An embedded question is a question-shaped clause used as part of a larger sentence: ما بعرف وين راح “I don't know where he went,” سألتها إمتى بتوصل “I asked her when she would arrive.” The speaker is not necessarily asking the listener directly. Instead, the whole unknown—where he went, when she arrives—functions as the object of knowing, asking, finding out, or wondering.
Lebanese keeps ordinary clause order inside these complements. It does not add English do, does not invert a subject and auxiliary, and does not normally insert إنو immediately before a wh-word.
Direct versus embedded questions
| Direct question | Embedded question | Function |
|---|---|---|
| وين راح رامي؟ | بتعرف وين راح رامي؟ | place unknown |
| إمتى بيفتح الفرع؟ | سألت إمتى بيفتح الفرع. | time unknown |
| مين أخد المفتاح؟ | مش عارف مين أخد المفتاح. | person unknown |
| ليش تأجل الموعد؟ | بدي اعرف ليش تأجل الموعد. | reason unknown |
وين راح رامي بعد الشغل؟
wēn rāḥ Rāme baʿd esh-shoghol?
Where did Rami go after work? (direct information question)
بتعرف وين راح رامي بعد الشغل؟
btaʿref wēn rāḥ Rāme baʿd esh-shoghol?
Do you know where Rami went after work? (matrix yes-no question containing an embedded wh-question)
ما بعرف وين راح رامي بعد الشغل.
ma baʿref wēn rāḥ Rāme baʿd esh-shoghol.
I don't know where Rami went after work. (declarative sentence containing an embedded question)
The first two end with a question mark because the speaker asks the listener something. The third ends as a statement even though وين introduces an unresolved value. Question words do not force the entire sentence to be interrogative.
After know, find out, ask, and tell me
Common hosts include بعرف / ما بعرف “I know/don't know,” بدي اعرف “I want to know,” سأل “ask,” قللي “tell me,” and خبرني “let me know/tell me.” Their argument structures remain intact: سألت الموظفة وين الطلب asks the employee a question; سألت عن الطلب asks about the order as a topic.
سألت الموظفة إمتى بيكون الطلب جاهز.
saʾalt el-mwaẓẓafe imta byikūn eṭ-ṭalab zhēhez.
I asked the employee when the order would be ready. (professional conversation)
قلي مين رح يستلم المفاتيح عنك.
ʾelle mīn raḥ yistalem el-mafātīḥ ʿannak.
Tell me who will collect the keys for you. (informal; masculine addressee)
بعدني عم حاول اعرف كيف انمسح الملف.
baʿdne ʿam ḥāwel aʿref kēf inmasaḥ el-malaf.
I'm still trying to find out how the file got deleted. (informal; ongoing investigation)
English alternates among know where, ask when, find out how, and tell me who. Lebanese also distinguishes the selecting verb, but the embedded question itself retains the ordinary colloquial question word and clause.
Word order stays Lebanese
Because Lebanese direct questions already lack English-style inversion, embedded order is often visibly identical to direct order. إمتى بيوصل الباص؟ becomes بتعرف إمتى بيوصل الباص؟, not a translation of English when does the bus arrive with a separate “does.”
بتعرف إمتى بيوصل الباص عالمدينة؟
btaʿref imta byūṣal el-bāṣ ʿal-madīne?
Do you know when the bus arrives in the city? (neutral information request)
مش متذكر مع مين كنت عم تحكي.
mish mtzakkar maʿ mīn kent ʿam tiḥke.
I don't remember whom you were talking with. (masculine speaker; preposition retained)
The preposition stays with مين. Fronted مع مين كنت عم تحكي؟ and contextual in-situ كنت عم تحكي مع مين؟ are both possible direct questions; the same placement options can appear inside a larger clause. Bare English-style stranding مين... مع is not created by embedding.
Wh-complements do not need إنو
إنو introduces a proposition whose content is presented as a fact, claim, thought, or possibility. A wh-word introduces a set of possible values. Compare بعرف إنو المحل مسكر “I know that the shop is closed” with بعرف ليش المحل مسكر “I know why the shop is closed.”
بعرف إنو الاجتماع تأجل لبكرا.
baʿref inno l-izhtimēʿ tʾazhzhal la-bokra.
I know that the meeting was postponed until tomorrow. (fact complement)
بعرف ليش الاجتماع تأجل لبكرا.
baʿref lēsh el-izhtimēʿ tʾazhzhal la-bokra.
I know why the meeting was postponed until tomorrow. (embedded reason question)
The unmotivated sequence إنو ليش is not the neutral connector here. A speaker may quote or frame a whole question after a saying verb, but that is discourse quotation, not the basic embedded-question grammar. See إنو clauses for proposition complements.
Yes-no complements with إذا
When the unknown is whether a whole proposition is true, Lebanese commonly uses إذا “whether/if.” Context distinguishes this complementizer use from a conditional “if.”
ما بعرف إذا الصيدلية فاتحة اليوم.
ma baʿref iza ṣ-ṣaydaliyye fētḥa l-yōm.
I don't know whether the pharmacy is open today. (embedded yes-no question)
سألني إذا بدي قهوة قبل ما نبلش.
saʾalne iza badde ʾahwe ʾabel ma nballesh.
He asked me whether I wanted coffee before we started. (reported yes-no question)
إذا الصيدلية فاتحة، بمرق عليها بعد الشغل.
iza ṣ-ṣaydaliyye fētḥa, bamroʾ ʿalēha baʿd esh-shoghol.
If the pharmacy is open, I'll stop by after work. (conditional, not embedded question)
The first إذا fills the object of ما بعرف: the open/closed truth value is unknown. The third establishes a condition for a later action. Position and selecting predicate reveal the difference.
Time and aspect remain inside the embedded clause
Embedding does not erase Lebanese tense-aspect choices. A perfect reports a bounded earlier event; a b-imperfect can describe a schedule or state; رح + bare imperfect locates a future event relative to the discourse.
سألتها ليش ما ردت مبارح.
saʾalta lēsh ma raddit mbēreḥ.
I asked her why she hadn't replied yesterday. (past matrix and earlier bounded nonresponse)
بدي اعرف وين رح تقعدوا الأسبوع الجاي.
badde aʿref wēn raḥ tiʾʿado l-osbūʿ el-zhāyy.
I want to know where you'll be staying next week. (future embedded question; plural addressees)
English backshifts will to would after a past reporting verb more regularly than Lebanese does. Lebanese time reference comes from the actual verb form and adverb. Do not mechanically change every embedded verb because the matrix verb is past.
Echo and repair inside a larger frame
An embedded question can itself contain an incredulous value, but a direct echo is usually lighter. Compare calm بدي اعرف قديش دفع with surprised repetition.
بدي اعرف قديش دفع عالتصليح.
badde aʿref ʾaddēsh dafaʿ ʿat-taṣlīḥ.
I want to know how much he paid for the repair. (neutral embedded information question)
قلت إنو دفع قديش؟!
ʾelt inno dafaʿ ʾaddēsh?!
You said he paid HOW MUCH?! (incredulous echo of reported information)
The second is not simply an embedded-question variant. It repeats a report and focuses the unheard or unbelievable amount. The echo-question page treats that interactional difference directly.
Service dialogue: checking delivery information
بتعرف إمتى بيوصل الطلب عالفرع؟
btaʿref imta byūṣal eṭ-ṭalab ʿal-fareʿ?
Do you know when the order reaches the branch? (customer question)
بعدني ما بعرف إذا طلع من المستودع.
baʿdne ma baʿref iza ṭiliʿ min el-mostawdaʿ.
I still don't know whether it left the warehouse. (employee response)
فيني اسأل مين معه رقم السايق؟
fīne isʾal mīn maʿo raʾam es-sēyeʾ?
Can I ask who has the driver's number? (request to pursue the unknown person)
إي، اسأل زميلتي؛ يمكن تعرف وين صار.
ē, isʾal zmēlte; yimken taʿref wēn ṣār.
Yes, ask my colleague; she may know where he is. (short answer plus embedded place question)
Common Mistakes
Adding إنو before a wh-word
❌ ما بعرف إنو وين راح.
Incorrect — the wh-word directly introduces the unknown value.
✅ ما بعرف وين راح، وما ترك خبر.
ma baʿref wēn rāḥ, w-ma tarak khabar.
I don't know where he went, and he left no word.
Importing English do-support
❌ بتعرف وين بيعمل يشتغل رامي؟
Incorrect — embedded questions do not add an auxiliary corresponding to English ‘does.’
✅ بتعرف وين بيشتغل رامي هالأيام؟
btaʿref wēn byishtighel Rāme hal-ayyēm?
Do you know where Rami works these days?
Stranding a preposition
❌ نسيت مين كنت عم تحكي مع.
Incorrect by English transfer — مع remains with its interrogative complement.
✅ نسيت مع مين كنت عم تحكي وقت وصلت.
nsīt maʿ mīn kent ʿam tiḥke waʾet wṣilit.
I forgot whom you were talking with when I arrived.
Using formal question vocabulary in casual speech
❌ بدي اعرف أين وضعت الشاحن.
Register mismatch — أين and وضعت create an unmotivated formal switch inside a casual Lebanese frame.
✅ بدي اعرف وين حطيت الشاحن.
badde aʿref wēn ḥaṭṭēt esh-shāḥen.
I want to know where you put the charger.
Key Takeaways
- Embed وين، مين، ليش، إمتى، كيف directly after predicates of knowing, asking, finding out, or wondering.
- Keep Lebanese clause order; do not add English do or inversion.
- Use إنو for a proposition, a wh-word for an unknown value, and إذا for an unknown yes-no truth value.
- The matrix sentence controls whether the utterance is a question or statement; an embedded wh-word alone does not require question intonation or punctuation.
- Preserve prepositions and Lebanese tense-aspect choices inside the embedded clause.
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- Wh-in-Situ and Wh-FrontingB1 — Choose between leaving Lebanese question words in their semantic slot and moving them to the front, with attention to argument type, focus, prepositions, and prosody.
- Yes-No Questions without InversionA1 — Ask and answer Lebanese yes-no questions with ordinary clause order, question intonation, optional contrastive subjects, and no English do-support.
- Multiple Wh-QuestionsC1 — Ask about two linked unknowns in Lebanese using licensed مين…مين and أي + noun patterns, while recognizing why late شو is usually echo-only.
- إنّو: That-ClausesA2 — Build Lebanese proposition complements with إنو after speech, thought, perception, and evaluation, including fused subject forms and casual omission.
- عرف ʿirif: knowA2 — Conjugate Lebanese عرف and distinguish knowing people and facts, finding out, know-how complements, negation, participles, and discourse uses of بعرف.
- سأل saʾal: askA2 — Conjugate hamzated سأل and distinguish the person asked, the topic, a question, and a request for action.