Я не уверен, поеду ли я сам в этот лагерь или с друзьями.

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Breakdown of Я не уверен, поеду ли я сам в этот лагерь или с друзьями.

• я: I
• с: with
• в: to

Questions & Answers about Я не уверен, поеду ли я сам в этот лагерь или с друзьями.

What does ли mean here, and why is it in the middle (поеду ли я) instead of at the beginning?

Ли is a particle that turns a clause into a yes/no “whether” question when that clause is embedded inside another sentence.

In English, you say:

• I’m not sure *whether I will go...*

In Russian, you use ли for that “whether”:

• Я не уверен, поеду ли я сам...
  I’m not sure whether I will go by myself...

Placement rule:

• Ли cannot stand at the very beginning of the clause.
• It usually comes right after the first important word in that clause—often the verb, sometimes an adverb or pronoun.

So:

• ✅ поеду ли я сам в этот лагерь
• ✅ я ли поеду (possible but more marked/emphatic, and less natural here)
• ❌ ли поеду я — wrong
• ❌ ли я поеду — wrong

In your sentence, поеду is the main verb of the embedded question, so ли comes after it: поеду ли я.

If there is ли, why is there no question mark at the end of the sentence?