Where it appears in the exam
What is it?
Reported questions are about telling someone a question without repeating it as a direct question. In English that forces two changes: the word order stops being interrogative and, in yes/no questions, if or whether normally appears. That's why you can't simply copy "where do you live?" inside the sentence — once the question depends on a reporting verb, it has to become "where I lived" or "where I live".
Why it matters in the exam
In B2 First this competency shows up above all in Part 4 and Part 2, where Cambridge gives you no options and expects you to rebuild the whole grammar. If you slip here, you don't just lose one word: you reveal confusion between direct and indirect questions, and that drags in errors of order, auxiliaries and tenses.
The cognitive trap
"Your instinct keeps the question word order: "He asked me where did I live""
This is procedural carry-over: your brain has stored 'a question = inverted word order + do/does/did', so when you report the question it keeps firing that pattern inside the subordinate clause, producing "where did I live". Reporting asks you to switch off the question machinery and rebuild the clause as a statement.
He asked me where I lived and whether I had a car.
In English, a reported question takes statement word order, not question order: where I lived, not where did I live. For yes/no questions, you also need if/whether.
Recognition pattern
In the exam, look for the key signal first. The answer follows.
Signals that decide the form
"She asked if I needed any help."
"He asked where the station was."
"They asked what time the concert started."
"She asked why I had left early."
"Tom asked me whether I could swim."
The errors that Cambridge punishes here
"She asked me where was I going."
Cambridge penalises it because you keep the inversion of a direct question inside reported speech.
"She asked me where I was going."
After asked, the subordinate clause takes normal order: wh-word + subject + verb.
"They wanted to know did I finish the project."
The question auxiliary can't introduce the subordinate clause. In reported questions it disappears.
"They wanted to know if I had finished the project."
If the original question was yes/no, you need if or whether to introduce it.
"Tom asked that we could stay longer."
That introduces reported statements, not yes/no reported questions.
"Tom asked whether we could stay longer."
Whether works well in yes/no reported questions and fits a formal or neutral register.
"The teacher asked us what time did the film start."
It's a carbon copy of the direct question. In Part 4 this error breaks the whole transformation.
"The teacher asked us what time the film started."
You don't need do/did; the main verb returns to its normal form inside the subordinate clause.
"I asked her why hadn't she replied earlier."
Although it sounds interrogative, in standard English it's wrong in reported speech because it keeps the inversion.
"I asked her why she hadn't replied earlier."
The negation and the verb tense go inside the subordinate clause, but the order stays as a statement.
Why your brain gets it wrong
The learner's short circuit
Analyse the trap by exam format
The receptionist asked ______ we had booked a table in advance.
Your brain hears a yes/no question and wants to rebuild the direct form with an auxiliary: "Did you book...?". But the gap doesn't ask for a direct question — it asks for the link that turns that question into reported speech.
asked
The verb "asked" introduces a reported question, and there's no question word like what/where/why.
→ if
In Part 2 they don't test vocabulary: they make you rebuild the reported question
The real difficulty isn't knowing what the sentence means, but spotting that after asked a question auxiliary can't follow. With no options, many students write the first thing they'd hear in the direct question and fall for did, was or do.
Strategy
Ask yourself one quick question: is this still a direct question or is it already a subordinate clause? If it now depends on asked / wanted to know, use statement order and, if it's yes/no, think first of if/whether.
"Where did you leave the keys?" Marta asked me. Marta asked me ______ left the keys.
The student keeps the surface form of the original question because the change feels small — the words look almost the same. In English, though, you have to remove the inversion and adjust the tense if the context calls for it.
Where did you leave
The original sentence is a wh-question in the direct past, and now it depends on "asked me".
→ where I had
In Part 4 it's not enough to understand the original question
Here Cambridge checks whether you can transform the whole architecture of the question: the question word, the disappearance of did, subject-verb order and possible backshift. The typical error isn't lexical, it's copying the original sentence too closely.
Strategy
Before writing, break the direct question into pieces: wh-word + auxiliary + subject + verb. Then reassemble it as a subordinate clause: wh-word + subject + verb. Only then decide the final verb tense.
Reported questions is 1 of 82
The exam tests 82 grammar competencies across 19 families. Mastering one is the first step. Automating all 82 is passing.
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