Circle the correct answer

Jessica works at a theatre. Last week there was a small fire there. Now she’s telling a friend about it.

0 ‘Open the fire exits!’ the manager said.

The manager asked / ordered some people open /(to open) the fire exits.

1 ‘Stay calm and don’t run,’ he said to the audience.

He told the audience stay / to stay calm and to not / not to run.

2 ‘Help the audience leave,’ he said.

He told / said some of us to / that we help the audience leave.

3 ‘Could you get my coat from the cloakroom, please?’ a woman in the audience said.

A woman in the audience asked / ordered me get / to get her coat from the cloakroom!

4 ‘I’ll get it for you later, ’I said.

I told / said her to / that I’d get it for her later.

5 ‘Move away from the building,’ the fire officers said to us.

The fire officers asked / said us move / to move away from the building.

6 ‘Are you OK?’ the manager asked me.

After the fire, the manager told / asked me if / that I was OK.

I think that..., Do you know if..., I wonder why...

• After verbs which express thoughts and feelings (e.g. believe, forget, hope, imagine, know, realise, remember, think, understand, wonder), we can use a that clause, a question word or if/whether.

• We can use that to introduce a statement: I can’t believe that David’s thirty!

We hope that you’ll come.

• A question word introduces an indirect question: I wonder who that is. Do you remember where he lives? I can’t imagine why he did it!

• If there is no question word, we use if/whether: Do you know if they’ve left?

• Other expressions we often use in indirect questions include: I’m not sure..., I’ve no idea...: I’m not sure when they’re arriving. I’ve no idea who that is.

• We often use indirect questions instead of direct questions to sound more polite, using expressions like can/could you tell me..., do you know..., have you any idea..., etc.: Where’s the ticket office? – Could you tell me where the ticket office is, please? What time is it? – Do you know what time it is? Where’s Sophie? – Have you any idea where Sophie is?

• In indirect questions, the word order is the same as in statements: Where’ s the museum? – Could you tell me where the museum is, please?

• We only use a question mark if the first part of the sentence is a question. Compare: Do you know where he is? I wonder where he is.

• After a past tense verb, the next verb usually moves one tense back into the past: I couldn’t believe (that) he was thirty! I wondered who the man was.

Re-write the sentences. Use the verbs in brackets and a that clause.

0 He’s gone, (can’t believe)......I can’t believe that he’s gone......

1 He likes it there, (hope).......................................................

2 He’s still looking for a flat, (know).......................................................

3 He’s sold his car. (think).......................................................

4 He’s made new friends, (imagine).......................................................

5 His career’s important to him. (realise).......................................................

6 He’s been very busy, (understand).......................................................