An embedded question is a question used inside a larger clause: “I know who called,” “Please check whether the office is open,” or “She asked where we were going.” Filipino commonly introduces embedded questions with kung, especially after predicates of knowing, asking, checking, remembering, or uncertainty.
The embedded clause keeps Filipino word order, voice, aspect, and markers. English inversion does not survive inside I know where he went, and Filipino likewise does not add an English auxiliary or rearrange its participants.
Compare these patterns with neutral main-clause placement on the question-word position page. Embedding adds a larger predicate and often kung, but it does not rebuild the internal question from scratch.
Core embedded patterns
| Pattern | Function | Example |
|---|---|---|
| alam + kung + wh-clause | knowledge of requested information | Alam ko kung sino... |
| hindi alam + kung... | unresolved question | Hindi niya alam kung saan... |
| tanungin + kung... | report an inquiry | Tinanong niya kung kailan... |
| tingnan/alamin + kung + polar clause | check whether | Tingnan mo kung bukas... |
| kung ... ba | explicit embedded polar uncertainty | Hindi ko alam kung darating ba... |
Direct and embedded questions
Sino ang tumawag kagabi?
Who called last night?
Alam mo ba kung sino ang tumawag kagabi?
Do you know who called last night?
The embedded question keeps actor-voice tumawag and identifying sino ang.... Matrix ba turns Alam mo into a polar question; it does not belong to the embedded actor question.
Saan dinala ni Pilar ang mga kagamitan?
Where did Pilar take the equipment?
Hindi ko alam kung saan dinala ni Pilar ang mga kagamitan.
I do not know where Pilar took the equipment.
Patient/undergoer voice, actor ni Pilar, and pivot ang mga kagamitan remain unchanged.
Embedded polar questions
Tingnan mo kung bukas ang bintana sa silid-pulong.
Check whether the window in the meeting room is open.
Here bukas is the adjective “open”; kung means “whether.” The larger sentence is an instruction, not itself a question.
Hindi pa malinaw kung darating ang suplay ngayong linggo.
It is not yet clear whether the supply will arrive this week.
In conversation, ba may appear inside a kung polar clause for explicit interrogative force:
Hindi ko matandaan kung naipadala ba natin ang huling kopya.
I cannot remember whether we sent the final copy.
Both kung naipadala natin... and kung naipadala ba natin... occur in contemporary standard usage. The version with ba makes the embedded alternatives more salient; avoid treating the pair as an obligatory double marker.
In formal prose, the version without a redundant conversational ba is often more compact. In speech, the explicit particle can help listeners hear the intended alternatives inside a long sentence. This is a register and processing choice, not a different truth condition.
Matrix and embedded scope
Tinanong ni Eva kung bakit hindi dumalo si Ramon.
Eva asked why Ramon did not attend.
Bakit has scope over the embedded negative event. The sentence reports Eva's question; it does not directly ask the current listener unless intonation and context turn the whole utterance into a follow-up.
Alam mo ba kung bakit hindi dumalo si Ramon?
Do you know why Ramon did not attend?
Now matrix ba asks whether the listener knows. The requested answer may be “yes/no” at one level or the actual reason in cooperative conversation.
Aspect stays inside the question
Alamin mo kung natapos na nila ang pagkukumpuni.
Find out whether they have finished the repairs.
Completed natapos plus na asks whether the endpoint was reached. Compare:
Alamin mo kung tinatapos pa nila ang pagkukumpuni.
Find out whether they are still finishing the repairs.
Incompleted tinatapos plus pa asks whether work continues. Kung does not neutralize the aspect distinction.
Pronouns and markers remain role-sensitive
Hindi namin alam kung kanino ibinigay ni Leo ang ekstrang susi.
We do not know to whom Leo gave the spare key.
Exclusive namin belongs to the matrix clause. Embedded ibinigay, in patient/undergoer voice, has actor ni Leo, pivot ang ekstrang susi, and requested recipient kanino.
A short exchange
—Tinanong mo ba kung anong oras magsasara ang tanggapan? —Oo, pero hindi pa nila alam kung maaga silang magsasara.
—Did you ask what time the office will close? —Yes, but they do not yet know whether they will close early.
The first kung introduces a wh-question; the second introduces a polar alternative. Contemplated magsasara remains visible in both.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hindi ko alam kung saan ay pumunta si Lito.
Incorrect — English-style inversion or an inserted ay is not required inside the question.
✅ Hindi ko alam kung saan pumunta si Lito.
I do not know where Lito went.
❌ Tanungin mo kung ay dumating ang kahon.
Incorrect — ay cannot be inserted as an English-style auxiliary inside the embedded question.
✅ Tanungin mo kung dumating ang kahon.
Ask whether the box arrived.
❌ Alam mo ba sino tumawag?
Incomplete in careful standard Filipino — the embedded human pivot needs kung and the identifying ang construction.
✅ Alam mo ba kung sino ang tumawag?
Do you know who called?
Conversational Filipino may omit kung, and sometimes ang, in sequences such as Alam mo ba sino ang tumawag? or Alam mo ba sino tumawag? (informal/conversational). The full version above is the dependable careful-standard form.
❌ Hindi ko alam kung kanino si Mara ibinigay ang sobre.
Incorrect marker and word order for the patient/undergoer voice frame.
✅ Hindi ko alam kung kanino ibinigay ni Mara ang sobre.
I do not know to whom Mara gave the envelope.
Key Takeaways
- Kung commonly introduces embedded wh- and polar questions.
- Voice, markers, aspect, and Filipino predicate order remain active inside the embedded clause.
- Matrix ba asks about knowing or remembering; embedded ba can make a polar alternative explicit.
- Predicates such as know, ask, check, and remember license embedded-question readings.
- Never insert English do/did or auxiliary inversion into the Filipino clause.
Related Topics
- Question-Word PositionA2 — Place Filipino question words naturally at the front of neutral information questions while recognizing marked echo-question positions.
- Yes-No Questions with baA2 — Form clear yes-no and alternative questions with ba while preserving Filipino predicate order, aspect, voice, and participant markers.
- Complement Clauses with naC1 — Learn how na and its linker allomorphs introduce statements embedded after predicates of knowledge, speech, belief, and evaluation.
- Verb Complements and ControlC1 — Understand how Filipino matrix predicates select event complements and how an unspoken embedded participant is identified from the larger clause.
- Aspect in QuestionsB1 — Choose completed, incompleted, or contemplated forms in yes-no and information questions according to the event viewpoint being asked about.