Reporting Questions, Commands & Requests

You've just retold a conversation to a friend and something feels… off. "She asked me what did I want for lunch." Your teacher steers right past the content and underlines the shape. Or you've written it in a story — "Mum told me go to bed" — and the red pen finds you again. Almost right. Not quite.

Here's the thing. When we report what someone asked, told, or suggested, we don't just paste their original words in and hope for the best. The word order shifts, little connector words appear (and some quietly disappear), and the reporting verb you choose does a surprising amount of the heavy lifting. Nobody's born knowing this — it's taught, then practised, then one day it starts to feel like second nature.

I run weekend writing workshops, and this is one of the spots young writers trip over most often, even after they've already got the hang of reporting plain statements. So if you've got that far and this bit still feels slippery — you're in good company. The good news is that the system is small and clear, and once you can see it, you'll use it in essays, in stories, and in real life without fretting over every clause.

Before you read on, here's where we're heading. By the end of this article, you'll be able to: - Turn yes/no and wh- questions into reported speech using if/whether and statement word order. - Report commands and requests with tell/ask/order + object + to-infinitive. - Report suggestions with suggest + -ing or a suggest that-clause. - Spot the classic traps — question word order still hanging around, or a missing object after tell. - Choose the right pattern for school writing and for chatting about a conversation casually.

Beginner (Foundation)

Let's start with the simplest picture. Someone asks a question, and a bit later you report that question to someone else. You're not quoting their exact words — that would be direct speech, with quotation marks around it — you're reporting the idea. That one difference is what changes the shape of the sentence.

When you report a yes/no question — the kind that can be answered yes or no — you use ask (or wonder, or want to know) plus if or whether, and you turn the question into a normal statement. No do/does/did helper hanging about at the front, and the subject comes before the verb, just like any ordinary sentence.

Direct: "Are you coming to the match?" Reported: She asked me if I was coming to the match.

Direct: "Do you like science?" Reported: He asked whether I liked science.

Both if and whether work here — think of them as the little bridge that means "yes or no is the kind of answer this question wants."

When you report a wh- question — one that starts with what, where, when, why, who or how — you keep the wh- word, drop the question word order, and again use a statement shape. No if/whether this time, because you're not dealing with a yes-or-no demand.

Direct: "Where is the library?" Reported: She asked me where the library was.

Direct: "What time does the bus leave?" Reported: He asked what time the bus left.

Notice what's gone missing — the inverted question order. We do not say "She asked me where was the library." That's the trap that gets marked wrong almost every single time.

Commands and requests work differently again. When someone tells you to do something — "Close the window," or "Please help me with this" — we report it with tell or ask, plus the object (the person who was spoken to), plus to and the base verb (the infinitive).

Direct: "Sit down." Reported: The teacher told us to sit down.

Direct: "Can you open the door, please?" Reported: She asked me to open the door.

And if the command is negative — "Don't run in the corridor" — the not goes in front of the infinitive: The teacher told us not to run in the corridor.

Suggestions are their own little family. The everyday reporting verb here is suggest, and after it you can use an -ing form: "Let's meet at the bus stop." → He suggested meeting at the bus stop.

Or a that-clause: He suggested that we meet at the bus stop.

We'll go deeper on those two patterns later — for now, your foundation is three solid tools: if/whether plus statement order for yes/no questions; the wh- word plus statement order for wh- questions; and tell/ask + object + to-infinitive for commands and requests, with suggest + -ing for suggestions.

Do you need to worry about every tense change right now? Honestly, no. If you've already practised reported statements (that's our article E1), you'll recognise the same idea creeping in here — a present tense often becomes past when the reporting sits in the past. If that still feels wobbly, park it for the Intermediate section; our first job is simply the shape of the reported question and the to-infinitive pattern for instructions.

Quick recap: - Yes/no reported questions: ask + if/whether + normal statement order (no do/does/did). - Wh- reported questions: keep the wh- word + statement order (not "where was…?"). - Commands and requests: tell/ask/order + object + to + verb (told us to sit; asked me to help). - Negative command: told us not to run. - Suggestions: suggested meeting or suggested that we meet.

Intermediate (Development)

Once the basic shapes are in place, the Intermediate stage is about handling tenses cleanly, choosing between if and whether, picking the right reporting verb for the force of what someone said, and — this one matters — not leaving suggest half-finished.

Tense and pronouns — a quick working system

When the reporting verb is in the past (asked, told, suggested), the tenses inside often step one notch back: present becomes past, past becomes past perfect, will becomes would, can becomes could. It's the same system you already met for reported statements over in [E1], so you're not learning a new rule so much as reusing an old one. Pronouns and time words shift too, when they make sense for the story — I becomes she, tomorrow becomes the next day.

Direct: "Will you bring your homework tomorrow?" Reported: Mr Harris asked me if I would bring my homework the next day.

If the situation is still true, formal school writing usually backshifts anyway, while a live chat might not bother. Don't panic about getting this pixel-perfect — at this stage, consistency and clear meaning matter far more than absolute purity.

If versus whether

For yes/no reported questions, if and whether are largely interchangeable:

She asked if / whether I had finished.

Whether is a shade smarter in two places that school writing tends to love — when you've got or not nearby, and when the whole thing feels a bit more formal.

She asked whether I was free or not. I asked whether we should revise compounds or clause types first.

So pick whether when you want the sentence to sound that little bit more polished. Either is fine after "asked if/whether…" — this isn't a rule to lose sleep over.

Tell, ask, order — and the object that won't leave

The object is not optional after tell in this pattern. English really does want to know who was spoken to.

She told me to rewrite the opening. NOT: She told to rewrite the opening.

Ask takes the same shape for polite requests: He asked me to wait outside.

Order is stronger — a headteacher, a coach, a parent at the very end of their patience: The coach ordered us to run another lap.

For negatives, keep not before the infinitive: Mum told me not to stay out late. The librarian asked us not to make so much noise.

If you're foggy about what the infinitive is doing here — as opposed to the -ing form (the gerund) that follows some other verbs — that's owned by our infinitive and gerund articles, F1 and F2. The short version for this topic: after tell/ask/order + object, it's normally to + base verb.

Suggest, without bossing anyone around

Here's the one that catches everyone out. Suggest does not take the object + to-infinitive pattern that tell and ask use.

We do not say: He suggested me to revise earlier. We do say: He suggested revising earlier. Or: He suggested that I revise earlier. / He suggested that I should revise earlier.

Most of the time, school writing stays clean and simple with either suggested that we start… or suggested starting… We'll meet a slightly more formal flavour of that that-clause in the Advanced section — with a nod back to something called the mandative subjunctive — but you don't need the fancy name to use it correctly.

Questions that were really requests

Spoken English loves to muddle things by dressing a request up as a question — "Could you pass the glue?" is really "please do this." So when you report it, you get a choice. You can treat the idea as a pure question, or as a request:

She asked if I could pass the glue. She asked me to pass the glue.

Both are fine. The second is often cleaner if what the person actually wanted was for you to do something.

Common Mistake: Keeping question word order inside the reported clause: She asked me where was the toilet → She asked me where the toilet was.

Pro-Tip: After tell, always name the person: told us to…, told her not to… Forget the object and the sentence usually collapses.

Quick recap: - Past reporting verbs usually bring tense backshift and pronoun/time shifts — same idea as E1. - If and whether both work for yes/no; whether (especially with or not) feels a touch more formal. - Tell / ask / order + object + to-infinitive; not goes before the infinitive for bans and warnings. - Suggest takes -ing or that… — never suggested me to… - A polite "Could you…?" can be reported as a question or as asked me to…

Advanced (Mastery)

At the Advanced stage you're not only getting the shape right — you're choosing verbs that match the force and tone of what was said, handling the edge cases cleanly, and sounding natural in a story, a drama review, or a sharp exam essay.

A wider shelf of reporting verbs

You don't have to lean on ask and tell forever. There's a whole shelf to reach for:

• Questions: ask, wonder, want to know, enquire [US: inquire], query (more formal, more written).
• Commands and strong instructions: tell, order, command, instruct, direct.
• Requests, softer: ask, request, beg, implore, urge.
• Suggestions and ideas: suggest, propose, recommend, advise.

Watch the patterns, though — they don't all behave the same. Advise often takes object + to-infinitive (advised me to…), while recommend patterns more like suggest.

Direct: "Please don't tell anyone." Reported (forceful): She begged me not to tell anyone. Softer: She asked me not to tell anyone.

Direct: "You should check your sources twice." Reported: My teacher advised me to check my sources twice. Or: My teacher recommended checking / recommended that I check my sources twice.

Whether… or not, and embedded alternatives

Whether handles a choice elegantly:

The prefect asked whether we were free or not. I asked whether the test was on Tuesday or Wednesday.

You can keep or not alongside whether far more comfortably than with if in careful writing — that's whether's home turf.

Negative questions and tag questions

A reported negative question quietly loses the surprise of its negative grammar but keeps the meaning:

Direct: "Haven't you finished yet?" Reported: She asked if / whether I had finished yet.

If the speaker's disappointment is the point, you might steer it differently — She asked why I hadn't finished yet — which shifts the focus a little. And a tag question ("You're coming, aren't you?") usually just reports as a plain yes/no: He asked if I was coming.

The suggest that clause and the mandative flavour

In careful British (and American) writing, after suggest / recommend / propose / insist you'll sometimes meet the mandative subjunctive — a bare base form of the verb, even after he/she/it:

The Head suggested that every form submit its report by Friday. The committee recommended that the trip be cancelled [US: canceled].

You'll also hear should + base verb, which is very common in UK English: …suggested that every form should submit… …recommended that the trip should be cancelled.

And you'll hear everyday, informal versions with ordinary tense agreement — …suggested that we submitted… For schoolwork, though, suggested that we submit / should submit, or the clean suggest + -ing, are your safest and clearest tools. The full depth on the subjunctive lives with the mood material in Pillar 3 — but you now know why a bare submit after suggested that is not a typing error.

Register, story writing, and what you leave unsaid

Let's be honest — between friends, people often stick close to the original question. "And she was like, where's my bag?" That's sociable; it's not school assessment. In formal write-ups and controlled narrative, you use the full reported patterns.

Fiction writers sometimes keep question word order on purpose, for voice and immediacy — "He demanded where was the money." As a stylist you may break the "rule" deliberately; but as a student sitting an exam, you keep the statement-order pattern unless the mark scheme is clearly rewarding dialogue-flavoured effects.

And one last freedom: you don't have to report every word. Summarising the sense is perfectly good writing.

She asked a lot of questions about the trip. He told us, in no uncertain terms, to leave the lab.

Common Mistake: He suggested me to join the drama club. → He suggested joining the drama club / He suggested that I join the drama club.

Pro-Tip: Match the reporting verb's strength to the original speech. Asked is mild; ordered is sharp; begged is emotional. Reach for told every time and your writing goes flat.

Quick recap: - Verbs beyond ask/tell let you show force: order, beg, advise, recommend, propose… - Whether… or not — and other alternatives — report cleanly with whether. - Suggest/recommend that can take should, an everyday tense, or a mandative bare verb form. - Exams want statement word order; fiction can play with voice once you own the standard pattern. - Summarise the sense when the exact words would only bloat the sentence.

UK vs US Note

The mechanics of reporting questions, commands, requests and suggestions are shared across UK and US English — there's no separate grammar engine to learn. The only differences are cosmetic: spellings such as cancelled [US: canceled] and enquire [US: inquire] in some formal contexts, plus a mild preference. US school writing leans a little harder on whether and on the mandative that she go, but both varieties use that she should go and suggest + -ing freely.

Key Takeaways

• Reported yes/no questions: asked if/whether + statement order.
• Reported wh- questions: asked + wh- word + statement order.
• Commands and requests: tell / ask / order + object + to-infinitive (negative: not to).
• Suggestions: suggest + -ing or suggest that… — never suggest me to…
• Backshift, pronouns and time words follow the same system as reported statements (E1).
• Stronger verbs and careful suggest/recommend that choices are what lift you into Advanced.

Check Your Understanding

1. Report: "Did you finish the worksheet?" (She asked me…)
2. Report: "Where have you put my trainers?" (He asked…)
3. Report: "Don't slam the door." (The caretaker told us…)
4. Correct or rewrite: My sister suggested me to try drama club.
5. Report with a suggestion pattern: "Let's start the group chat again." (Sam suggested…)

Answer key

1. She asked me if / whether I had finished the worksheet.
2. He asked where I had put his / my trainers. (the pronoun depends on who owned them in context)
3. The caretaker told us not to slam the door.
4. Wrong → My sister suggested trying drama club. / My sister suggested that I try drama club.
5. Sam suggested starting the group chat again. / Sam suggested that we start the group chat again.

Related Articles

• E1 — Reporting Statements — backshift, pronoun and time changes in detail.
• B2 — The Imperative — the form of commands (this article reports them; it doesn't re-teach them).
• B3 — Questions: Yes/No and Wh- — direct question shapes.
• F1 — Infinitives
• F2 — Gerunds
• Pillar 3 hub — mood, and the mandative subjunctive.
• Pillar 4 hub — reported speech and related reporting work.

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