Do you know who the designer of that building is/who is the designer of that buidling

(1) Do you know who the designer of that building is?

(2) Do you know who is the designer of that building?

Are both sentences correct? If they are, is there any difference in meaning between them?

Thanks.

Tan Elaine said:

(1) Do you know who the designer of that building is?

(2) Do you know who is the designer of that building?

Are both sentences correct? If they are, is there any difference in meaning between them?

Thanks.

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(1) is the correct word order. It's easier to say "Do you know who designed that building?"

Hi,
Could you please help me explain why (2) isn't correct?
Is there any difference in grammar between the following sentences?

anhnha said:

Hi,
Could you please help me explain why (2) isn't correct?
Is there any difference in grammar between the following sentences?

1. Do you know who is the designer of that building?
2. Do you know who designed that building?​

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Hello, anhna.:-D
Let me try to answer your question.

1. Do you know who is the designer of that building?

If you think of "who" as the subject of the verb "is", it is grammatical.
However, I personally think "the designer" is the subject.
Therefore the correct way of saying it should be "Do you know who the designer of that building is?"

2. Do you know who designed that building?

In the sentence above, "who" is indeed the subject of the verb "designed".
So, it is perfect English.:-D

Did I make myself clear?
I hope you will understand what I mean.:-D


P.S. I think I've heard from a native speaker of AmE that "Please tell me what is the matter." sounds better than "Please tell me what the matter is."

Tan Elaine said:

(1) Do you know who the designer of that building is?
(2) Do you know who is the designer of that building?

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Both are acceptable.

#1 follows the traditional rules of reported speech word order, and #2 doesn't.

However, as Swan (2005) notes:

Questions beginning who/what which + be can ask for a subject or a complement. [...] When we report the first kind of question (where who/what/which + be asks for a subject) two word orders are possible:

DIRECT: .....Who is the best player here?
INDIRECT: ..She asked me who was the best player.
..................She asked me who the best player was.

Thanks all your help!
It is very useful.I understand now.