Breakdown of Когда я встаю, я не понимаю, сплю ли я.
не
not
я
I
понимать
to understand
спать
to sleep
когда
when
вставать
to get up
ли
whether / if (in indirect questions)
Questions & Answers about Когда я встаю, я не понимаю, сплю ли я.
Why is the verb встаю missing the -ва- from its dictionary form вставать?
Verbs ending in -давать, -знавать, and -ставать (like вставать) drop the -ва- suffix in the present tense. That is why вставать becomes я встаю instead of 'я вставаю'.
Why is the particle ли used here, and why is it placed after сплю?
The particle ли translates to 'whether' or 'if' for indirect yes/no questions. It must be placed immediately after the word you are questioning. Since the uncertainty is about sleeping, it becomes сплю ли я. You cannot use если for this type of 'if'!
Where does the л in сплю come from if the infinitive is спать?
The verb спать (to sleep) has a stem ending in п. For these types of verbs, an л is inserted in the я (I) form to make it easier to pronounce, resulting in сплю. The л disappears in other forms, such as ты спишь (you sleep).
Why use the imperfective verb встаю instead of the perfective встану?
The imperfective встаю is used to show a habitual, repeated action. The speaker means 'Whenever I get up...'. If they were referring to one specific time in the future (e.g., 'When I get up tomorrow'), they would use the perfective form встану.
Why is there a comma before сплю ли я?
Russian strictly requires commas to separate subordinate clauses from the main clause. Even though English does not use a comma before 'whether', Russian requires one to separate the main clause (я не понимаю) from the dependent clause (сплю ли я).
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