Indirect Questions — Asking More Politely

Compare: ‘Where is the station?’ vs. ‘Could you tell me where the station is?’ — which sounds more polite?

Notice

  • Could you tell me where the station is?
  • Do you know what time it is?
  • I wonder if you could help me.

Rule

An indirect question softens a direct question, making it sound more polite — common with strangers or in formal situations. Word order goes back to statement order (no inversion), and there’s no question mark needed after “do you know…” style openers in some styles, though many still add one.

Practice

  1. Direct: “Where is the bathroom?” → Indirect:
    Answer: Could you tell me where the bathroom is?
  2. Direct: “What time does the shop open?” → Indirect:
    Answer: Do you know what time the shop opens?
  3. Direct: “How much does it cost?” → Indirect:
    Answer: Do you know how much it costs?
  4. Direct: “Is there a bank nearby?” → Indirect:
    Answer: Do you know if there is a bank nearby?
  5. Direct: “Can you help me?” → Indirect (softer):
    Answer: I wonder if you could help me.

Connect

Practise turning direct questions into polite indirect ones.

Try Sentence Builder →

CEFR: Spoken Interaction — deal politely with everyday situations, such as asking a stranger for help.

Azizul Hakim
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