indirect speech

Which will be correct:
he asked who was the first man on the moon
OR:
he asked who the first man on the moon was
(if the answer is "N. Armstrong was...")

To me, the first option seems to be the right one since "who" is the subject here and we observe the direct word order.

But there are people who disagree, and they are many.

The second looks better as the first would require a question mark(?). He asked: Who was the first man on the moon?

There are people who disagree, they are many and I'm one. I'D go for "He asked who the first man on the moon was."

Latest score: Option 1: 1 Option 2: 2

In the indirect question format "who" is the subject of the verb "to be" and the first man on the moon is the complement. If you reverse it to a direct question, the direct question would be: Who was the first man on the moon, not who the first man on the moon was. Hope that makes sense...I know what I'm getting at anyway! :-)

Either

He asked, "Who was the first man on the moon?"

if those were his exact words, or

He asked who the first man on the moon was.

otherwise.

Hi Damian,
Can you clarify what you mean by writing out each correct form?