Could you tell me where…?

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Check the conversationListening comprehension
4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
5. 5Find the indirect questionsGrammar exercise
6. 6Indirect questionsGrammar rule
7. 7The polite questionGrammar exercise
8. 8The campground emailGrammar exercise
9. 9Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
10. 10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
12. 12The visitor centerSpeaking practice
13. 13About youGrammar exercise
14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: question mark or period?Grammar exercise
2. 2Homework: make it politeGrammar exercise
3. 3Homework: build the questionsGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: an email to a host familyDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

1. Have you ever been to a conference, a trade fair or a big festival?
2. When you are lost in a new place, do you ask a person for help or check your phone?
3. When you start something new, like a job, a course or a trip, do you ask a lot of questions?

Grammar rule

Indirect questions

Could you tell me…? Do you know…? I wonder…

An indirect question is a question inside another question or a sentence. It sounds more polite, so we use it a lot with people we don't know.

Direct question	Indirect question
Where is the parking lot?	Could you tell me where the parking lot is?
What does this button do?	Do you know what this button does?
Why did the train stop?	I wonder why the train stopped.
Is this seat free?	Do you know if this seat is free?
Can we sit anywhere?	Could you tell me whether we can sit anywhere?

• After the question word, use the normal order: subject + verb, like a statement.
• No do, does or did: …what this button does (not what does this button do).
• A yes / no question: add if or whether.
• Keep the tense of the direct question: Where did you park? → Do you know where you parked?

? or .

The start is a question: ?	The start is a statement: .
Could you tell me…? · Can you tell me…? · Do you know…? · Do you have any idea…?	I wonder… · I'm not sure… · I don't know… · I'd like to know…

Watch out

• Not Could you tell me where is the parking lot? and not Do you know what does this button do?
• No short form at the end: Do you know where it is? (not where it's)