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Cho7712 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

indirect question

It is the rule that I've known for formation of the indirect question; Introductory phrase + question word (or if) + positive sentence.

And in most cases, the normal word order as in the declarative sentence is found in the positive sentence except the question word is identified as the subject case.

Then, Looking at the below sentence,

e.g. So tell me why should it be true

It is from the lyrics and something I've felt about it is kind of emphasizing effect on the speaker's certain feeling.

However, I have no strong background in my thinking and also no grammatical reference resource to why that word order is even possible.

Would you explain it to me?
  

Top answer

I'd say your feeling about it is correct; it is a way of being expressive. If you punctuate the lyric in a different way, it makes better sense: So, tell me—why should it be true? It isn't really an indirect question.

  • I'd say your feeling about it is correct; it is a way of being expressive.
  • If you punctuate the lyric in a different way, it makes better sense: So, tell me—why should it be true?
  • It isn't really an indirect question.
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2 Answers
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I'd say your feeling about it is correct; it is a way of being expressive.

If you punctuate the lyric in a different way, it makes better sense: So, tell me—why should it be true? It isn't really an indirect question.
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Thank you for the answer,
That little punctuation makes a big difference indeed.

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