Yes/No Questions with "Da li"
When you embed a yes/no question inside another sentence (like "I wonder if..." or "I have no idea whether..."), Croatian uses the phrase da li.
To express "I wonder," Croatian literally says "It interests me," using the verb zanimati. You will also frequently see indirect questions paired with phrases like nemam pojma (I have no idea).
| I wonder if you are ready. | Zanima me da li ste spremni. |
| I have no idea whether she decided. | Nemam pojma da li je ona odlučila. |
Using Question Words
For open-ended questions, you do not use da li. Instead, just use standard interrogative words—such as koji (which), gdje (where), or što (what)—to connect the clauses.
| I wonder what your new address is. | Zanima me koja je tvoja nova adresa. |
| We have no idea which direction we are going in. | Nemamo pojma u koji smjer idemo. |
| We must find out where that information is. | Moramo saznati gdje je ta informacija. |
Finding Out and Checking
Indirect questions are highly useful for making polite inquiries, expressing uncertainty, or gathering facts with verbs like saznati (to find out), provjeriti (to check), and odlučiti (to decide).
| I want to find out whether the train arrived. | Želim saznati da li je vlak stigao. |
| Please, check whether the restaurant is open. | Molim te, provjeri da li je restoran otvoren. |
| I must check what they decided. | Moram provjeriti što su oni odlučili. |
Expressing Worry
You can also use these same embedded structures to explain the source of an emotion, such as when you worry (brinuti se) about an uncertain outcome.
| I worry whether he will arrive on time. | Brinem se da li će on doći na vrijeme. |