Indirect Questions Exercises (With Printable PDF)

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Candace Osmond

Candace Osmond studied Advanced Writing & Editing Essentials at MHC. She’s been an International and USA TODAY Bestselling Author for over a decade. And she’s worked as an Editor for several mid-sized publications. Candace has a keen eye for content editing and a high degree of expertise in Fiction.

Do you know what indirect questions are? The previous sentence is a good example. This type of question is a question embedded in a sentence or another question. Answer these indirect question worksheets to check your understanding of the topic.

What Are Indirect Questions?

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Indirect questions are questions reported to other people instead of using the exact words for directly asking. For example, instead of asking “What’s wrong?”, an indirect question goes, “He asked me what was wrong.”

Indirect questions are also more polite ways to ask for more information. For example, instead of saying “Where is the Johnson Building?”, you can say, “Do you know where the Johnson Building is?”

Here are more examples of direct questions and their corresponding indirect questions:

  • Direct question: Does he live here?
  • Indirect question: Can you tell me if he lives here?
  • Direct question: Did they call her?
  • Indirect question: Can you tell me if they called her?
  • Direct question: Have you been to Mexico?
  • Indirect question: Can you tell me if you have been to Mexico?
  • Direct question: Will you be seeing her later?
  • Indirect question: Can you tell me if you will be seeing her later?
Indirect Questions Exercise #1

Indirect Questions Exercise #1

Choose the correct answer.

When can we use indirect questions?
What is an indirect question?
TRUE or FALSE: An indirect question can be a question within a statement.
TRUE or FALSE: An indirect question can be a question within a question.
Which of the following is an indirect question?
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Indirect Questions Exercise #2

Indirect Questions Exercise #2

Choose the answer that corresponds to an indirect question.

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Indirect Questions Exercise #3

Indirect Questions Exercise #3

Change the normal question into an indirect question.
Example: Where do you live?
I don’t know _______________.
Answer: where you live.

Remember to add the correct punctuation mark after the sentence.
Remember to add the correct punctuation mark after the sentence.
Remember to add the correct punctuation mark after the sentence.
Remember to add the correct punctuation mark after the sentence.
Remember to add the correct punctuation mark after the sentence.
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Summarizing Indirect Questions

I hope this guide has clarified the meaning and examples of indirect questions. Remember that indirect questions can be in the form of declarative or interrogative sentences. They’re basically a question with expressions. Answer the three worksheets and check your answers using the answer sheets.