Reported questions: si, and the question word

Reporting a question deletes its machinery: the question mark, est-ce que and inversion all go. A yes/no question takes si, a question word stays, qu'est-ce que becomes ce que, and an order becomes de plus an infinitive.

The glosses: He asked me if I was coming, where I lived, what I was doing, what was happening. He told me to come.

The tenses shift exactly as they do for statements, which the reported speech page sets out: viens became venais above because the reporting verb is past.

Yes/no questions: si

French has three ways to ask a yes/no question and one way to report it.

• Tu viens ? Est-ce que tu viens ? Viens-tu ? -> Il m'a demandé si je venais. - He asked me if I was coming.
• As-tu fini ? -> Elle m'a demandé si j'avais fini. - She asked me if I had finished.

Si shortens only before il and ils: Il m'a demandé s'il pouvait entrer. - He asked me if he could come in.

This si means whether, so the si clauses golden rule does not reach it. A future or a conditional after it is correct:

• Je ne sais pas si elle viendra. - I don't know whether she will come.
• Il m'a demandé si je viendrais. - He asked me whether I would come.

Question words stay, inversion goes

The question word comes through untouched. What goes is the inversion and any est-ce que: the subject comes back in front of the verb.

1234

1. 1qui c'était
2. 2où c'était
3. 3quand c'était
4. 4combien ça coûtait

Il m'a demandé qui c'était, où c'était, quand c'était, combien ça coûtait: he asked me who it was, where it was, when it was, how much it cost. Subject, then verb.

• Où habites-tu ? -> Il m'a demandé où j'habitais. - He asked me where I lived.
• Quand est-ce que le train part ? -> Elle m'a demandé quand le train partait. - She asked me when the train left.
• Pourquoi a-t-elle dit ça ? -> Je me demande pourquoi elle a dit ça. - I wonder why she said that.
• Quelle heure est-il ? -> Il m'a demandé quelle heure il était. - He asked me what time it was.

With a pronoun subject the order is never inverted: où j'habitais, never où habitais-je. With a short noun subject, the verb may come first for rhythm: Je me demande où est la gare. - I wonder where the station is.