I'm sorry, but I don't have any information on that. I am only familiar with TOEIC, TOEFL, and IELTS score requirements, and I know that they differ depending on the university or company. Like those tests, it might depend on where you're applying to. Please let me know if you find out any information about this. :)

Hi Allan,
If you embedded this question within another, you could invert or not depending on the meaning. For example, in the embedded question with inversion 'Do you know how many people there were?' (with 'there' acting as an empty subject), you would answer 'There were 12 people.' (In that case, the location would be understood in the context.) But without inversion, 'Do you know how many people were there?' (with 'there' meaning 'location'), you would answer 'There were 12 people there' as in 'There were 12 people at the party.' And yes, you could even say 'Do you know how many people there were there?' though it's not common because it sounds repetitive.

Thanks for your comment, Muhammad! To answer your question:

'Do you know when the class will start?' is correct.
'Do you know when will the class start?' is incorrect.

Hi Mahmud,

The original sentence isn't a question, but you can still embed it. But in this case, we would call the second clause a 'noun clause' rather than an embedded question. For example:
- I know (that) he doesn't read the newspaper daily.
- I think (that) he doesn't read the newspaper daily.

To make it into question form, you will need to lose the negative part of the sentence (because asking a question implies that you don't know the answer):
- Do you know if he reads the newspaper daily?
- She asked if he reads the newspaper daily.

Hope that helps!

Hi Jamie,

Indirect speech is just one of the uses of embedded questions (see Uses above), and vice versa. So, for example, when you say She asked me if I could come over on Monday it is BOTH an embedded question (from Can you come over on Monday?) and indirect speech (from She asked).

Just keep in mind that there are instances where something is indirect speech but NOT an embedded question (e.g., They told me to check in at noon / from Check in at noon and They told me), and instances where something is an embedded question but NOT indirect speech (e.g., I wonder if the class will start on time / from Will the class start on time? and I wonder). Hope that helps!

Hi Maryam,

Great question! #2 is correct (Who do you think he is?) and #1 is not possible. In English, the first clause of a question contains the subject-verb inversion while the second clause follows a normal sentence pattern (SV). Your question is tricky because of the multiple words that appear to be subjects. For your question, you can break it down like this:

Who (O of second clause) do (Aux V of first clause) you (S of first clause) think (V of first clause) / he (S of second clause) is (V of second clause) ?

Here's another way to think of the underlying sentences used in your question:
He is X [X = who].
and
You think Y [Y = he is X].

Hope that helps!

Hi Vicky,

Good question! It all depends on if the Wh- word is the subject or object of a sentence. If it's an object (as is usually the case), there is inversion, but if it's a subject, inversion is not required.

For example:
- What [direct object] is [aux V] that man [subject] carrying [main V]?
- That man [subject] is [aux V] carrying [main V] a vase [direct object].
- Can you tell me what that man is carrying? (= Inversion is required in an embedded question because 'what' is the object of the clause.)

• What [subject] is [main verb] in the casserole [indirect object]?
• Beef and noodles [subject] are [main V] in the casserole [indirect object].
• Can you tell me what's in the casserole? (= No inversion is required in an embedded question because 'what' is the subject of the clause.)

Hi Gopal,

The correct answer is: 'Did you notice if he was alone?'

This is because the tense doesn't usually change with embedded questions. So 'he was alone' + 'did you notice that?' = 'Did you notice if he was alone?' More importantly, you're talking about two past actions that both happened at the SAME time (e.g., yesterday).

The reason why your other teacher may have been confused is because this is so similar to reported speech. With reported speech, the tense usually does change. So 'he was alone' + 'she asked me' = 'She asked if he had been alone.' With reported speech, you're talking about two past actions that happened at DIFFERENT times. He was alone yesterday, and she asked me about it an hour ago today, for example. However, with the Be verb and reported speech, we can also choose not to use the more formal past perfect (had been) and just use the simple past (was). In other words, 'She asked if he was alone' and 'She asked if he had been alone' are both correct, and you're actually more likely to hear the casual simple past form (was). Hope that helps!

Hi Masoud, here are some examples on how to embed 'why didn't you come' into a question or statement:
- Can you tell me why you didn't come?
- Could you tell me why you didn't come?
- Would you mind telling me why you didn't come?
- Does he know why you didn't come?
- I'm wondering why you didn't come.
- I don't know why you didn't come.
etc.

Hi Ashna, there is no embedded question in 'Where do you prefer to go on vacation?' It might be easier to see this if you make it a Yes/No question: 'Do you prefer to go to X or Y on vacation?' In both cases, it's just a straight question with the infinitive verb 'to go' after the verb 'prefer.' If you see an infinitive (to + V) or a gerund (V + -ing) then this usually means there is no embedded question.

If you asked 'Can you tell me where you prefer to go on vacation?' then 'Where do you prefer to go on vacation?' is the embedded question. Another example would be 'I was wondering where you prefer to go on vacation.' Again, 'Where do you prefer to go on vacation?' is embedded in that statement. You can see that there are two main verbs—'tell' (simple present)/'was wondering' (past progressive) and 'prefer' (simple present)—in those examples. Hope that helps!