I don't understand the following question:
And can you tell me where you’re from?
Why is "where you are from" used instead of "where are you from"?
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Sign up to join this communityI don't understand the following question:
And can you tell me where you’re from?
Why is "where you are from" used instead of "where are you from"?
Where are you from? is a question. The auxiliary verb† are "inverts" or changes places with its subject, you.
Can you tell me . . .? is also a question, and likewise has subject/auxiliary inversion: can inverts with you. But then you go on to specify X, the object of the verb tell, the matter you want your hearer to tell you. For that you don't use another question but a fused relative clause‡, which is not a question and does not have subject/inversion.
† BE always behaves like an auxiliary, even when it is the only verb in the clause.
‡ This is sometimes called a free relative clause. It is constructed just like an ordinary relative clause (a bound relative clause), but acts as a noun phrase rather than as a modifier.
It is used because there is already a question before the where.
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