Indirect Questions ESL Worksheets, Activities, Role-Plays and Games
Ask Politely
ESL Indirect Questions Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Answering, Reforming and Completing Questions - Speaking Activity: Freer Practice
This productive indirect questions worksheet helps students learn how to form indirect questions. First, students examine three direct questions and their indirect... read more
ESL Indirect Questions Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Answering, Reforming and Completing Questions - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice This productive indirect questions worksheet helps students learn how to form indirect questions. First, students examine three direct questions and their indirect equivalents and answer questions about how indirect questions are formed. Next, students change direct questions into indirect questions. Students then complete indirect questions with their own ideas. Lastly, students practice asking and answering the indirect questions with their classmates. show less
Direct and Indirect Questions
ESL Direct vs. Indirect Questions Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Writing and Rewriting Questions - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions
In this free direct and indirect questions worksheet, students learn and practice three rules for changing direct questions into indirect questions. First... read more
ESL Direct vs. Indirect Questions Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Writing and Rewriting Questions, Unscrambling - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions In this free direct and indirect questions worksheet, students learn and practice three rules for changing direct questions into indirect questions. First, students read through an introduction to indirect questions and a grammar rule for verb placement. Students then use the information to change direct questions into indirect questions using the polite expressions: Could you tell me...? and Do you know...? After that, students read the second rule that talks about how the helping verbs do, does or did are omitted from indirect questions. Next, students put words in order to form direct questions with do, does and did, which they then make into indirect questions. After that, students learn the last rule which looks at how to change direct yes/no questions into indirect ones. Students then change yes/no questions into indirect questions using a polite expression with if. Lastly, students write three indirect questions of their own and ask them to their classmates. show less
I was wondering...
ESL Indirect Questions Activity - Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Communicative Practice
In this communicative indirect questions activity, students practice using indirect question phrases to make polite requests and respond by politely accepting or declining them. Each student receives... read more
ESL Indirect Questions Activity - Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions from Prompts, Communicative Practice In this communicative indirect questions activity, students practice using indirect question phrases to make polite requests and respond by politely accepting or declining them. Each student receives a card with a situation and a request. Students then go around the class, explaining their situation and using indirect questions to make polite requests to their classmates. Classmates only agree to a request if they genuinely wouldn't mind doing it. For example, a student should agree to drive someone to the airport at 6 a.m. only if they have a car and don't mind waking up early. If a classmate doesn't want to do something, they politely decline and explain why. Students record the names of classmates who accept their request on the back of their card. At the end of the activity, each student gives feedback to the class on how many people agreed to their request. show less
Indirect Questions Practice
ESL Indirect Questions Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Gap-fill, Unscrambling, Error Correction, Rewriting Questions
Here is a comprehensive indirect questions worksheet to help students learn and practice how to ask questions politely. First, students complete indirect questions with words and phrases from a box. Next... read more
ESL Indirect Questions Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Gap-fill, Unscrambling, Error Correction, Rewriting Questions Here is a comprehensive indirect questions worksheet to help students learn and practice how to ask questions politely. First, students complete indirect questions with words and phrases from a box. Next, students put words in the correct order to form indirect questions. Students then correct mistakes in indirect questions. Lastly, students change direct questions into indirect questions using the polite phrases from the worksheet. show less
Street Interviews
ESL Indirect Questions Role-Play - Speaking Activity: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Communicative Practice
In this engaging indirect questions speaking activity, students ask and answer indirect questions in a street interview. Students imagine that they are reporters for a local radio or TV station and... read more
ESL Indirect Questions Role-Play - Speaking Activity: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions, Communicative Practice In this engaging indirect questions speaking activity, students ask and answer indirect questions in a street interview. Students imagine that they are reporters for a local radio or TV station and that they are going to interview people on the street to find out public opinion on a chosen topic. Students then select a topic and complete five indirect questions based on the topic, e.g. 'Could you tell me how you feel about cryptocurrency?' Next, in two groups, reporters and passers-by, the passers-by walk around the class as if they were walking along the street. The reporters stop the passers-by and ask if they would mind answering a few questions. The reporter then writes the person's name and interviews them, noting down their answers. When all the reporters have spoken to three people, students swap roles. Finally, students report back to the class on the answers they received. show less
Super Polite
ESL Indirect Questions Role-Play - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions, Communicative Practice - Pair Work
In this free indirect questions speaking activity, students role-play two situations where someone politely asks for information using indirect questions. In pairs, students begin by reading their role... read more
ESL Indirect Questions Role-Play - Speaking Activity: Asking and Answering Questions from Prompts, Communicative Practice - Pair Work In this free indirect questions speaking activity, students role-play two situations where someone politely asks for information using indirect questions. In pairs, students begin by reading their role cards for the first situation, which takes place at a ticket office. One student assumes the role of the ticket agent, while the other plays the customer. Next, the two students participate in a role-play where the customer politely asks for information about a flight to London, using indirect questions. Afterwards, pairs move on to a hotel role-play. In this scenario, one student takes on the role of a hotel guest, and the other acts as the hotel receptionist. The guest then uses indirect questions to politely ask for information about the hotel. Finally, pairs present their role-plays to the class. show less
Would you mind telling me...?
ESL Indirect Questions Board Game - Speaking: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions - Group Work
In this fun indirect questions board game, students change direct personal information questions into indirect questions and ask them to other students. In groups, players take turns rolling the dice and... read more
ESL Indirect Questions Board Game - Speaking: Forming, Asking and Answering Questions - Group Work In this fun indirect questions board game, students change direct personal information questions into indirect questions and ask them to other students. In groups, players take turns rolling the dice and moving their counter along the board. When a player lands on a square, they read the direct question, change it into an indirect question and ask it to another student in the group, e.g. 'Would you mind telling me who your best friend is?' After the question has been answered, the group members judge the player's question. If the question is grammatically correct and the polite phrase is different from the previous question, the player stays on the square. If the question is wrong, the player goes back two squares. The first player to reach the finish wins the game. show less
Celebrity Interviews
ESL Indirect Questions Activity - Writing, Grammar, and Speaking: Writing, Reforming, Asking, and Answering Questions, Role-Play, Freer Practice - Pair Work
In this imaginative indirect questions role-play activity, students practice forming, asking, and answering indirect questions in celebrity interviews. First, students... read more
ESL Indirect Questions Activity - Writing, Grammar, and Speaking: Writing, Reforming, Asking, and Answering Questions, Role-Play, Freer Practice - Pair Work In this imaginative indirect questions role-play activity, students practice forming, asking, and answering indirect questions in celebrity interviews. First, students write the name of the celebrity they want to be for the interview. Another student then writes ten direct interview questions for the celebrity. Next, in pairs, one student acts as the interviewer and the other as the celebrity. The interviewer reads the first direct question and reforms it as an indirect question using a polite opener from the worksheet. The interviewer then ticks the polite opener. Students may only use each polite opener once. If the celebrity agrees that the indirect question is grammatically correct, they answer it. If not, the celebrity asks the interviewer to repeat the question. After that, the interviewer notes down the celebrity's answer and then reforms the second question, and so on. When the students have finished, they report back to the class on the celebrities' answers. Afterwards, students swap roles and repeat the activity. show less
Indirect Questions Race
ESL Indirect Questions Game - Grammar: Rewriting Questions - Pair Work
In this enjoyable indirect questions game, students race to rewrite direct questions as indirect questions using different polite phrases. One student from each pair runs to your desk, picks up the first question strip, and takes it back to their... read more
ESL Indirect Questions Game - Grammar: Rewriting Questions - Pair Work In this enjoyable indirect questions game, students race to rewrite direct questions as indirect questions using different polite phrases. One student from each pair runs to your desk, picks up the first question strip, and takes it back to their partner. Pairs then race to rewrite the direct question as an indirect question using the given polite phrase. As soon as a pair has completed the indirect question, a student from the pair comes to you with their strip. If the indirect question is correct, give the student the second strip, and so on. If an indirect question is incorrect, the pair has to rewrite it. The first pair to rewrite all 20 indirect questions correctly wins the game. show less