Can you tell me where is the money?

[probus]

Thanks for merging the threads 5jj. It is much easier to answer if we can review the earlier conversation.

Hello again OD:

I am not at all certain about your analysis of the sentence, and that kind of analysis is not something I am very good at. But I think I have a good grip on idiom. In light of that I was rather surprised by emsr2d2's anticipation of disagreement. To me "where the money is" is absolutely cast iron idiom and "where is the money" just plain wrong. If somebody told me that "where is the money" is acceptable I would assume they were using a dialect I am not familiar with.

[5jj]

I was rather surprised by emsr2d2's anticipation of disagreement.

When 'what', 'who' or 'which' is involved in a direct question containing the linking verb BE, both word orders are possible:

"Who is the current president of the United States?"
He asked me who the current resident of the United States is.
He asked me who is the current president of the United States.

Some people are not sure whether this is possible with other wh- words

[tedtmc]

The difference lies in the order of the subject and verb.

In a statement (or indirect question), the subject comes before the verb - where the money (subject) is (verb)
In a direct question, the subject comes after the verb - where is(verb) the money(subject)

not a teacher

[englishhobby]

It's OK with Odessa, I haven't even noticed anything.) So, coming back to my original post, what would you recommend to say to my students when explaining the structure of an indirect question:
1) The word order in an indirect question is always direct. (e.g. Can you tell me what the time is?)
2) The word order in an indirect question is usually direct, but in colloquial English it can be indirect (e.g. Can you tell me what's the time?").

Which of the two explanationa do you personally like?

[SoothingDave]

I'm going to say yes, it's a mistake. And now I'm going to sit back and watch several people disagree with me.

Here we go. I could see someone saying this, but it would be represented as two questions. Can you tell me? Where is the money?

[emsr2d2]

Here we go. I could see someone saying this, but it would be represented as two questions. Can you tell me? Where is the money?

Yes, that's my feeling. The difference is between how it sounds when it's spoken, and how it's written down. I would write it like this:

Can you tell me - where is the money?
Can you tell me something - where is the money?

I maintain that, in writing, "Can you tell me where is the money?" is incorrect.

I would expect to see either:

Can you tell me where the money is?
or
Where is the money?
or
Tell me where the money is.

[5jj]

coming back to my original post, what would you recommend to say to my students when explaining the structure of an indirect question:
1) The word order in an indirect question is always direct. (e.g. Can you tell me what the time is?)

It isn't. See post #12.

[5jj]

I maintain that, in writing, "Can you tell me where is the money?" is incorrect.

I would expect to see either:

Can you tell me where the money is?
or
Where is the money?
or
Tell me where the money is.

I agree.