Indirect Questions

[music2starr]

Hi, is the following sentence containing an indirect question correct or acceptable grammatically:

1. I wonder how in the world did I manage to win the title.

Or, should sentence 1 be constructed this way and only this way:

2. I wonder how in the world I managed to win the title.

[Marius Hancu]

Buy this book.

See reporting: basic rules for indirect speech
(I think the rules for word positions are similar):

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... auxiliary do is not used ...

I knew how they felt. (NOT ... how did they feel.)

Nobody told me why I had to sign the paper.
(NOT ... why did I have to sign ...)

Swan, Practical English Usage
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Also, see at the BBC:

Indirect questions:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode46/languagepoint.shtml

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Also, look at these examples and statistics in published books:

195 on "I wonder how I managed"
http://books.google.com/books?q=%22I+wonder+how+I+managed%22&btnG=Search+Books

2 on "I wonder how did I manage".
http://books.google.com/books?q=%22I+wonder+how+did+I+manage%22&btnG=Search+Books

and those two are questions, if you look at them.

[Bridget]

Buy this book.
See reporting: basic rules for indirect speech

What has "I wonder how/why, etc..." got to do with reporting and indirect speech?

In other words, what have these examples got to do with the thread question?


I knew how they felt. (NOT ... how did they feel.)

Nobody told me why I had to sign the paper.
(NOT ... why did I have to sign ...)

[Marius Hancu]

Also, music2starr, you can check these examples at the New York Times:

3 from nytimes.com for "we wonder how we managed"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Anytimes.com+%22we+wonder+how+we+managed%2 2&btnG=Search

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NO PERIOD THE CRITICAL ONE. (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40711FC3A5811738DDDAF0A94DA415B 8885F0D3)

... we were grossly imposed upon -- when we had absolutely nothing to do with our own Government, we wonder how we managed to sever our relations with her. ...

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If You're Thinking of Living In/Woodbridge, N.J.; Many Roads and ... (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E7D7173CF936A1575BC0A9649C8B 63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2)

''Although we are only in this house two years, we wonder how we managed in a cramped two-bedroom mobile home.'' He termed the area ''very friendly,'' ...

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From Department Store to Storehouse of Knowledge - New York Times (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9406E7D6153BF936A15756C0A9619582 60&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all)

... it,'' said Gerald Sussman, senior vice president for administration and planning. ''In fact, we wonder how we managed to survive in our old quarters.'' ...
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[Marius Hancu]

However, it's possible that for some "how in the world" is making everything very doubtful, like a question, and then you should use the inversion:

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And I ask myself, how in the world did we ever get into this situation in the ...

Police Use of Deadly Force: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Criminal ... - Page 253 (http://books.google.com/books?id=-2ffPPBs3lcC&q=%22myself+how+in+the+world+did+we%22&dq=%22myself+how+in+the+world+did+we%22) by United States Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary.
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but then you may also add a question mark at the end.

[Pete]

Hi, is the following sentence containing an indirect question correct or acceptable grammatically:

1. I wonder how in the world did I manage to win the title.

Or, should sentence 1 be constructed this way and only this way:

2. I wonder how in the world I managed to win the title.
As an indirect question, you should use version 2.

However, the first sentence, either spoken with a pause after "wonder" or punctuated differently:
- I wonder: How in the world did I manage to win the title?
would be fine. That version is certainly correct, but we would not call it an indirect question.