How to Make and Use Embedded Questions in English

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stream my name is Alisha and today we’re

going to be talking about embedded

questions of metod questions as you can

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ready woohoo so let’s begin today’s

topic is embedded questions embedded

questions I talked a little bit about

this point in a recent livestream maybe

two or three weeks ago I talked about

using embedded questions to express

problems I focused on this grammar point

so today we’re going to review this and

I’m also going to give you some more

patterns that you can use in other

situations so not just when you’re

expressing problems so I have as always

three parts to today’s lesson first I’m

going to cover I’m gonna move over here

first I’m going to cover what they are

this will be part 1 for today’s lesson

part 2 I’m going to cover grammar rules

and part 3 I’m going to talk about

common patterns that you can use to

practice so I can’t show everything at

once I don’t have a big whiteboard in my

house but I hope that you can pick up

something and get some good practice so

let’s begin

yes I have a very small weight where

maybe some of you remember when we first

started doing live streams a few years

ago we use the small whiteboard approach

so it’s just like old times right okay

let’s get started so let’s begin with

this first whiteboard that I showed you

let’s begin with this one embedded

question what is an embedded question so

let’s start here an embedded question is

a question inside a question or inside a

statement so we can use a question

inside another question or we can put a

question inside a regular statement just

a statement so just a simple fact breaks

are not a simple fact but just one

simple idea so this the next point when

should I use this this is maybe a good

thing to consider for today’s lesson

when should I use this grammar point

when you want to make a question or a

statement less direct or when you want

to make it a bit softer you should use

or you can use a direct question so

let’s begin with this example here so

first example here is where is my bag

imagine you’re talking to a friend yeah

so if you’re talking to a friend and you

have two options which of these is going

to sound like softer so this question

where is my bag this is a direct

question yeah so it’s like I can’t find

my bag in this situation if I say to my

friend where’s my bag

it’s probably okay there my friend but

if I’m like angry and upset and I say

where’s my bag my friend might think I’m

like angry or I think they stole my bag

or something like that so this question

is not incorrect but it’s more direct

this question here do you know where my

bag is

is softer and it has an embedded

question inside it hmm okay so where is

the embedded question in this sentence

we’re going to talk about like how to

make these today

so first let’s break this sentence down

do you know where my bag

is right here this where my bag is is

the embedded question so that means this

is the question inside this bigger

question so like the big question is do

you know this thing so this question is

actually the same as this question but

in order to make embedded questions we

have to change the grammar a little bit

so that’s what we’re going to focus on

in today’s lesson moving from like these

really direct questions that are

sometimes kind of aggressive to these

less aggressive sounding sometimes or

these softer less direct questions okay

cool

I am looking for your questions in the

chat some good examples are coming in

hey there Andrew do you know if they are

coming yes perfect example of an

embedded question learn American English

with this guy I am actually live from my

living room today we’ve really exciting

on Facebook I don’t see any questions

yet please feel free to send your

questions in the chat I will do my best

to answer your questions your relevant

questions your questions about the

lesson and I will also try to check your

sentences live as well if you are not

watching this live please feel free to

send your questions though too so we can

at least see your comments and so on

okay let’s look at one more example

let’s compare these basic questions and

these embedded questions let’s take a

look at one more example here what’s her

name what’s her name so again these are

not like incorrect this is a totally

correct question what’s her name

is this question I can’t remember what

her name is

so again these two questions they

express the same idea we want to know

what her name is

this question what’s her name sounds

more direct this question I can’t

remember what her name is sounds softer

less direct so in this sentence I can’t

remember what her name is

here is the embedded question what her

name is what her name is

so you’ll notice again this question is

a bit different from this question this

what’s her name style question so we’re

going to talk in part two of today’s

lesson about how to make it like the

special grammar that we use for embedded

questions okay so with that I’ll take a

quick break I’m going to check your

questions I guess I’ll put my phone up

here I’m checking your Facebook comments

from my phone because Facebook was a

little it’s hard to run both Facebook

and YouTube on my phone so I’ll put this

here so that you can see I don’t know

maybe I’ll put it here you can’t see the

topic but maybe there okay embedded

question your things some of you are

writing to me on Facebook do you know

where my bag is yes perfect I think that

was the example here some other ones

that I saw do you know where is my bag

is that correct or not no do you know

where is my bag that is an incorrect

embedded question I’m going to talk

about why in part 2 on YouTube some

comments Kurt earnest says do you know

where the library is good I can’t

remember what your country name is good

good good nice grammar everybody I don’t

remember what university he suggested to

us okay can you tell me what’s her name

make sure I can’t work I’m sorry can you

tell me what her name is

okay so some of you are sharing some

example sentences the have then need a

little fix so I’m going to talk in part

two

about the flow how to make how to make

an embedded question with kind of a

special grammar that we need to consider

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questions also please make sure to like

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that it is helpful for many people okay

let’s continue to part two let’s talk

about some grammar rules grammar rules

for embedded questions

hooray today because space is limited

because space is limited today I have

made a flow chart a flow you can use

when you practice making embedded

questions so to practice today’s grammar

point I will take you through kind of

kind of a three step and yes process to

make your questions and to make

decisions about the grammar of your

sentence so let’s begin first the first

part of our flow is to look at the

question you want to embed look at the

question you want to embed this means

like what is the basic question that you

want to ask you want to make this

questions softer so for example in my

first part this part where is my bag or

what’s her name

that’s the question I want to embed

first we need to look at that question

so look at the question and ask yourself

this first does the question use a form

of B so when I say B I mean the verb be

so like is or are that kind of thing

past tense as well it was or work so

does the question use a form of B if yes

move the verb after the subject so what

does this look like move the verb after

the subject where is my bag in this

sentence we have this verb be yeah where

is my bag so for this grammar rule I

just said move the verb after the

subject so that’s why in this situation

is it’s hard to hold to wait for the one

sorry that’s why here this is is at the

end of the sentence in my embedded

question so to follow this rule is moves

over here oh sorry it’s hard to write

this way okay so it’s hard to see where

is my bag move this is to the end of the

sentence like I’ve done here

do you know where my bag is so this

question is incorrect like in in a basic

question statement where my bag is

that’s incorrect in this grammar inside

another question this is the correct

sentence so this is the first question

to ask yourself is the verb be being

used in my question if yes

move it after the subject we’re going to

practice this together in just a moment

if no the next question to ask yourself

does the question use a form of do does

the question use a form of do if the

answer is yes remove

the do word conjugate the remaining verb

to match the subject we’re going to

practice this on this board in just a

moment finally if the answer is no

there’s just no change okay so let’s

practice this I know it’s hard to do

some of you are saying this is better on

the board well of course it’s better on

the board but this is the situation so

let’s work together okay

first where is my coffee where is my

coffee okay

so let’s apply this rule to our sigh

let’s apply this flow to this question

so I want to use where is my coffee in

an embedded question that starts with do

you know so let’s work through these

steps to make our embedded question yeah

okay first of all where is my coffee

here’s my basic sentence and this part

is is my beaver yeah so does the

question use a form of B the answer here

is yes right so this is is here this is

a form of to be right here so I know I

need to move this is after my subject

yeah I said move the verb after the

subject so do you know yeah good job

everybody do you know where my coffee is

exactly this is really hard to write at

this angle but I’ll try do you know

where my coffee is perfect exactly do

you know where my coffee is exactly nice

job everybody

perfect look at that and on Facebook I

see some of you on facebook too so Jenny

wrote do you know where my husband is

interesting questions do you know where

my coffee is good good good do you know

where my coffee is very nice Edgar and

Jacob great job everybody

okay very nice very nice let’s go to

number two example number two when does

he usually a

when does he usually arrive so I need

binoculars in order to read the word

sorry I’ll try to make it bigger I know

that this is not the best situation but

I’m trying we’re all trying ok ok next

one when does he usually arrive

ok so let’s apply our flow chart again

first it’s hard to read does the

question use a form of B so in this

question when does he usually arrive we

do not see a be verb here so the answer

is no okay next question does the

question use a form of do yes when does

he usually arrive so we know we need to

use this du rule so what should we do

yes it does remove the do word conjugate

the remaining verb to match the subject

ok so what does this mean first I have

to remove the do verb so that means this

so does I know does needs to go away

ok then I need to conjugate the

remaining verb so the verb that’s left

here

the remaining verb is arrived in this

case arrived arrived so when I say

conjugate the remaining verb I mean make

the verb match the subject so think

about it when you make when you make a

sentence with he or she or it in a

simple present tense sentence we use a

conjugation like he goes or she goes

which is different from I go or you go

right so use the same conjugation so

that changed changing the verb like that

is called conjugation so yeah some of

you have the correct answer already so

we need to change this verb arrived to

arrive sorry hard to see arrives

so we add that s at the end it’s very

nice many of you are sending the correct

answer in the chat fantastic so I’ll

write it can you tell me when sorry when

when he usually arrives if can you tell

me when he usually arrives at native

speed can you tell me when he usually

arrives so this is an example of how we

change the sentence when we use a do

verb like this helping firm yeah oh you

don’t

very nice job everybody I’m checking

your comments trying to check your

comments doing everything live now on

YouTube I see many of you can you tell

me when she usually arrives says juice

nice nice nice rowana can you tell me

when he usually arrives perfect perfect

very nice job everybody

my phone is exploding stop texting me

right now everybody okay so um I see

lots and lots of correct answers which

is fantastic so I’m going to go to the

last one to practice here in our flow

chart so our final example sentence is a

very important question who ate my

cookie who ate my cookie okay so what

should we do let’s use I wonder this is

pronounced wonder yeah so wonder this is

different from think so when you use the

verb wonder I wonder it’s like you’re

you’re trying to guess I want to guess

something I wonder so I want to use I

wonder inside or with rather this

question who ate my cookie so let’s take

a look some of you are already sending

the correct answer in the chat very nice

everybody let’s go through the flow just

so we can see again does the question

use a form of B no okay - does the

question use a form of do No

so the final thing

on this flowchart is no change that

means I don’t have to change this

question because it does not use do and

it does not use B so that means I wonder

I’ll try to write like this

I wonder who ate my cookie cookie so we

don’t know did your roommate eat it did

your teacher eat it did your friend eat

it we don’t know but we want to express

this kind of wondering feeling we do

that with an embedded question

I wonder who ate my cookie some of you

are asking me why on earth why am i

using these tiny whiteboards I am

broadcasting from home today because

you’re just joining

so that is why today’s lesson looks a

little bit different from usual ah I

wonder who ate my cookie says the chat

very nice everyone is asking this very

important question nice job everybody

fantastic great work uh I wonder who ate

my cookies says Malika on Facebook woo

cookies that you’ve made it plural very

nice ok uh seeley seeley seeley sorry if

I mispronounced your name on the YouTube

chat says I’m wondering would that be

right - in this case I’m wondering who

ate my cookie you might hear somebody

say that yeah I think this one is a

little more natural like if you are

thinking like for a while

like like if you want to say all day

today I have ring who ate my cookie

maybe that’s ok if it’s continuing so

it’s sort of like a one one time thing

like I’m this is my idea right now oh I

wonder if you ate my cookie

ok I’ll finish there for this part many

of you are saying you should have a real

board usually there is a real white

board but because of situations today I

am broadcasting live from home thank you

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are maybe just new

to our live thank you for coming do we

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no we have it every week

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more break and then a control desk

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extend the class today a little bit whoo

that’s fantastic so I will take a little

bit of extra time to do that because I

have a couple more points to talk about

okay I am checking messages from our

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okay I don’t see any questions on

youtube or on Facebook so let’s go to

the last part of today’s lessons then

the last part of today’s lesson will

focus on common patterns for you to

practice common patterns for you to

practice so I created a list of some

very common ways we

whose embedded questions so I hope that

you can practice this together with with

these grammar rules if you want to take

a screenshot I know it’s really really

small but I hope that this helps you

okay so let’s go to common patterns for

you to practice first one

do you know plus WH question plus some

information and maybe is so we’ve

practiced this before in today’s lesson

we practiced this pattern right here do

you know where my bag is so this is a wh

question pattern with do you know WH

question means those questions that

start with WH like who what where when

why are those things so we can use those

with do you know do you know when you’re

looking for information so this will

make your question softer for example do

you know where the restroom is or do you

know who the teachers are so these use

this WH question in this case the WH

question is where or who why did I use R

in this sentence the reason that R is

here instead of is is because teachers

is plural yeah so if the question was

just about one teacher do you know who

the teacher is that would be fine who

the teachers are so please make sure to

consider singular and plural forms okay

part two or rather number two here I’m

gonna move this number two here is I

can’t remember plus WH question

plus something and is maybe at the end

of your sentence so for example I can’t

remember what my password is I can’t

remember what my password is or I can’t

remember where I put my keys

I can’t remember where I put my key so

what is happening in this sentence I

can’t remember plus a wh question what

or where here my password is or I put my

keys in this sentence there’s no is at

the end because there’s no be verb in

this sentence there’s no B or do verb

here so we don’t need to change that if

you don’t understand that please review

this video for the grammar rule section

in part 2 you can find that there ok

let’s go to the next one could you tell

me could you tell me something something

is could you tell me something something

is this is a very polite way to request

information so instead of just asking

your direct question like where’s the

station or when does the train arrive

you can ask this more politely with a

pattern like this could you tell me

where the station is or could you tell

me when the train arrives this sounds

more polite less direct so you can use

this oh my gosh I’m late but I hear that

it’s okay to be a little bit late today

so we’ll take our time with the last one

the last pattern for you to practice is

what we practiced a moment ago I wonder

I wonder oh sorry I gotta change

position guys okay I wonder is again

when we’re like we’re trying to guess

something like I don’t know I’m not sure

hmm we use I wonder to describe that

feeling

I wonder something something is or are

whatever if your sentence uses a be verb

so I wonder where my parents are it’s an

interesting question or I wonder when

we’ll see each other again I want to

talk about this last sentence I’ll read

it one more time I wonder when we’ll see

each other again I wonder when we’ll see

each other again

what is happening in this sentence this

uses we will this wheel is we will right

here I’m looking at this partner

why is my red market good okay I wonder

when we will see each other again so

some of you might be asking like what is

happening in this sentence when I make a

question with will it should be

something like when will we see each

other again

right why did will move here is a note

will right here I’m pointing here will

follows the B rule so remember how we

talked when we talked about the grammar

for these we talked about be the verb be

moves after the subject will is doing

the same thing in this sentence

so yes usually in a regular sentence

when will we see each other again is

correct in an embedded question I wonder

when we will see each other again so

please note the position of will changes

here okay that’s the last point for

today’s lesson wow that was a lot and a

lot of very small whiteboards it’s so

interesting for sure I’m looking at your

questions now some good examples are

coming in osmond says can you tell me

where is the restaurant okay actually

lots of you are still making this

mistake right here that we talked about

with is when your question uses the verb

to be like where is my coffee for

example or where is the restaurant you

need to move your be verb to the end of

your subject do you know where my coffee

is do you know where the restaurant is

please don’t forget this key rule of

this embedded question grammar okay

I’m checking your questions on Facebook

I’m looking down yes I’m looking I’m

looking at your questions on Facebook

right now and trying to check the

questions on YouTube at the same time I

don’t see questions okay I wonder when

we’ll see each other yes again could you

tell me when we’ll see each other says

rosemary nice yeah yeah if you want to

ask for information could you tell me

when we’ll see each other again

I guess so that’s quite a polite request

I suppose but it seems okay to me I

wonder why okay so Glenda on facebook

said I wonder why are you using that

blackboard same problem I just talked

about our why okay and why are you using

that blackboard I’m going to repurpose

this one let’s break it down I hope I’m

not in trouble remote control desk for

taking a little extra time to break down

in this mistake because I see a lot of

you making this mistake I would like to

talk about it and help you fix it so

let’s take this question why let’s look

at it why are you I’m writing this

question your question from the chat why

are you using that board why are you

using why are you using that board so

let’s use this as a new example here

let’s follow the flow that I talked

about in part 2 does this question

question number one is does this

question use the verb to be the answer

is yes right here our R is a form of to

be we need to use this after the subject

so your question was something it should

be I wonder why you are using that board

so the finished question should be I

wonder why you are using that board I

wonder why you are using that boy so

this is how we need to change the

sentence when we have a be verb is or R

or was or were so on B as well again I’m

using these boards because I am

broadcasting from my house so we are

being safe okay

but I have gone over time I don’t want

to take too much more time so I hope

that this was helpful for you maybe this

is an important thing to screenshot for

today your flowchart for making this

grammar so ask yourself these questions

when you make your practice question so

to practice if you would like some

homework to practice today try to make

some sentences with these patterns yeah

you can screenshot this if you want and

use this flow to practice so as you

practice making questions embedded

questions you can use those so we have

to finish there for today’s lesson wow

this was interesting to broadcast to

everybody from my house today quite an

experience I hope that it was helpful I

know that it’s a little bit different

from the way things usually are but

we’ll be back next week all of us

remotely perhaps we’ll be back next week

next week I’m going to talk about basic

verb conjugations basic verb

conjugations basic verb conjugations

means the basic changes to make to a

verb for example to create past tense or

to create present tense so I’m going to

talk about that next week this will be a

great lesson for beginner so please join

us it is for those of you who are asking

our live lesson is 10:00 p.m. I’ll write

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Eastern Standard Time that is New York

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super super cool uh okay so we’ll finish

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joining our first ever remote live

stream thank you for coming to my living

room today with my little tiny

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appreciate your understanding so we’ll

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