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German indirect speech consists formally of dependent clauses depending on a verb of saying, holding, thinking or the like, but they may sometimes be elliptically left out and simply implied. Questions take their question-word, yes-no-questions take ob ("whether"), and statements take dass for the conjunction.
Indirect questions which are dependent on a verb of asking in the classical period usually use a subjunctive verb. [81] (The indicative is found in early Latin and sometimes in poetry.) [82] When the context is past, as in the second example below, the tense of the quoted verb is usually changed to past in according with the sequence of tenses ...
– Inversion in a direct question b. *Cathy wonders what did Sam eat. – Incorrect; inversion should not be used in an indirect question c. Cathy wonders what Sam ate. – Correct; indirect question formed without inversion. Similarly: a. We asked whether Tom had left. – Correct; indirect question without inversion b. *We asked whether had ...
An indirect question is often introduced by εἰ (ei) "if", even though the original question does not contain a conditional clause. [97] In a historic context, the main verb may be changed to the optative mood, as in the first example below. In this example, the 2nd person present indicative βούλει; (boúlei?) "are you willing?"
An interrogative word or question word is a function word used to ask a question, such as what, which, when, where, who, whom, whose, why, whether and how. They are sometimes called wh-words , because in English most of them start with wh- (compare Five Ws ).
A complement of a verbum dicendi can be direct or indirect speech. Direct speech is a single unit of linguistic object that is '"mentioned" rather than used.' [1] In contrast, indirect speech is a proposition whose parts make semantic and syntactic contribution to the whole sentence just like parts of the matrix clause (i.e. the main clause/sentence, as opposed to an embedded clause).
Interrogative sentences are generally divided between yes–no questions, which ask whether or not something is the case (and invite an answer of the yes/no type), and wh-questions, which specify the information being asked about using a word like which, who, how, etc.
A tag question is a construction in which an interrogative element is added to a declarative or an imperative clause. The resulting speech act comprises an assertion paired with a request for confirmation. For instance, the English tag question "You're John, aren't you?" consists of the declarative clause "You're John" and the interrogative tag ...