Breakdown of Она спросила, кому начальник приказал молчать.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
кто
who / whoever
начальник
boss
спросить
to ask (perfective)
молчать
to be silent
приказать
to order, to command (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Она спросила, кому начальник приказал молчать.
Why is кому in the Dative case instead of the Accusative кого?
The verb приказать (to order or command) is a verb of communication. In Russian, you give an order to someone, so it requires the Dative case for the recipient without any prepositions. кому is the Dative form of кто (who).
Why does кому come before the subject начальник in the second part of the sentence?
In indirect questions like this one, the question word (кому) acts as a connector between the two clauses. It must come at the very beginning of the subordinate clause, right after the comma, regardless of the word order in the English translation.
Why did they use the imperfective verb молчать (to keep quiet) instead of the perfective замолчать?
It depends on the exact meaning of the order. молчать (imperfective) implies an ongoing state: to stay silent or to not speak at all about a certain topic. If the boss had ordered someone to suddenly stop talking at that specific moment, you would likely see the perfective замолчать.
Is the comma before кому required here?
Yes, absolutely. In Russian, subordinate clauses like this indirect question must always be separated from the main clause by a comma. English often drops commas before words like whom or that, but Russian punctuation strictly requires them.
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