Breakdown of Спроси её, понимает ли она его позицию.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
понимать
to understand
её
her (acc)
спросить
to ask (perfective)
его
his / its (possessive)
позиция
position (stance, location)
ли
whether / if (in indirect questions)
Questions & Answers about Спроси её, понимает ли она его позицию.
Why is ли used here instead of если? Both translate to 'if' in English.
In Russian, если is strictly used for conditional statements (like 'If it rains, we will stay home'). For indirect yes/no questions meaning 'whether' or 'if', you must use the particle ли. It helps to translate this in your head as 'Ask her whether she understands...'
What is the rule for the word order with ли? Could I write ...ли она понимает...?
No, you cannot start a clause with ли. The particle must immediately follow the exact word being questioned. Since the core of the indirect question is the action of understanding, the verb понимает comes first, immediately followed by ли.
Why doesn't this sentence use the reflexive pronoun свой instead of его?
The reflexive pronoun свой always points back to the subject of its own clause. The subject of the second clause is она (she). If you wrote свою позицию, it would mean she understands her own position. Because it is his position, we have to use the standard possessive его.
Why use the perfective imperative спроси rather than the imperfective спрашивай?
The perfective спроси is used here because it is a request for a single, specific, and complete action: ask her this one question right now. The imperfective спрашивай would imply a continuous or repeated command, translating closer to 'keep asking her' or 'ask her generally'.
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