Reported Questions and Commands in French: si, ce que, de

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.

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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.

Qu'est-ce que becomes ce que

Take the est-ce que out of qu'est-ce que and a bare que is left, which at the head of a clause would read as that. French reaches for ce que instead.

• Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? -> Il m'a demandé ce que je faisais. - He asked me what I was doing.
• Que veux-tu ? -> Il m'a demandé ce que je voulais. - He asked me what I wanted.
• Qu'est-ce que c'est ? -> Il m'a demandé ce que c'était. - He asked me what it was.

Qu'est-ce qui becomes ce qui; qui stays

When the what does the verb, the report takes ce qui. It is the same subject-or-object test as for relative pronouns.

• Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? -> Il m'a demandé ce qui se passait. - He asked me what was happening.
• Qu'est-ce qui t'a plu ? -> Elle m'a demandé ce qui m'avait plu. - She asked me what I had liked.

Qui asking about a person is already a good connector, so it stays, as subject or object:

• Qui est là ? -> Il a demandé qui était là. - He asked who was there.
• Qui as-tu vu ? -> Il m'a demandé qui j'avais vu. - He asked me who I had seen.

Orders: de + infinitive

A reported order leaves the tenses altogether: the imperative becomes de plus an infinitive.

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1. 1de nous asseoir
2. 2d'ouvrir le livre
3. 3de ne pas courir
4. 4de nous taire

Classroom orders, reported: on nous a dit de nous asseoir, d’ouvrir le livre, de ne pas courir, de nous taire. We were told to sit down, to open the book, not to run, to be quiet.

• Viens ! -> Il m'a dit de venir. - He told me to come.
• Attends cinq minutes. -> Il m'a dit d'attendre cinq minutes. - He told me to wait five minutes.
• Fermez la porte. -> Elle nous a dit de fermer la porte. - She told us to close the door.

The verb names who got the order with à, usually as a pronoun in front (m', nous, lui, leur):

Dire and demander each do two jobs, and the connector is the whole difference:

Negative orders: ne pas stays together

In front of an infinitive, both halves of the negative sit together, as the advanced negation page shows.

• Ne partez pas ! -> Elle nous a demandé de ne pas partir. - She asked us not to leave.
• Ne faites pas de bruit. -> Il leur a dit de ne pas faire de bruit. - He told them not to make any noise.
• N'oublie jamais ça. -> Elle m'a dit de ne jamais oublier ça. - She told me never to forget that.

Pronouns stuck on the end of an imperative move in front of the infinitive, and shift to the new speaker:

• Assieds-toi. -> Elle m'a dit de m'asseoir. - She told me to sit down.
• Dis-moi la vérité. -> Il m'a demandé de lui dire la vérité. - He asked me to tell him the truth.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Report three questions a stranger asked you, with il m'a demandé si and a question word.
2. Report one qu'est-ce que question with ce que.
3. Report two orders from a teacher, one of them negative, with de.