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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

When and will

Hi

I was told by my English teacher that 'when and will' cannot be in the same sentence. But I read this in a book.

"can you tell me when he will be back? "

Is this correct? And you explain me why?

Thank you.
  

Top answer

" Is this correct? It is. Yes.

  • " Is this correct?
  • It is.
  • Yes.
  • If the when -clause is an indirect question,, such as you have here, the restriction about "when" and "will" does not apply.
  • That way we can disambiguate between these, for example: Can you tell me when he will leave?
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5 Answers
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Anonymous"Can you tell me when he will be back?" Is this correct?
It is. Yes.

If the when-clause is an indirect question,, such as you have here, the restriction about "when" and "will" does not apply.

That way we can disambiguate between these, for example
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Aah.. OK... Thank you
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But what about

"When will he be back? "

Is this also an indirect question?
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DjxIs this also an indirect question?
No. It's a direct question. It's not embedded as a subordinate component of another clause.

Use the search box above to find lots of posts on indirect questions.

CJ

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