Grammar

[lady_bird13]

Hello everyone!
Please, could you tell me which is the correct form and why?
"Can you tell me where you went on holiday last summer?"

"Can you tell me where did you go on holiday last summer?"
I think this is the correct form...is it?

Thank you for answering.

 

[5jj]

Can you tell me where you went on holiday last summer?
The words in bold are a reported question, and we do not use question forms in these. So, this is correct. Note that the question mark is used for the 'Can you tell me' question, not the reported question.

Can you tell me where did you go on holiday last summer? Incorrect.

5

 

[Soup]

Hello lady_bird13,

[1] ...where you went on holiday last summer? :tick:
[2] ...where did you go on holiday last summer? :cross:

Invert (switch the order of) the auxiliary did and the subject you, like this:

​

[3]...where you did go on holiday last summer? :tick:

did is emphatic
​

 

[lady_bird13]

Thank you very much!

so I must say: Could you tell me where is the bus station?

and not: Could you tell me where the bus station is?

Am I right?

Thank you again!

 

[Soup]

[4] Could you tell me where is the bus station? :cross:
[5] Could you tell me where the bus station is? :tick:

Switch the subject and the verb as in [5].

 

[lady_bird13]

Could you tell me where the bus station is?
I Switch the subject and the verb.

Could you tell me where you went on holiday last summer?
I don't switch the subject and the verb.

WHY?

 

[Soup]

The subject comes before the verb:

Could you tell me where the bus station is? :tick:
Could you tell me where you went on holiday? :tick:
Could you tell me where you did go on holiday? :tick:


The subject comes after the verb:

Could you tell me where is the bus station? :cross:
Could you tell me where went you on holiday? :cross:
Could you tell me where did you go on holiday? :cross:

 

[5jj]

1. Where is the bus station? - Can you tell me where the bus station is?
2.Where did you go? - Can you tell me where you went?

In #1, the question is formed by subject-verb inversion. There is no inversion in the reported/indirect question.

In #2, the inversion is of the subject and the auxiliary DO. In the reported/indirect question there is no inversion - and no auxiliary.

 

[5jj]

I posted my response at the same time as Soup, lady bird. We are both saying the same thing in different ways.

 

[lady_bird13]

Ok, thank you! ;-)

Another thing...
Could you tell me which the correct form is?
Is it a correct form?

 

[Soup]

Ok, thank you! ;-)

Another thing...
Could you tell me which the correct form is?
Is it a correct form?

The subject is which form,

• Could you tell me which form is correct? :tick:
• Could you tell me which correct form is best. :tick:
• Could you tell me which correct form is? :cross:

 

[5jj]

Some writers say that when the question asks for a subject answer (as in Which form is the correct one? - This form is the correct one) rather than a complement answer (What's the time? - The time is eight o'clock), then there are two possible word orders:

Which form is correct?
1. Can you tell me which is the correct form?
2. Can you tell me which the correct form is.

If you are a learner, the safest 'rules' are those suggested by Soup and me. Just be aware that you may encounter sentences, such as #1 which do not follow the rules. Don't worry - #2 is acceptable.

 

[lady_bird13]

Oh my God!
I am a disaster! :-(

 

[5jj]

I am a disaster! :-(

No, you are not. Your 'Could you tell me which the correct form is?' was correct and natural. The sentence that Soup correctly put a :cross: by was incorrect because there was no 'the' in front of 'correct' .

If you found my last post confusing, ignore it. I wrote that only because some learners become unhappy when they hear a native speaker saying something that they (the learners) believe to be incorrect.