I’d ask what her next film will be about.
6 I wonder how she knows she is the cleverest person in the world.
H. Complete the sentences with your own ideas.
1 I need to ask someone ……if they can look after my dog while I’m on holiday. ……
2 I’ve always wanted to know ………………………………………………… .
3 In my opinion, it is doubtful if ………………………………………………… .
4 It’s very bad manners to ask ………………………………………………… .
5 Most teenagers have no idea ………………………………………………… .
6 Does anybody know the reason why …………………………………………………?
Answers
your own answers
I. Circle the correct option.
1 She doesn’t even know …………… .
a what an iceberg is
b what is an iceberg
c if an iceberg is
2 I wonder …………… the biggest glacier in the world.
a where can you see
b where you can see
c you can see
3 The teacher asked …………… geology.
a if I liked
b what I liked
c if I did like
4 There’s some doubt about …………… glaciers will exist in 1,000 years.
a if b that c whether
5 Scientists are not sure why …………… so quickly.
a move some glaciers
b some glaciers move
c do some glaciers move
Answers
1 a 2 b 3 a 4 c 5 b
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