Há basicamente duas principais formas de fazer perguntas: diretamente e indiretamente. As perguntas diretas são as perguntas “normais” que geralmente são feitas aos amigos, colegas, membros da família, etc. São usadas mais em um contexto informal. Normalmente usamos as perguntas indiretas com as pessoas que conhecemos bem e temos um grau maior de intimidade.
Eg. Do you speak English?
What time is it?
Já as perguntas indiretas são usadas em situações mais formais; com pessoas que não temos nenhum grau de intimidade ou em ambientes de trabalho.
Eg. Could you tell me what time it is?
Would you mind telling me what that is?
Usamos algumas expressões para fazer indirect questions:
Do you know …? (Você sabe …?)
I don’t know … (Eu não sei …)
Can you tell me …? (Você pod me contar …?)
Could you tell me …? (Você poderia me contar …?)
Do you have any idea …? (Você tem ideia …?)
I wonder … (Será que …?)
Please explain … (Por favor, explique …)
Vale ressaltar que tanto a forma direta quanto a indireta tem o mesmo sentido. O uso delas é feito a depender da situação como já foi mencionado.
Observe a frase a seguir:Could you tell me where the bank is?
Observe que na frase mencionada o verbo to be (is) foi utilizado depois do sujeito (bank) da mesma forma como estruturamos frases afirmativas. (The bank is over there.). Porém, em perguntas diretas o verbo to be viria antes do sujeito. Chamamos isso de ‘inversão’. É o que acontece em perguntas diretas em diferentes tempos verbais.
Quando a pergunta não usa question words (what, where, when, how, etc.) usamos if ou whether (mais formal). A construção da pergunta indireta é basicamente realizada pela construção de duas frases: a primeira (que normalmente utilizamos a estrutura e pergunta) e a segunda que deverá estar na forma afirmativa (sem inversão).
Em perguntas com do, does e did, os verbos auxiliares desaparecem na resposta.
e.g.
What time does the movie begin?
Can you tell me what time the movie begins?
Where did she go?
Do you know where she went?
What do you mean?
I don’t know what you mean.
| VERB TENSE | DIRECT QUESTION | INDIRECT QUESTION |
| Present simple with 'be' | Is he French? | Could you tell me if he is French? |
| Present continuous | Is the restaurant closing now? | Can you tell me if the restaurant is closing now? |
| Past simple with 'be' | Was he late for the meeting? | Can you tell me if he was late for the meeting? |
| Past continuous | Were you watching TV at 3pm? | Can you tell me if you were watching TV at 3pm? |
| Present perfect | Has Lucy been to Mexico? | Can you tell me if Lucy has been to Mexico? |
| Present perfect continuous | Has she been living here long? | Can you tell me if she has been living here long? |
| Past perfect | Had she found this job when she moved here? | Can you tell me if she had found this job when she moved here? |
| Past perfect continuous | Had she been living here long when she met you? | Can you tell me if she had been living here long when she met you? |
| Future simple with 'will' | Will she start her new job next week? | Can you tell me if she will start her new job next week? |
| Future simple with 'going to' | Is it going to rain later? | Can you tell me if it is going to rain later? |
| Future continuous | Will Lisa be meeting the boss later? | Can you tell me if Lisa will be meeting the boss later? |
| Future perfect | Will he have finished the report by tonight? | Can you tell me if he will have finished the report by tonight? |
| Future perfect continuous | Will he have been studying French for twenty years when he retires? | Can you tell me if he will have been studying French for twenty years when he retires? |
| Modal verbs | Should we start now? | Can you tell me if we should start now? |
