can you tell me what your name is?

[snoopya1984]

Do we say

"can you tell what your name is?" or" Can you tell me what's your name?'

 

[Tdol]

I would use Can you tell what your name is?- it's the form considered correct as it's an embedded question, but the second is the sort of thing you'll hear people saying in casual speech.

 

[TheParser]

Do we say

"can you tell what your name is?" or" Can you tell me what's your name?'

ONLY A NON-TEACHER'S OPINION


(1) I think that learners would be wise to follow the Editor's suggestion.

(2) For advanced learners (and even native speakers), may I report something quite

fascinating that I learned while browsing the great Henry Fowler's masterpiece A

Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1965 edition, edited by Sir Ernest Gowers).

(a) Mr. Fowler opined that "Explain what are the duties" and "Explain what the duties

are" could both be considered "correct," depending on the answer. I shan't bore you

with his reasoning. (If interested, you can check out his book yourself.) I only wanted

to very respectfully and humbly remind learners (and ordinary native speakers like

myself) to be very careful before we rush to ridicule something as "wrong." We may

be the ones who are wrong.