Tell me please which sentence is correct.
I wonder what they are doing.
I wonder what are they doing?
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In English, we reverse the normal subject + verb sequence of #1 when forming questions. But syntactically speaking, example #2 is a *statement, not a question (you're asserting that you wonder about something, not actually asking* the question). Native speakers do sometimes blur the distinction between question and statement syntax like this (particularly in very casual conversational contexts), but mostly it's something non-native speakers do. I suggest you avoid it. – FumbleFingers Jun 27 '19 at 12:20
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...or at least learn to recognise what you're doing here, if only so you can avoid extending it to constructions like *I don't know what are they doing, which only* non-native speakers are likely to come out with. – FumbleFingers Jun 27 '19 at 12:26
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Possible duplicate of I wondered what are your plans? & I wondered what your plans are – FumbleFingers Jun 27 '19 at 12:30
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2Both can be correct. The first would certainly be the most common usage. The second could still be used though - usually involves a pause after wonder and you could almost imagine what are they doing in quotation marks. Thus I wonder, "What are they doing?" Possibly more as a verbal thought or ponderance. Maybe you can hear somebody making a lot of noise and you wonder "what on earth are they doing?" – Smock Jun 27 '19 at 14:10
1 Answers
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I wonder what they are doing.
See Questions and negatives | LearnEnglish - British Council:
We sometimes use phrases like these in front of a statement to ask questions:
Do you know …? I wonder … Can you tell me …?
...
For wh-questions, we use the phrases with a question word:
Do you know who lives here?
I wonder how much this dress is.
Can you tell me where she comes from?
We often use do you think …? after question words:
How much do you think this dress is?
Where do you think she comes from?
Who do you think lives here?
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