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In a sentence like the following:

You want to know how long you were unavailable.

Should I write "you were" or "were you"? Second version (with "were you") is:

You want to know how long were you unavailable.

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There are two kinds of questions in English.

One kind reverses the subject and the first auxiliary verb. It uses auxiliary do.
That kind is the real question, and is a complete sentence -- an independent clause.

  • How long were you unavailable?
  • When will she be coming to the party?
  • When did he finish his coffee?

The other kind does not reverse the subject and auxiliary verb. It doesn't use do, either.
That kind is not a real question, nor an independent clause. It is a dependent clause.

  • They want to know [how long you were unavailable].
  • He wants to know [when she will be coming to the party].
  • I want to know [when he finished his coffee].

Notice that there are no question marks here, because these are not questions; they are Object Complement clauses with the Embedded Question complementizer. Each embedded question in the examples above is the direct object of the verb know.

So if you ask a real question, be sure to use the first type, with the inversion.
Many if not most of the questions asked on ELU.SE are incorrect, for this reason.
If you want to get a good answer, ask a good question.

(By the way, this question has been asked and answered here dozens of times before.
From now on, why not just link to this answer and save time?)

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Are you sure you mean you want to know and not I or we want to know?

Either way, if it's a statement you probably want "I want to know how long you were unavailable.", and if it's a question you probably want "How long were you unavailable?"

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  • Thanks! a short but helpful answer.
    – Or B
    Commented Feb 20, 2014 at 20:26
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Because "Were You" sounds more professional and analytical and in this juxtaposition my interpretation is "were you" would be used in a professional manner where as "you were" is a more free flowing yet concise take upon the word.

My answer is "were you" right side brained, rigid analytical, type of speech

My answer is also "you were" left side brained more freeflowing, almost slang ish.

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