Questions · CEFR B2 · Confident

Could you tell me where…? — English questions

A polite question wraps the real question in a phrase — and inside the wrapper the word order goes back to normal.

The shape

Could you tell me / Do you know + question word + SUBJECT + VERB

Ask a stranger something politely.

In Hindi

शिष्ट सवाल में असली सवाल एक वाक्यांश के अंदर आता है, और अंदर शब्दों का क्रम सामान्य हो जाता है।

CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.

The mistake to fix first

The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.

Commonly said	Correct English
Could you tell me where is the station?	Could you tell me where the station is? Inside an indirect question the verb goes back after the subject.

Commonly said

Correct English

Could you tell me where is the station?

Could you tell me where the station is?

Inside an indirect question the verb goes back after the subject.

Learn these first

These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.

Wh- questionsA1Ask for the information you actually need

Easy to confuse with

Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.

Questions people ask

What is the could you tell me where…? used for?: A polite question wraps the real question in a phrase — and inside the wrapper the word order goes back to normal. In practice: ask a stranger something politely.
How do you form the could you tell me where…??: Could you tell me / Do you know + question word + SUBJECT + VERB.
What is the most common mistake with the could you tell me where…??: Saying “Could you tell me where is the station?” instead of “Could you tell me where the station is?”. Inside an indirect question the verb goes back after the subject.

Where could you tell me where…? fits

Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.

Could you tell me where…? is a CEFR B2 structure — the confident band — and it belongs to questions. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.

Reading it is not the same as saying it.

CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.

Practise the could you tell me where…? →

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