Perplexing sentences

Question

A) Choose the best answer:
I think it……. hot tomorrow. It has been hot for the last week.
a) will be b) is going to be
I ……..to the book fair to buy the books I need. This is my intention
a) am going to go b) am going
B) Are the following questions direct question or reported ones?
Can you tell me where Tom is now?
Did you know that Tom and Clara are getting married next month?

My answers:

A) 1. "Will be" & "is going to be" are OK. I want to know which of them is the best answer and why it is the best.
a) am going to go
B) 1. This is a reported question.
This is a reported question. Isn't it better to say 'Do you know.....?"

Are there any reported questions that begin with 'Do, Does or Did' and end with a question mark?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Do us a favor, please have you question # and your own answers' the same next time. It is confusing.

Omar AhmedA) Choose the best answer: I think it……. hot tomorrow. It has been hot for the last week.a) will be b) is going to be I ……..to the book fair to buy the books I need. This is my intention a) am going to go b) am going B) Are the following questions direct question or reported ones? Can you tell me where Tom is(reported) ~~Did~~ Do you know that Tom and Clara are getting married next month? (direct)

Will be /going to be - can be interchangeably used. For weather, It is going to be hot..." is more idiomatically preferred.

Indirect questions usually have conjunction like "if" or whether".

CalifJim · Answer

I think it's going to be hot tomorrow. It has been hot for the last week.

The second sentence is placed there to show there is evidence for the prediction in the first sentence. That's why 'going to' is more idiomatic than 'will': 'going to' often suggests that there is evidence for what you claim; 'will' does not necessarily suggest this.

I'm going to the book fair to buy the books I need. This is my intention.

Both are possible. I don't quite understand why the second sentence was added.

Can you tell me where Tom is now? This is a direct question.
Can you tell me where Tom is now? This is an indirect (i.e., embedded) question.
Neither of those is a reported question. That's when you hear someone ask a question, and then later you tell someone else what you heard by saying

[ someone ] asked [ embedded question ].

For example, you hear your friend Brian say "Where is the post office?" (That's a direct question.) Later, you see your friend David and you tell him what you heard Brian say: Brian asked where the post office was. That's a report, and where the post office was is the indirect question that tells us the content of Brian's original question.

Did you know that Tom and Clara are getting married next month? This is a direct question.
Did you know that Tom and Clara are getting married next month? This is a declarative content clause. It is not an indirect question.
Neither of those is a reported question.

Omar AhmedIsn't it better to say 'Do you know.....?"

No. The standard formula for this way of telling someone the news is "Did you know that ...?" I've heard it called "the past of politeness".

Omar AhmedAre there any reported questions that begin with 'Do, Does or Did' and end with a question mark?

No. As explained above, reported questions typically have the following form.

[ someone ] asked [ embedded question ].

CJ

Perplexing sentences

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