Can you tell me what time it is?
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Boris Tatarenko
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Not a teacher nor a native speaker.
In your second sentence you asked two questions: "Can you...?" and "what time is it". You can't ask questions this way.
The first one is correct.
Examples:
Do you know who I am? (not Do you know who am I?)
Can you show me where the bank is? (not Can you show me where is the bank?)
In your second sentence you asked two questions: "Can you...?" and "what time is it". You can't ask questions this way.
The first one is correct.
Examples:
Do you know who I am? (not Do you know who am I?)
Can you show me where the bank is? (not Can you show me where is the bank?)
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MikeNewYork
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We invert the subject and verb in direct questions (can you tell me), but not in indirect questions (what time it is).
If the second part were a direct question, it would be "What time is it?"
If the second part were a direct question, it would be "What time is it?"
Tdol
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If you invert the word order in the second part, you'd be asking two questions:
Can you tell me? What time is it?
The first question wouldn't make much sense.
Can you tell me? What time is it?
The first question wouldn't make much sense.
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