Reported questions keep their word order: hỏi / không biết + the question as asked

To report a question, or to say you don't know something, put the question after hỏi (ask) or không biết (don't know) exactly as it was asked. Nothing moves: Nhà vệ sinh ở đâu? Where's the toilet? becomes Em không biết nhà vệ sinh ở đâu. I don't know where the toilet is.

English changes the order ("where is it" becomes "where it is"); Vietnamese doesn't. The question word stays where the answer would go, just as in the question itself. This works with every question word, and with verbs like nhớ (remember) and muốn biết (want to know): Em không nhớ chị ấy tên gì. I can't remember what her name is.

Only the people change, as in English: Con đi đâu? Where are you going? becomes Mẹ hỏi em đi đâu. Mum asked where I was going.

When you ask whether someone knows, không goes at the very end: Anh biết mấy giờ quán đóng cửa không? Do you know what time the place closes? A reported yes/no question works differently: có … không goes inside it, never nếu.