I was wondering when the last day of class is. vs. When is the last day of class ?

Hi class,

Last week on Zoom, Cindy was telling us about practicing questions with: I was wondering...

This is an example of an indirect question.

Sometime we also call these kinds of questions: reported or embedded questions

You can see here that we don't use a question mark at the end of the sentence. (?)

We use a period. (.)

Many times, people use indirect questions in formal situations or with people they don't know.

We also use "I was wondering..." to ask someone for a favor.

Watch this video:

Take a look at this information about "I was wondering...":

It shows that we use this phrase to ask for a favor.

You can also ask a big favor indirectly with the phrase “I was wondering…”:

I was wondering if you could help me move on Saturday. 

Notice anything different here? This example does not have a question mark. It is not a question. However, when we use “I wonder” or “I was wondering,” in a statement, we usually are seeking information, just like a question does.

Using “I was wondering” is a very common way to politely ask a favor or seek information in English without sounding too demanding.

Here’s another example. Listen to the direct question:

Did you finish the report?

And the indirect question:

I was wondering if you finished the report.

Extra practice: Look at the links below.

Listen here for the podcast from voanews about indirect questions:

Difference between reported questions and embedded questions from busy teacher.org:

Read about and practice indirect questions with "Can you..."/"Could you"...