Breakdown of J'insiste et je demande quand la commande arrive.
je
I
et
and
quand
when
arriver
to arrive
demander
to ask (for) / to require / demand
la commande
the order
insister
to insist
Questions & Answers about J'insiste et je demande quand la commande arrive.
Why is there no inversion or est-ce que after quand?
Because this is an indirect question. You are stating that you are asking a question, rather than asking it directly. In French, indirect questions drop direct question structures (like inversion or est-ce que) and use standard subject-verb word order: quand + subject (la commande) + verb (arrive).
Since this is reported speech, why doesn't the tense of arrive change?
Because the introductory verb je demande (I ask) is in the present tense. When reporting speech with a present tense introductory verb, you keep the tense of the original quote exactly as it was spoken. Since the original question was "When is it arriving?" (present tense), arrive stays in the present.
Why is "is arriving" translated simply as arrive?
French doesn't have a direct equivalent to the English "is doing" (present continuous) tense. The simple French present tense arrive covers both "arrives" and "is arriving". While you can use être en train de to emphasize an action happening right this second, the simple present is standard here.
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