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Complete this text message to your best friend about the most awkward blind date ever by selecting the correct indirect question forms.
You won't believe this guy! First, he asked me where _________________________ in five years. Then, he wanted to know if __________________________ married before. Finally, as I was literally bolting for the door, he yelled out to ask why _________________________ my dessert so fast!
The correct answers are I saw myself, I had ever been, and I was eating.
When we report questions (indirect questions), two major changes happen:
- Word Order: We stop using question word order (verb-subject) and switch to normal affirmative statement word order (subject-verb). We also drop auxiliary verbs like do/did.
- Backshifting: Because the reporting verbs (asked, wanted to know, yelled) are in the past tense, the verbs inside the questions shift back one tense (present simple $\rightarrow$ past simple, present perfect $\rightarrow$ past perfect, present continuous $\rightarrow$ past continuous).