I can't tell where I need to put the verb are/is in question sentences.
For example:
Do you know how many feet are in one mile?
It sounds completely odd to my ears but I know it's right. I'd like to put the word 'are' at the end of the sentence and say:
Do you know how many feet in one mile are?
And the reason for this is this construction:
Do you know how many feet one mile is?
I'm not sure if this is grammatically right (might be American slang) but it feels and sounds right. When I change the position of the word 'is', however, and say
Do you know how many feet is one mile?
it sounds wrong. What am I missing here? If I structure the sentence with the word 'are' and say 'Do you know how many feet are in one mile' it's right but when I want to restructure the sentence and use the word 'is' I have to say 'Do you know how many feet in one mile is?' WHat am I missing here???
To further illustrate my problem let's look at this sentence:
Do you know where my book is?
This sounds right and so does this one:
Do you know where my books are?
Now, if I change the structure of this sentence and say
Do you know where are my books?
it sounds completely wrong. But if this is wrong why is it right to say
Do you know how many feet are in one mile
and wrong to say
Do you know how many feet in one mile are?
Again, if I were to structure it with 'is' it would sound right
Do you know how many feet one mile is?