eslHQ

eslHQ (http://www.eslhq.com/forums/)
-   English Questions (http://www.eslhq.com/forums/esl-forums/english-questions/)
-   -   "i do'nt know what is happening?" (http://www.eslhq.com/forums/esl-forums/english-questions/i-dont-know-what-happening-15284/)

excellency Jan 30th, 2010 12:04 pm

"i do'nt know what is happening?"
 
Hi everybody,
I have a problem with this sentece because as long as I know

when we say:"I don't know where she was?" the subject and the verb change their own places. but what about this:"I don't know what is happening?"anyway, is it correct or not?please help me, thanks all in advance. And sth else,we say:"is it correct or not?" or "is it correct or no?"which one is correct?
thank you again.

bread_baker Jan 30th, 2010 06:34 pm

Re: "i do'nt know what is happening?"
 
Here's an answer for correct American English.
These are statements, not questions.
"I don't know what is happening."
"I don't know where she was."

This is a question, not a statement.
"Is it correct, or not?"

In American English, the grammatical rules for statements and questions are different.

susan53 Feb 1st, 2010 11:22 am

Re: "i do'nt know what is happening?"
 
As bread Baker said, because the sentences are statements, not questions, they follow subject - verb phrase order - so : I don't know where she was and not the question form Where was she?

But in the second sentence What is itself the subject of the verb. So this time the order doesn't change whether it's a statement or a question :
I don't know what is happening.
What is happening?


If it's this which isn't clear, see the thread Inversion in questions


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:49 am.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2