Indirect Questions
If you want to tell someone about a question somebody else asked, you need to form this question in indirect speech – as an indirect question. How does that work? If you have already worked through our entries on Indirect Speech, this should be easy for you…
If the reporting verb is in the simple past, you have to backshift the tense in the reported question.
Hannah: "Where is my jacket?" 
Hannah asked where her jacket was.
Hannah asked where her jacket was.Question words like "where, who, when, why, how", and "what" remain the same. When in the direct question there is no such question word, you have to use if or whether.
Mrs Biscuit: "Would you like some more peas, Mike?" Mrs Biscuit asked Mike whether he wanted some more peas.
Mrs Biscuit asked Mike whether he wanted some more peas.Indirekte Fragesätze
Wenn du jemandem von einer Frage erzählen willst, die jemand anderes gestellt hat, musst du einen Fragesatz in der Indirekten Rede bilden – einen Indirekten Fragesatz. Wie funktioniert das? Wenn du dich schon durch unsere Artikel zum Thema Indirekte Rede gearbeitet hast, dann sollte das hier ganz leicht für dich sein…
Wenn das einleitende Verb im Simple Past steht, musst du die Zeitform im Indirekten Fragesatz zurückversetzen.
Hannah: "Where is my jacket?" Hannah asked where her jacket was.
Hannah asked where her jacket was.Fragewörter wie "where, who, when, why, how", und "what" bleiben gleich. Falls in der Direkten Frage kein solches Fragewort vorkommt, dann musst du in der Indirekten Frage if oder whether benutzen.
Mrs Biscuit: "Would you like some more peas, Mike?" Mrs Biscuit asked Mike whether he wanted some more peas.
Mrs Biscuit asked Mike whether he wanted some more peas.Mark and his Granny
Mark went to visit his grandmother.- When he rang the bell at her door, she asked from the inside: "Who is there?"
- Mark answered: "It's me, Mark!" And he asked: "Do you want to let me in?"
She opened the door and hugged him. - "Are you hungry?", she asked. He replied: "I am starving."
They went inside. She had cooked a huge meal. - "Do you like potatoes and fish?", she asked.
- "I like fish", said Mark. "I do not really like potatoes."
His grandmother sighed. - "Would you prefer fries?", she asked unwillingly.
- "I would love that!", Mark screamed.
Mark went to visit his grandmother.
- When he rang the bell at her door, she asked from the inside who was there.
- Mark answered that it was him and he asked whether she wanted to let him in.
She opened the door and hugged him. - She asked whether he was hungry and he replied that he was starving.
They went inside. She had cooked a huge meal. - She asked him whether he liked fish and potatoes.
- Mark answered that he liked fish but that he did not really like potatoes.
His grandmother sighed. - Unwillingly she asked him whether he preferred fries.
- Mark screamed that he would love that.
