She asked where I lived (reporting questions) (B1 Grammar)

A reported question tells someone what another person asked, without repeating their exact words. You use it to pass a question on: She asked..., He wanted to know.... Because you're now telling the story from the outside, the question changes shape — it drops the question order and the question mark, and the verb usually steps back in time.

Reporting a question = telling someone what was asked

• Direct: "Where do you live?" → Reported: She asked where I lived.
• Direct: "Are you ready?" → Reported: He wanted to know if I was ready.
• You're not asking the question yourself — you're telling someone it was asked.
• Not "She asked "where do you live?"" — say "She asked where I lived.". A reported question is your own retelling, so it becomes a normal statement — no quote, no question mark.
• Try it: You want to tell a friend what Sara asked you. Which one reports her question? (Sara asked where the station was. / Where is the station? / Sara said the station.) Answer: Sara asked where the station was. — Reporting a question means telling someone it was asked: Sara asked where the station was. "Where is the station?" is the direct question, not a report of it, and "Sara said the station" reports nothing that was asked.

Step the verb back in time

When the reporting verb is in the past (asked, wanted to know), the verb inside the question usually steps back one step: present → past. So am/is/are → was/were, a base verb like live → lived, can → could, will → would. This step back in time is why "Where are you?" becomes "He asked where I was."

• "Where are you?" → He asked where I was. (are → was)
• "What do you want?" → She asked what I wanted. (want → wanted)
• "Can you swim?" → He asked if I could swim. (can → could)
• Not "He asked where I am." — say "He asked where I was.". asked is in the past, so the verb steps back too: am → was.
• Try it: Sven: "What are you reading?" Report his question. The verb must step back in time. (Leave out the word you don't need.) Answer: He asked what I was reading. — Because "asked" is past, the verb steps back: are → was, so "am reading" becomes "was reading": He asked what I was reading. Keeping "am reading" leaves the verb in the present, but reporting it later steps it back.

Keep the wh-word, then go back to normal order

When you report a question, keep the wh-word (where, what, why) but then use normal sentence order: subject + verb, not verb + subject. No question mark at the end.

• "Where are you?" → He asked where I was.
• "How old is she?" → He asked how old she was.
• "What are you doing?" → She asked what I was doing.
• Not "He asked where was I." — say "He asked where I was.". After the wh-word, go back to normal order: I was, not "was I".
• Try it: Amina: "Where are you?" Report her question. Use normal order, no question mark. (Leave out the word you don't need.) Answer: She asked where I was. — Keep the wh-word, then normal order: She asked where I was. A reported question ends in a full stop, not a question mark, so the "?" is left out.

Drop the do / does / did

Direct questions use do / does / did. In a reported question, drop them and put the time into the main verb instead.

• "Where do you live?" → He asked where I lived.
• "Why did you leave?" → She asked why I left.
• "What does it cost?" → He asked what it cost.
• Try it: Diego: "Where do you work?" Report his question. Drop the do. (Leave out the word you don't need.) Answer: He asked where I worked. — Reported questions drop do and let the verb carry the time itself: He asked where I worked. Keeping "do" would bring back the question shape, so it's left out.

No wh-word? Join with if

A yes/no question (one with no wh-word, like Are you ready? or Do you like it?) has no wh-word to start the reported question. Join it with if (or whether), then use normal order — subject + verb, no question mark. The verb still steps back in time.

• "Are you ready?" → She asked if I was ready.
• "Do you like it?" → He asked if I liked it.
• "Can you drive?" → They asked whether I could drive.
• Not "She asked was I ready." — say "She asked if I was ready.". No wh-word, so add if, then normal order: if I was.
• Try it: Mei: "Are you ready?" Report her yes/no question with if. (Leave out the word you don't need.) Answer: She asked if I was ready. — A yes/no question with no wh-word joins with if, then normal order: She asked if I was ready. "Was I" keeps the question order, which reported speech drops, so it's left out.
• Try it: Omar's exact question was: "Do you speak French?" — a yes/no question with no wh-word. Which one correctly reports his yes/no question? (He asked if I spoke French. / He asked what I spoke French.) Answer: He asked if I spoke French. — His question had no wh-word, so it joins with if: He asked if I spoke French. You only keep a wh-word like what when the original question actually started with one ("What do you speak?"), which this one didn't.