Questions and commands

Questions

In reported speech, the   verb moves back a tense, e.g. present simple > past simple, present   continuous > past continuous, etc.

‘Are you a student?’ He asked me if I was a student.

‘Is Lisa watching TV?’ She asked me if Lisa was watching TV.

The past  perfect tense and modal verbs should,  could, might and ought to   don’t change in reported speech.

‘What should I do?’ She asked me what she should do.

We use ask, want to know or wondered   to report questions. We   change the interrogative form to the affirmative form, and we put the subject   before the verb.

‘Where are you?’ He wanted to know where I was.

A yes/no question is   introduced by if or whether.

‘Can   I borrow your bike?’ She wondered if/whether   she could borrow my bike.

Commands

We use told/asked + object + (not)   to+ infinitive.

‘Please help me’. He asked her to help him.

‘Don’t shout at me.’ She told him not to shout at   her.