Breakdown of Il demande si vous avez de bonnes références.
il
he
vous
you (plural/formal)
avoir
to have
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
bon
good
si
if
demander
to ask (for) / to require / demand
la référence
the reference
Questions & Answers about Il demande si vous avez de bonnes références.
How would the direct question look before it was reported?
Where does the question structure like inversion or est-ce que go when using si?
It disappears! When turning a direct question into an indirect one, you drop any question phrasing like est-ce que or subject-verb inversion. You simply use si followed by the normal subject-verb statement order: si vous avez....
Why is it de bonnes références and not des bonnes références?
Do I need to worry about changing the tense of avez in this sentence?
Not here. Because the introductory verb demande (asks) is in the present tense, the reported verb avez stays in whatever tense the speaker originally used (the present). If the first verb were in the past, like Il a demandé (He asked), the rules of reported speech would force the second verb to shift back in time to the imperfect tense: si vous aviez... (if you had...).
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