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Thread: "ли" meaning "whether"

  1. #1
    JackBoni
    Guest

    "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

  2. #2
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    Re: "ли" meaning "whether"

    Quote 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.
    In Russian, all nationalities and their corresponding languages start with a lower-case letter.

  3. #3
    JackBoni
    Guest

    Re: "ли" meaning "whether"

    Спасибо, Оля.

    Джек

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