Double Questions in a Question

by Thomas Ting
(Singapore)

(1) Do you know who the inventor of the camera is?
(2) Do you know who is the inventor of the camera?
Which of the above is/are correct? and why?

I thought that we couldn't have double questions in a question. I know that "Do you know where Jane is?" is correct.

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Hi Thomas,
You are correct when you mention that we can't have double questions and when you ask a "do you know" question you need to re-arrange the structure a little.

Regarding your examples number 2 is incorrect and number one is grammatically correct but it is more natural to ask:

Do you know who invented the camera?

Here are some more examples to show you the idea behind "do you know" questions.

What is my name?
Do you know what my name is?

How old am I?
Do you know how old I am?

Where is Jane?
Do you know where Jane is?

I hope that makes things more clear for you.

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