Explanation
Use an indirect question when you want to ask politely. It often comes after verbs like "ask," "tell," "know," or "wonder."
For example, "Could you tell me where the station is?" In this sentence, "Could you tell me" is the polite request. "where the station is" is the indirect question. Notice the word order: "the station is," not "is the station." Japanese often says "駅がどこにあるか," so the question is inside the sentence. English works the same way, but the verb stays in statement order.
丁寧にたずねたいときに、間接疑問文を使います。"ask"、"tell"、"know"、"wonder" などの後ろによく来ます。
たとえば "Could you tell me where the station is?" では、"Could you tell me" が丁寧な依頼です。"where the station is" が間接疑問文です。ここで大事なのは語順で、"the station is" と平叙文の順になります。"is the station" にはしません。日本語では「駅がどこにあるか」のように、文の中に質問を入れます。英語も同じ考え方ですが、動詞の語順は疑問文ではなく平叙文のままです。
Examples
- Do you know where the nearest station is? 一番近い駅がどこか知っていますか。
- Could you tell me what time the concert starts? コンサートが何時に始まるか教えていただけますか。
- I asked her why she was angry. 私は彼女がなぜ怒っていたのか聞きました。
- He didn't know if the meeting was still on. 彼は会議がまだあるのか分かりませんでした。
- Can you tell me which bus I should take to the museum? 美術館へ行くにはどのバスに乗ればいいか教えてくれますか。
- Please let me know when you finish the form. その用紙を書き終えたら、知らせてください。
Common Mistakes
Japanese learners often keep direct-question word order.
Wrong: "Could you tell me where is the station?"
Right: "Could you tell me where the station is?"
For yes/no indirect questions, use "if" or "whether":
Wrong "Do you know is he coming?"
Right "Do you know if he is coming?"
日本語の語順のまま、間接疑問文でも疑問文の語順にしてしまうことがよくあります。
誤り: "Could you tell me where is the station?"
正しくは "Could you tell me where the station is?"。
Yes/No の間接疑問文では "if" や "whether" を使います。
誤り: "Do you know is he coming?"
正しくは "Do you know if he is coming?" です。