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Postmodernbliss Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Where am I vs. Where I am
Hello,
I had an EFL student ask me what is the different between the following sentences:
"I was wondering, where am I?" and "I was wondering where I am."
My thought is that the first sentence is clearly requesting information from the listener regarding the speaker's physical location. The second sentence is a statement that expresses an internal conversation re: location. In general, the first sentence seems more grammatically correct than the second sentence, although I don't know the exact explanation.
Many kind thanks in advance to anyone who can illuminate the answers to my aforementioned questions.
I had an EFL student ask me what is the different between the following sentences:
"I was wondering, where am I?" and "I was wondering where I am."
My thought is that the first sentence is clearly requesting information from the listener regarding the speaker's physical location. The second sentence is a statement that expresses an internal conversation re: location. In general, the first sentence seems more grammatically correct than the second sentence, although I don't know the exact explanation.
Many kind thanks in advance to anyone who can illuminate the answers to my aforementioned questions.
Top answer
" is correct.
- " is correct.
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15 Answers
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postmodernbliss"I was wondering, where am I?" and "I was wondering where I am."Please ignore my earlier post.
I was wondering, "Where am I?"
BUT "I was wondering where I was."
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This is always fun. If you were writing a narative, and wrote, "I was wondering where I was," it wouldn't raise an eyebrow.
But when you put the "am" in the present tense, it technically makes no sense. Are you still wondering?
You'd have to say, "I'm wondering where I am."
So the long and the short of it is that "I was wondering" is taken as a sort of fixed expressio
But when you put the "am" in the present tense, it technically makes no sense. Are you still wondering?
You'd have to say, "I'm wondering where I am."
So the long and the short of it is that "I was wondering" is taken as a sort of fixed expressio
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Edit.
I'd have to say that "I was wondering where I am" is idiomatic in the sense that people often say it and are easily understood. It's part of the common casual speech. It just doesn't compute.
But "I'm wondering where I was" is perfectly logical.
I'd have to say that "I was wondering where I am" is idiomatic in the sense that people often say it and are easily understood. It's part of the common casual speech. It just doesn't compute.
But "I'm wondering where I was" is perfectly logical.
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postmodernblissI had an EFL student ask me what is theThe first is more correctly punctuateddifferentdifference between the following sentences:
"I was wondering, where am I?" and "I was wondering where I am."
I was wondering, "Where am I?"
The second is better with a backshift:
I was wondering where I was
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If I wish to write, A man approached me and said, "I was wondering, where am I?", is it still semi-direct, or semi-indirect?
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"I was wondering, where am I?" I believe this is correct because of the "comma" which makes "where am I"? a question to himself. "
"I was wondering where I am." . This is a correct statement .
"I was wondering where I am." . This is a correct statement .
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So I guess I need to write:
A man approached, and said to me, "I was wondering, where am I?"
Is this guy idiomatic, or not? I've heard it often.
A man approached, and said to me, "I was wondering, where am I?"
Is this guy idiomatic, or not? I've heard it often.
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AvangiIf I wish to write, A man approached me and said, "I was wondering, where am I?", is it still semi-direct, or semi-indirect?Joke, right?
I've never heard or read the term semi-direct. Here's your chance to introduce new terminology to the field!
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AvangiIs this guy idiomatic, or not?Not only is he idiomatic, he's idiotic!
AvangiI've heard it often.You know a lot of people who don't know where they are, it seems. I hope I'm not one of them!
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