An embedded question names information that someone asks, knows, checks, remembers, or remains uncertain about. Filipino commonly introduces this content with kung: Hindi ko alam kung bukas ang klinika “I do not know whether the clinic is open.” The embedded clause is interrogative in content, but it is not automatically a direct question and omits direct-question ba in the conservative careful pattern.
Direct question versus embedded question
Begin with a direct polar question:
Dumating na ba ang bus mula sa Lucena?
Has the bus from Lucena arrived?
When that uncertainty becomes the object of knowing, asking, or checking, use kung and remove lower-clause ba:
Hindi ko alam kung dumating na ang bus mula sa Lucena.
I do not know whether the bus from Lucena has arrived.
The completed predicate dumating, phase particle na, and ang-marked actor-pivot stay intact. Only the clause type changes: the first utterance directly requests an answer; the second asserts the speaker’s lack of knowledge about the answer.
| Embedded question type | Pattern | Example content |
|---|---|---|
| Polar | kung
| kung bukas ang klinika |
| Explicit alternatives | kung
| kung sa Lunes o Martes |
| Polar with exhaustive alternative | kung
| kung sasama siya o hindi |
| Question word | kung
| kung sino ang tatawag |
| Oblique question word | kung kanino/saan
| kung kanino ibinigay ang susi |
Polar and alternative questions
Predicates such as alam, alamin, tanungin, tingnan, tiyakin, and maalala can select interrogative content.
Pakitingnan kung nakasara nang maayos ang bintana sa kusina.
Please check whether the kitchen window is properly closed.
Hindi pa tiyak kung sa lumang bulwagan o sa bagong gusali gaganapin ang pagtitipon.
It is not yet certain whether the gathering will be held in the old hall or in the new building.
Sabihin mo sa akin kung sasama ka o hindi para makapagpareserba ako ng upuan.
Tell me whether you are coming or not so that I can reserve a seat.
O hindi makes the two possible answers explicit, but plain kung sasama ka already means “whether you are coming.” In formal writing, the expanded form can emphasize that a definite decision is required.
A matrix question may contain an embedded question:
Alam mo ba kung bukas pa ang botika pagkatapos ng alas-nuwebe?
Do you know whether the pharmacy is still open after nine?
Only the matrix clause carries ba. The speaker directly asks “Do you know?”; kung bukas pa… supplies what is to be known.
Question-word complements
Embedded content questions normally keep kung before their question word.
Tinanong ng punong-guro kung bakit maagang umalis ang dalawang guro.
The principal asked why the two teachers left early.
Hindi namin matukoy kung saan nagsimula ang tagas sa bubong.
We cannot determine where the leak in the roof began.
Ipinaliwanag ng tekniko kung paano muling paganahin ang sistema kapag nawalan ng kuryente.
The technician explained how the system would be restarted after a power outage.
The matrix predicate affects interpretation. After tinanong, the clause is information requested. After ipinaliwanag, kung paano introduces the manner explained and approaches a fused relative meaning, “the way in which.” The wording is the same, but the selecting predicate tells the reader whether the discourse act is asking, knowing, or explaining.
In casual conversation, some speakers omit kung before a question word, as in Hindi ko alam saan siya pumunta. Retaining kung in kung bakit/paano/saan… is the dependable standard in careful complete clauses.
Contemporary Filipino also permits ba inside a kung clause, as in Hindi ko alam kung darating ba siya. For many speakers this is a marked option that can add emphasis or impatience; the ba-less form remains the safest choice in careful prose. The two variants do not differ in voice or participant marking.
Voice and pivot accessibility inside the question
Question words do not suspend Filipino voice. Compare an actor question with a patient question:
Hindi ko maalala kung sino ang nagdala ng kahon sa bodega.
I cannot remember who took a box to the storeroom.
Actor-voice nagdala makes sino the questioned actor-pivot, while ng kahon is a nonpivot patient.
Hindi ko maalala kung aling kahon ang dinala ni Nestor sa bodega.
I cannot remember which box Nestor took to the storeroom.
Patient-voice dinala makes aling kahon the questioned patient-pivot and marks the actor as ni Nestor. English uses similar word order in both translations, so the Filipino affix and markers carry the crucial contrast.
An oblique question retains its relational marker:
Tinanong ko kung kanino ibinigay ni Mara ang ekstrang susi.
I asked whom Mara gave the spare key to.
Kanino questions the personal recipient. Ang ekstrang susi remains the patient pivot of ibinigay, and ni Mara remains its actor. See question words and voice choice for the full accessibility system.
Kung as “whether” versus conditional “if”
The same word kung also introduces conditions. The matrix predicate and the logical relation distinguish them.
Susuriin ko kung maayos na ang bentilador.
I will check whether the fan is working properly now. (embedded question)
Bubuksan natin ang bintana kung hindi maayos ang bentilador.
We will open the window if the fan is not working properly. (condition)
In the first, checking seeks an answer to “Is the fan working?” In the second, the fan’s not working is the condition under which the window-opening will occur. English also uses if for both, but Filipino learners must not assume that every kung clause is a conditional.
Some predicates permit a genuine ambiguity. Titingnan ko kung darating siya most naturally means “I will see whether she comes,” but in a suitable sequence it can approach “I will look when/if she comes.” Add context or choose a more explicit temporal/conditional connector when the distinction matters.
Reference and scope
Arguments may be omitted inside an embedded question when discourse makes them recoverable, but competing referents should be stated.
—Nakausap mo na ba ang tagapamahala? —Oo, pero hindi niya sinabi kung kailan nila bubuksan muli ang palengke.
—Have you spoken with the manager? —Yes, but she did not say when they would reopen the public market.
Niya refers to the manager as the actor of sinabi; nila identifies the group responsible for reopening. Omitting nila could invite the wrong inference that the manager alone would do it.
Negation can belong to the matrix clause or the embedded proposition:
Hindi niya itinanong kung bakit hindi pa handa ang mga silid.
She did not ask why the rooms were still not ready.
The first hindi denies the asking event. The second hindi pa is part of the unresolved proposition. Reordering or deleting one changes scope rather than merely style.
Common Mistakes
Using declarative na for a polar question
❌ Hindi ko alam na bukas ang klinika o hindi.
Incorrect for uncertainty—na presents the proposition as declarative content.
✅ Hindi ko alam kung bukas ang klinika o hindi.
I do not know whether the clinic is open or not.
Copying a direct question without kung
❌ Alam mo ba dumating na ba ang doktor?
Incorrect careful embedding—the direct question was inserted without kung.
✅ Alam mo ba kung dumating na ang doktor?
Do you know whether the doctor has arrived?
Copying English subject-first order
❌ Pakitanong kung ang tanggapan bukas pa sa hapon.
Incorrect neutral order—the initial ang phrase has no ay topic construction.
✅ Pakitanong kung bukas pa ang tanggapan sa hapon.
Please ask whether the office is still open in the afternoon.
Ignoring voice in a who question
❌ Hindi malinaw kung sino ang dinala ng kahon sa silid.
Incorrect for 'who carried the box'—patient-voice dinala cannot make sino the actor-pivot.
✅ Hindi malinaw kung sino ang nagdala ng kahon sa silid.
It is unclear who carried the box into the room.
Key Takeaways
Use kung to embed polar, alternative, and question-word content. Remove direct-question ba from the lower clause and place ba in the matrix clause only when the whole utterance asks a direct question. Distinguish interrogative kung “whether” from conditional kung “if” through the selecting predicate and logical relation, and preserve the embedded predicate’s aspect, voice, markers, negation, and reference structure.
Related Topics
- Yes-No Questions with baA2 — Form clear yes-no and alternative questions with ba while preserving Filipino predicate order, aspect, voice, and participant markers.
- Question-Word PositionA2 — Place Filipino question words naturally at the front of neutral information questions while recognizing marked echo-question positions.
- Question Words and Voice ChoiceA2 — Choose Filipino verb voice so sino, ano, alin, and other question words match the participant role being requested.
- Complement Clauses with naC1 — Learn how na and its linker allomorphs introduce statements embedded after predicates of knowledge, speech, belief, and evaluation.
- Conditional Clauses with kungC1 — Build open, predictive, generic, and negative conditions with kung without importing English tense or inversion rules.
- Reported Speech with sabiC1 — Report statements, quotations, questions, and instructions with sabi and sinabi while preserving Filipino aspect, voice, and source marking.