In language, we intuitively know that there is more than meets the eye….or ear…when dealing with some sentences. But often, we just can’t put our finger on that something. Grammar can be boring. Adjectives, nouns, verbs, word order….so dry…. But occasionally, one encounters a grammatical concept that acts as the finger mentioned a few sentences ago. Let’s jump into some sample sentences.
I’ve been wondering about the progress your dad’s making on building that hovercraft made solely from apple skins.
I know what you’re thinking. This sentence just blew my mind because….it’s a statement…it ends with a period…but if I heard it being said, I would know that the speaker was asking a question, namely, “How is your dad coming on that hovercraft of his?” Now, ignoring the fact that your father’s hovercraft is built from durian husks (come on, you know you want to type it into Wikipedia…), there has to be some fundamental flaw in the make-up of the universe when two speakers can clearly understand that a question is being posed, but it’s not structured as a question! Take that grammar! Explain that!!!
Well, there is a grammatical concept that has identified this ambiguity, soaked it up, and dumped it where it needs to be à la cleaning cloth wringing out spilled durian juice. This concept is…hold on to your hats….(unless it is the mug you bought when you were drunk that says “When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults” in latin…..yeah, click here)……. the concept is the Indirect Question! How ’bout that? Questions expressed as declarations. Trippy, huh? It’s not the only type of indirect question though…. Although this site would want you to believe it’s that simple.
Ok, this one is gonna hurt a little bit….look at this sentence:
Can you tell me why you’re reading this post?
There is some wonderful linguistic slight-of-hand going on here. This is another type of indirect question. More specifically, it’s called an embedded question. We all know what the speaker wants to ask, “Why are you reading this post?” But the main point is embedded in a larger question “Can you tell me…..?” In English, this indirect, embedded structure feels more polite and distant somehow. I really don’t know why I mention a “tear in the fabric of spacetime” in the title of this post. Bye!