How to Make and Use Embedded Questions in English
all right I think we’re rolling hi
everybody welcome to our weekly live
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
for your understanding those of you who
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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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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Standard Time on Thursday morning this
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there for today thank you so so much for
joining our first ever remote live
stream thank you for coming to my living
room today with my little tiny
whiteboards I know it’s different from
our regular stream but I really really
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