When you ask a direct question, like "Where is my jacket?" you're being quite, well, direct, some might even say abrupt, or even rude. They usually start with a question word (like who, what, where, when, why, or how) or an auxiliary verb (like is, are, do, or can).
You can make a direct quesiton more polite by adding please, "Where is my jacket, please?", but to be even more polite you can rephrase it into what is called an indirect question. Indirect questions take a little detour, adding some extra words to sound more formal or gentle. "Do you know where my jacket is?", or "Could you tell me where my jacket is?" and if you want to be really OTT "Could you tell me where my jacket is, please?"
They're all the same question as "Where is my jacket?", but it's considered more polite to rephrase it. Now this can be confusing, and some people even think it's long-winded and unnecessary, but think of it this way:
Asking a direct question is like knocking on the door 🚪 and asking, "Got any sugar?"
Asking an indirect questions is more like ringing the doorbell 🔔 and saying, "Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you might have some sugar to spare?"
If you have nice neighbours, either question will get you the sugar, but one's just a bit sweeter! 🍬
Other ways of starting indirect questions are:-
Do you know ...
Would you mind telling me...
Would it be possible...
Can you tell me...
Have you any idea ...
!Note - when you're asking an indirect question there's no change in word order as there is in a direct question.
The time is ...
IQ - Could you tell me what the time is?DQ - What time is it?
Just to confuse you, some people include what I call "reported questions" under the term "indirect questions", the confusion arises from direct and indirect speech. To me a reported question is when you are reporting what someone else asked. For example: "She asked me what the time was." (No question mark.)
Other people include things like, "Tell me the time!" but to me that's not a question, it's a command. (Again no question mark).
I hope this helps.
Note! You can practise asking and answering questions on our Live Chat page, or Discord Server. Or maybe log into a Chat AI program and ask it some questions, just be careful of the answer you get.