Is the word order correct in "I'm not sure what is the right way" or is it only correct to say "I'm not sure what the right way is"?

Question

I believe "I'm not sure what the right way is" is grammatically correct.

Recently I've seen too many people writing it this way:

I'm not sure what is the right way.

Is it grammatically correct as well? Maybe in a different sense? Or simply misuse by non-native speakers?

Suspected duplication. http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/50006/lets-see-how-can-we-do-this/ — John Lawler, Dec 08 '11 at 23:13
@JohnMLawler Haha funny. That was my question asked couple of days ago :) — Terry Li, Dec 08 '11 at 23:14
@JohnMLawler I don't know, that one is a bit different, about the positioning of we and can in that sentence. — , Dec 08 '11 at 23:16
OK, if it's not gonna get closed out from under me, I'll answer it. — John Lawler, Dec 08 '11 at 23:58
It's not a duplicate because the sentence in that linked question is ungrammatical, but this one is grammatical. — alcas, Dec 09 '11 at 01:16
@alcas Eight years later, here I come to tell you that both sentences will be considered ungrammatical by many speakers, while many other speakers will find both grammatical. To me, they’re both quite ungrammatical, but I know people who would use both without a moment’s hesitation. — Janus Bahs Jacquet, Jul 21 '19 at 11:29
Does this answer your question? Is the inversion in “Let’s see ʜᴏᴡ ᴄᴀɴ ᴡᴇ do this” an error for “Let’s see ʜᴏᴡ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ do this”? — Edwin Ashworth, Feb 02 '22 at 12:04

score 22 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

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Everybody learns that What is the right way? is a Wh-Question structure. Add the intonation (which is what the question mark is for), and the context, and it's ordinary. As a question. It's formed from something like The right way is X, where the unknown X becomes what.

But as the Object Complement of a mental or communicational predicate, like know, be sure, or say, it's embedded in the sentence, rather than being the sentence. That makes it an Embedded Question (aka Headless Relative or Wh-Clause), and that's a standard complement type, with slightly different syntax from ordinary questions.

The slight difference is that the normal Question-Formation rule inverts the Subject and the first auxiliary verb

[with two caveant:

be is always an auxiliary verb

if there isn't an auxiliary verb, invoke Do-Support]

while an Embedded Question normally does not invert.

Where are they? ~ I'm not sure where they are.

But, just in case the sentence is intended by the speaker to request information (rather than to merely comment on one's mental deficiency), one way of many that this indirect request can be signalled as a question is to use the other question structure, the one that actually resembles a question, with inversion, instead of without inversion.

I'm not sure where are they. (means "Where are they?")

This is frequently intoned like a question instead of a statement, and punctuated with ? to mark this.

And that has become a very widespread pragmatic convention in the last 40 years or so, though it still varies locally and socially. And that's all, really. Both are correct, though they don't mean the same thing, pragmatically.

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

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answered Dec 09 '11 at 00:22

John Lawler

107,887

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I think at least some people writing "I'm not sure what is the right way" are hypercorrecting because of the imagined dangling participle "rule", i.e. they don't want to end a sentence with "is". – Marthaª Dec 09 '11 at 00:28
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I'm afraid that's true of a vast number of variant constructions. Who knows what kind of zombie rules people have been taught? The best anyone can do, I think, is point out real phenomena and how they work, with some attention to known variants. After all, we all make up our own language, and then spend the rest of our lives trying to pass as English speakers. – John Lawler Dec 09 '11 at 00:32
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@JohnMLawler Very well said! – Terry Li Dec 09 '11 at 00:41
If the stress is intended to be, "I'm not sure what is the right way," then the phrase would be correct, although it would be difficult to read it that way. (Or does this fall under your "pragmatic convention?") – Gnawme Dec 09 '11 at 01:17
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To me, "I'm not sure what is the right way" sounds much correct than "I'm not sure where they are", so I'm not sure the analogy is good.
Maybe this is why: You stated that the question is derived from something like "The right way is X". I think that's the derivation of "I'm not sure what the right way is". However, you can also say "X is the right way", which generates "I'm not sure what is the right way" when you turn it into a question. They're both grammatical to preserve the contrast between those two possible underlying forms.
– alcas Dec 09 '11 at 01:17
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@alcas Thanks. I think you are hitting the nail on the head. – Terry Li Dec 09 '11 at 01:53
In third paragraph, what's your rationale for using Latin plural caveant instead of English caveats? – James Waldby - jwpat7 Mar 08 '12 at 06:58
@jwpat7 Because it’s kinda cool to use obscure plurals. My favourite is “octopodes”. – Pitarou Mar 08 '12 at 14:29
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Caveat is a verb; it's the 3sg subjunctive present form of the verb cavēre 'beware'. Caveant is the 3pl. – John Lawler Mar 08 '12 at 16:45
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@JohnLawler But I'm not sure where are they does not sound grammatical, nor idiomatic, to me here in Britain. Nor does I'm not sure what is the right way. But I'm not sure which is the right way sounds perfectly fine. – WS2 Nov 04 '15 at 08:12
"I'm not sure what's the right way" strikes my ear as marginal. This kind of statement isn't the kind where you have to "unlearn" how you actually say it in order to be "correct"; rather, native speakers know how to say "I'm not sure what the right way is" without having to think about it. – TimR Aug 18 '23 at 13:25
@alcas: I take it this is just a typo: "much correct" and you're a native speaker? – TimR Aug 18 '23 at 13:30
Seems to me "I'm not sure what is the right way" is something people say when they are questioning their own instincts and trying to be "correct", afraid that is dangling at the end of the sentence like that (I don't know what the right way is**) is "bad writing". – TimR Aug 18 '23 at 13:32
Maybe they use I don't know what is the right way to emphasize on is. – Snack Exchange Oct 18 '23 at 21:07
You've closed another question as a dupe of this one. But neither of the choices in the other question involve subject auxiliary inversion! – Araucaria - Him Oct 24 '23 at 12:52
Go back and look, please. Anyway, I just thought I was voting for closure. I hadn't ever proposed a duplicate before and didn't know it caused instant closure. – John Lawler Oct 24 '23 at 15:35
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@JohnLawler You've recently earned the only ever awarded gold badge for "grammar" (a tag they basically tried to ban at one point!). That now means you have a golden hammer. If you vote to close a Q it gets instantly closed. Likewise, I believe, with re-opening. [I did go back and check, btw. No SAI!] – Araucaria - Him Oct 24 '23 at 22:39
Oh, dear. I didn't ask for that. I dislike the badges as much as I do the tags they're based on. Can I give it back? – John Lawler Oct 25 '23 at 02:14

Is the word order correct in "I'm not sure what is the right way" or is it only correct to say "I'm not sure what the right way is"?

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