Thread: "ли" meaning "whether"

Hello,

I now understand when "если" should be "ли". I am not entirely sure about the word order, though. Would someone have a look at them for me, please?

Я *спрашивал Аню, умеет ли она плавать.

Анна хотела знать, прочитал** ли я "Пиковую даму".

Ольга *спрашивала меня, летал ли я в Россию.

Я *спрашивал дядю, дома ли мой двоюродный брат.

Мы не знали, идёт ли дождь

*I used the imperfective because the action is not concerned with completion, but more just naming the action. On the other hand, it is a one off, completed action - which aspect should I have used? Perhaps both are correct, but have different nuances of meaning?

** Maybe I should have used читал here. In my sentence, Anna wanted to ask whether I had finished reading The Queen of Spades. I assume the imperfective would have been right, too, but would have been understood differently?

Thanks for the help. I very much appreciate it.

Jack

Originally Posted by JackBoni

Hello,

I now understand when "[s:vy3ga2g7]если[/s:vy3ga2g7] if" should be "ли". I am not entirely sure about the word order, though. Would someone have a look at them for me, please?

Я *спрашивал Аню, умеет ли она плавать. = I was asking Anya if she can swim OR I used to ask Anya if she can swim.
I asked Anya if she can swim. = Я спросил Аню, умеет ли она плавать.

Анна хотела знать, прочитал** ли я "Пиковую даму".
Анна хотела знать, читал ли я "Пиковую даму" would mean she wanted to know if you have ever read the novel.

Ольга *спрашивала меня, летал ли я в Россию. The same as about "я спрашивал Аню..."

Я *спрашивал дядю, дома ли мой двоюродный брат. The same

Мы не знали, идёт ли дождь

Great, Jack. Everything is correct and sounds fine.

Спасибо, Оля.

Джек