5 exercises — practise embedded question word order for polite, professional support requests.
0 / 11 completed
1 / 11
Which sentence correctly embeds a question inside a polite support ticket request, using statement word order?
"Could you tell me why the export is failing?" correctly embeds the question "why is the export failing" inside a polite request, switching to statement word order (subject before verb, no inversion) as required for embedded questions. Option A keeps the inverted question word order ("why is the export"), which is incorrect once the question is embedded under "tell me". Option C incorrectly keeps the do-support inversion "does the export fail", which embedded questions do not use. Option D scrambles the word order entirely, placing the verb "is" at the end incorrectly.
2 / 11
Which sentence correctly embeds a yes/no question using "whether" or "if" inside a support request?
"Can you check if the license key has expired?" correctly embeds a yes/no question using "if" as the connector, followed by statement word order ("the license key has expired"), with no auxiliary inversion. Option B omits the required connector "if"/"whether" and keeps the inverted question order, both errors. Option C keeps the connector "if" but incorrectly retains the inverted order "has the license key expired". Option D scrambles the clause order entirely.
3 / 11
Which sentence correctly embeds a wh-question about the cause of a problem, appropriate for a formal support ticket?
"I'm not sure what causes the timeout errors" is correct: since "what" is itself the subject of the embedded clause ("what causes the timeout errors"), statement word order and question word order coincide here, and no auxiliary "is" is needed or correct, since "causes" already functions as the main verb. Option A incorrectly inserts "is" before "causing", producing a mismatched auxiliary-plus-participle structure that isn't needed when "what" is the subject. Option B scrambles the word order further. Option C also incorrectly reorders the clause with a stray "is".
4 / 11
Which sentence correctly embeds a question about time inside an email asking a colleague for information, using statement word order?
"Do you know when the maintenance window will start?" correctly embeds the question with statement word order: subject ("the maintenance window") before the auxiliary and verb ("will start"), with no inversion. Option A incorrectly keeps the inverted order "will the maintenance window". Options C and D both scramble the verb placement into ungrammatical sequences.
5 / 11
Which sentence correctly embeds a question inside a direct question format (still requiring statement word order internally), typical of a support ticket subject line phrased as a question?
"Do you know why my API key is not working?" is correct: even though the overall sentence is a direct question (inverted "do you know"), the embedded clause "why my API key is not working" itself keeps statement word order internally, since the inversion rule does not apply twice. Option A incorrectly inverts the embedded clause too ("why is my API key"), a very common learner error. Option C and D both scramble the internal word order of the embedded clause into ungrammatical sequences.
6 / 11
PR Description: 'The new authentication module has been implemented. I've followed the standard API design guidelines. If you have any questions about the implementation, please ask.'
Mark (Senior Developer) is describing a pull request. Which of the following options best completes his description to encourage collaboration and address potential concerns?
This scenario tests embedding a general invitation to question within a PR description. The phrase 'if you have any questions…' is a polite and open-ended invitation for clarification. Options A & B are overly prescriptive and lack an invitation to engage. Option D provides a superficial justification of the change.
7 / 11
PR Description: 'The new authentication module has been implemented. I've followed the standard API design guidelines. If you have any questions about the implementation, please ask.'
Mark (Senior Developer) is describing a pull request. Which of the following options best completes his description to encourage collaboration and address potential concerns?
This scenario tests embedding a general invitation to question within a PR description. The phrase 'if you have any questions…' is a polite and open-ended invitation for clarification. Options A & B are overly prescriptive and lack an invitation to engage. Option D provides a superficial justification of the change.
8 / 11
PR Description: 'The new authentication module has been implemented. I've followed the standard API design guidelines. If you have any questions about the implementation, please ask.'
Mark (Senior Developer) is describing a pull request. Which of the following options best completes his description to encourage collaboration and address potential concerns?
This scenario tests embedding a general invitation to question within a PR description. The phrase 'if you have any questions…' is a polite and open-ended invitation for clarification. Options A & B are overly prescriptive and lack an invitation to engage. Option D provides a superficial justification of the change.
9 / 11
Sarah, a junior developer, is writing a Slack message to the DevOps team. She needs to ask if the database server is experiencing high load. Which of the following options correctly embeds her question within the message?
'We've noticed increased response times from our application. Could you please investigate the cause?'
The correct option uses a polite phrasing with 'Could you please' to embed the question naturally within the statement. The other options either lack politeness or incorrectly place the question as a separate clause. It's important to frame questions politely in technical support contexts.
10 / 11
David is writing a comment on a code review for a new API endpoint. He wants to ask if the error handling is sufficient. Which of the following options correctly embeds his question within the comment?
'This endpoint handles all possible scenarios. Is it?'
The correct option uses the 'does/is' construction to embed a yes/no question correctly within the statement. The other options use incorrect word order or phrasing for embedding questions in this context. It's crucial that the embedded question is grammatically sound and clearly asks for confirmation.
11 / 11
Context: During a code review, Alex wants to know if the team has considered using a different logging library. He's writing a comment on a pull request.
Which sentence correctly embeds his question within the comment, maintaining standard English grammar and phrasing suitable for a technical discussion?
Option 1 correctly uses a direct question with 'Have you considered…?' which is natural and professional in this scenario. Options 2 & 3 use incorrect word order for questions. Option 4 is too verbose and less conversational. The key here is to frame the question as an inquiry about a specific alternative.
What will I practise in "Embedded Questions in Technical Support Tickets — IT Grammar Exercise"?
Practise forming indirect/embedded questions correctly, using statement word order without auxiliary inversion, when asking questions politely inside support
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 11 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.