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### Indirect Yes/No Questions

When you want to report a yes/no question, ask for information politely, or express doubt, English uses the words "if" or "whether" (e.g., "I don't know *if* he is working"). In Russian, you must use the enclitic particle **ли**.

Important: Never use **если** for indirect questions. **Если** is strictly used for conditional statements (e.g., "I will go *if* it rains").

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### Word Order

To form an indirect question, identify the word that is the main focus of the inquiry. Most of the time, this is the verb. Place this focused word at the beginning of the dependent clause, and put the particle **ли** immediately after it.

Just like with other conjunctions, a comma always separates the main clause from the indirect question clause.

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### Questioning Other Parts of Speech

While the verb is the most common focus, you can place **ли** after an adjective, adverb, or noun if that specific piece of information is what you are verifying. The focused word still moves to the front of its clause, followed directly by **ли**.

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### Expressing Doubt

Indirect questions are highly useful when expressing uncertainty or verifying facts. You will frequently see **ли** paired with verbs like **убедиться** (to make sure) or nouns like **сомнение** (doubt).

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Indirect yes/no questions (ли)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

predicative

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative (это)

Noun gender

Soft-sign nouns (-ь)

Subject pronouns (я, ты, он...)

Yes/no questions (да / нет)

Basic interrogatives (кто / что)

Basic negation (не)

Coordinating conjunctions (и / а)

Possessive pronouns (мой, твой, наш, ваш)

Demonstrative pronouns (этот, эта, это)

Adjective agreement

Which and whose (какой, чей)

First conjugation verbs, singular (-ать)

First conjugation verbs, plural (-ать)

Second conjugation verbs (-ить)

Irregular present tense verbs

Adverbs of manner (как, очень)

Locations in prepositional case (в / на)

Prepositional case modifiers (-ом, -ой)

Topics of speech (о, об)

Direct objects (-у, -ю)

Direct object pronouns (меня, тебя)

Verbs of motion (идти, ехать)

Destination (куда, в, на)

Plural nouns (-ы, -и, -а, -я)

Irregular plural nouns (друзья, дети)

Plural adjectives and pronouns (-ые, -ие)

Numbers 1 to 10 (один, два, три)

Possession with pronouns (у меня есть)

Possession with nouns (-а, -я, -ы, -и)

Genitive of negation (нет)

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

Quantities with mass nouns (сколько, много, мало)

Animate direct objects

The past tense of to be (был, была, было, были)

Regular past tense verbs

Time sequence expressions (вчера, завтра, раньше, потом)

Verb aspect in the past tense

Dative personal pronouns (мне, тебе, ему)

Expressing likes (нравится, нравятся)

Absence (нет)

Expressing age (год, года, лет)

Indirect objects (-у, -ю, -е)

Modal verbs (хотеть, мочь)

Reason and contrast (поэтому, но)

Double negation (ничего, никогда)

Reflexive verbs (-ся, -сь)

Polite requests and instructions (-ите, -йте)

Days of the week (в + Accusative)

Compound future tense (буду...)

Simple future tense

Accompaniment (с)

Multidirectional verbs of motion (ходить, ездить)

Greetings and goodbyes (здравствуйте, привет)

Thank you and sorry (спасибо, извините)

Countries and languages (русский, английский)

Meeting people (меня зовут, как дела)

Public transport (трамвай, остановка)

Left, right and the compass (слева, справа)

Places in the city (цирк, зоопарк)

Fruit and vegetables (помидор, огурец)

Post and travel (открытка, чемодан)

Family and relatives (внук, родственник)

Jobs and professions (инженер, продавец)

Sport and games (футбол, теннис)

Describing people (умный, сильный)

Health and the body (болен, здоровье)

The months of the year (январь, февраль)

Accusative feminine and inanimate adjectives (-ую, -юю)

Accusative animate masculine adjectives (-ого, -его)

Short-form adjectives (готов, занят)

Personal obligation (должен, должна)

Professions in the instrumental case

Genitive singular adjectives and possessives

Prepositions of absence and purpose (без, для)

Dative singular adjectives and possessives

Impersonal states (мне холодно)

Impersonal obligation (надо, нужно)

Impersonal permission (можно / нельзя)

Instrumental adjectives and pronouns

Reciprocal verbs (с + Instrumental)

Reflexive possessive pronouns (свой)

Reflexive pronouns (себя)

Specific indefinite pronouns (-то)

Non-specific indefinite pronouns (-нибудь)

Negative pronouns (никто / ничто)

Numbers 11 to 20

Question	Answer
to clarify / to specify	уточнить
whether / if (in indirect questions)	ли
I am in doubt, so I want to clarify whether he is working today.	Я сомневаюсь, поэтому хочу уточнить, работает ли он сегодня.
to make sure	убедиться
valid	действительный
certificate	сертификат
The director wants to confirm whether this certificate is valid.	Директор хочет убедиться, действительный ли этот сертификат.
to depend	зависеть
I don't remember whether our project depends on the weather.	Я не помню, зависит ли наш проект от погоды.
availability / presence	наличие
We must clarify whether the availability of this document is mandatory.	Мы должны уточнить, обязательно ли наличие этого документа.
customs	таможня
Nobody knows whether customs will ask about this certificate.	Никто не знает, спросит ли таможня про этот сертификат.
Mom was in doubt, so she dropped into the room to check whether the child was sleeping.	Мама сомневалась, поэтому зашла в комнату убедиться, спит ли ребёнок.
enough	достаточно
I doubt whether we did enough before the director arrived.	Я сомневаюсь, достаточно ли мы сделали до того, как приехал директор.
Either we check the availability of the products, or we won't know whether there are enough of them in the warehouse.	Или мы проверим наличие продуктов, или мы не узнаем, достаточно ли их на складе.
doubt	сомнение
However, customs checks the suitcases if there are doubts about whether you are transporting alcohol.	Однако таможня проверяет чемоданы, если есть сомнения, везёте ли вы алкоголь.
I sent a message so that they would check whether this certificate is valid.	Я отправил сообщение, чтобы они проверили, действительный ли этот сертификат.
Nobody said anything, but on the other hand we were able to check whether this computer works.	Никто ничего не сказал, зато мы смогли убедиться, работает ли этот компьютер.
I asked the manager whether my salary depends on this project.	Я спросил у менеджера, зависит ли моя зарплата от этого проекта.
I have doubts whether this is a valid certificate.	У меня есть сомнения, действительный ли это сертификат.