Question to Statement

[SophiaM]

Hello teachers and friends,

Can you please tell me which is correct?

1) Please ask her when the best time for me to call her is.
2) Please ask her when is the best time for me to call her.

I think it is the first sentence but I do not know which grammar structure it falls under.

 

[billmcd]

Hello teachers and friends,

Can you please tell me which is correct?

1) Please ask her when the best time for me to call her is.
2) Please ask her when is the best time for me to call her.

I think it is the first sentence but I do not know which grammar structure it falls under.

#2. "Wh" questions should immediately be followed by "am", "is", "are", "do", "did". Repeat the sentences without "Please ask her" and I think you will understand.

 

[SophiaM]

Yes, I understand that if it's a question I have to use a 'wh' word followed by the verb to-be. But what if it is not a question but a statement containing the question.

 

[SophiaM]

Another example :-

1) Ask her what she wants.
2) Ask her what does she want.

 

[probus]

In my opinion both are acceptable, but in 1) I prefer "would be" to "is".

Please ask her when the best time for me to call her would be.

Please ask her when the best time would be for me to call her.

 

[Raymott]

Hello teachers and friends,

Can you please tell me which is correct?

1) Please ask her when the best time for me to call her is.
2) Please ask her when is the best time for me to call her.

I think it is the first sentence but I do not know which grammar structure it falls under.

1. is definitely better. In speaking you could claim that 2. is "Please ask her, 'When is the best time for me to call?'" But, as it's written, it's unusual (or wrong) - as you seem to realise from your examples in post #4, in which 1 is also the correct choice, and 2 is more obviously incorrect that 2 in this post is.

 

[SophiaM]

Yes, #4 sounded right to me but somehow the first example #1 sounded weird...a mouthful. I like Mr Probus's sentence which uses 'would be'. It sounded so much better. Thank you everybody for helping me out.

 

[billmcd]

Another example :-

1) Ask her what she wants.
2) Ask her what does she want.

The collocation in these examples is different from your original post. #1 is proper and correct. In #2, "does" is used as an auxiliary and is not necessary (unless, of course, it is used for emphasis). In your original post, "is" is used as the primary verb

 

[5jj]

The collocation in these examples is different from your original post. #1 is proper and correct. In #2, "does" is used as an auxiliary and is not necessary (unless, of course, it is used for emphasis). In your original post, "is" is used as the primary verb

That doesn't matter. With indirect questions, we normally use affirmative word order. It doesn't matter what the verb is.

 

[billmcd]

That doesn't matter. With indirect questions, we normally use affirmative word order. It doesn't matter what the verb is.

And affirmative word order in original post, example #1 is........?

 

[5jj]

Please ask her when the best time for me to call her is.

 

[Raymott]

And affirmative word order in original post, example #1 is........?

"... the best time for me to call her is ..." - which is what we are all saying, bill.

 

[billmcd]

Please ask her when the best time for me to call her is.

5jj and Raymott; After extensive research and sleepless nights I offer this extract:

[FONT=&quot]“I'm not sure what the right way is”[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I believe the sentence in the title is grammatically correct. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Recently I've seen too many people writing it this way:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]"I'm not sure what is the right way."
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](Q) Is it grammatically correct as well? Maybe in a different sense? Or simply misuse by non-native speakers?
[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](A) I think at least some people writing "I'm not sure what is the right way" are hypercorrecting because of the imagined dangling participle "rule", i.e. they don't want to end a sentence with "is". – [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Marthaª[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Dec 9 '11 at 0:28[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](A) I'm afraid that's true of a vast number of variant constructions. Who knows what kind of zombie rules people have been taught? The best anyone can do, I think, is point out real phenomena and how they work, with some attention to known variants. After all, we all make up our own language, and then spend the rest of our lives trying to pass as English speakers. – [/FONT][FONT=&quot]John Lawler[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Dec 9 '11 at 0:32 [/FONT][FONT=&quot]I plead guilty to all charges "hypercorrecting, employing "zombie rules" and nightmares about dangling participles. I will be checking into "grammar rehab" ASAP. [/FONT]

 

[emsr2d2]

When I hear "I'm not sure what is the right way" or similar, I immediately assume a non-native speaker who is directly translating.

 

[5jj]

When I hear "I'm not sure what is the right way" or similar, I immediately assume a non-native speaker who is directly translating.

I agree.

It's not a jarring mistake or one that impedes communication; it may even go unnoticed. It is, however, not natural.

There is a native speaker possibility in speech, where the speaker pauses slightly before the question word and then carries on with a direct question. This can be rendered in writing by two clear sentences, one affirmative, one interrogative; or, as the ideas seem to be very closely connected in speech by two clause separated by a colon(?) or a dash:

I'm not sure - what is the right way?