Word
Я сомневаюсь, поэтому хочу уточнить, работает ли он сегодня.
Meaning
I am in doubt, so I want to clarify whether he is working today.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Я сомневаюсь, поэтому хочу уточнить, работает ли он сегодня.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
я
I
работать
to work
хотеть
to want
Questions & Answers about Я сомневаюсь, поэтому хочу уточнить, работает ли он сегодня.
How does ли work in this sentence, and why isn't it at the beginning of the clause like "whether" is in English?
The particle ли creates an indirect yes/no question, much like "whether" or "if" in English. However, ли cannot start a clause. It must come right after the word that is the focus of your question. Since you are asking whether he is working, работает goes first, followed immediately by ли.
Could I use если instead of ли here, since they can both mean "if"?
No, and this is a major trap for English speakers! English uses "if" for both conditions ("If it rains...") and indirect questions ("I wonder if he is working"). Russian strictly separates them. You must use если for conditions and ли for indirect yes/no questions like this one.
Why does сомневаюсь have the reflexive ending -сь? Am I doubting myself?
Not necessarily. The verb сомневаться (to doubt) is inherently reflexive in Russian. It always takes a reflexive ending (-ся or -сь after vowels), but the action isn't directed back at yourself. It is just the built-in form of this specific verb.
Why use the perfective verb уточнить here rather than its imperfective pair уточнять?