Indirect questions and polite expressions in English
How it works
Indirect questions and polite expressions are important in English for asking for information politely or making requests. In contrast to direct questions such as ‹Where is the station?›, indirect questions are formed with introductions such as ‹Could you tell me›, ‹Do you know› or ‹I was wondering›, followed by changing the sentence into normal word order (subject before verb), e.g. ‹Could you tell me where the station is?›. Polite requests and questions often use modal verbs such as ‹could›, ‹would› or expressions like ‹Would you mind›. The correct word order and phrasing show respect and friendliness.
Indirect questions begin with a polite introduction and use normal sentence word order (subject before verb). Modal verbs such as ‹could› and ‹would› make requests more polite. After ‹Would you mind›, a verb follows in the ‹-ing› form.
An example
Which expression is more polite: ‹Would you mind closing the window?› or ‹Close the window.›?
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50 Exercises
To the learning unit →Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: English. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.