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WesternAmerican Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Indirect/Direct quetions

Hi,

He's a self made millionaire, you know what it means?
He's a self made millionaire, you know what does it mean?

Which one is right?
  

Top answer

Hi, only the first. He's a self made millionaire, you know what it means? You can't say "what does it mean', because that's not a real question, it's an indirect question.

  • Hi, only the first.
  • He's a self made millionaire, you know what it means?
  • You can't say "what does it mean', because that's not a real question, it's an indirect question.
  • "
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4 Answers
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Hi,
only the first.

He's a self made millionaire, you know what it means?


You can't say "what does it mean', because that's not a real question, it's an indirect question. The direct question is "(Do) you know..."
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but bear in mind that native speakers sometimes take the liberty of using what it may seem contrary to prescriptive rules.

Go and see what's the matter, and while you're about it you can fetch me my sweater. (Longman Dictionary Of Contemporary English)
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Linguaphilebut bear in mind that native speakers sometimes take the liberty of using what it may seem contrary to prescriptive rules.

Go and see what's the matter...

Hi,
native speakers have no idea what prescriptive rules are. They were invented to confuse learners and make teachers appear like they know something about English..
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He's a self-made millionaire. Do you know what that means? I don't know what that means. What does that mean? What does being a self-made millionaire mean?

I came across the word putative. Do you know what it means? I don't know what it means. What does it mean? What does putative mean?

CJ

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