Indirect Question + -(e)n
Indirect Questions
To put a question inside a sentence, keep the question word and add -(e)n to the verb: Non dago? → Ez dakit non dagoen (I don't know where it is).
How It Works
From direct to indirect.
- Non dago? → Ez dakit non dagoen (I don't know where it is)
- Zer ordu da? → Galdetu dit zer ordu den (She asked me what time it is)
- Zenbat balio du? → Galdetu diot zenbat balio duen (I have asked him how much it costs)
Adding -(e)n. The ending is the same as in a relative clause: da → den, du → duen, dut → dudan, and past forms already ending in -n stay the same.
Word order. Keep the question word right before the verb, as in Question Word Next to the Verb: Badakizu noiz iristen den trena? (Do you know when the train arrives?).
Two jobs, one ending. In a relative clause, -(e)n describes a noun: bizi den laguna. In an indirect question, it follows a question word: non bizi den (where he lives).
Yes-no questions. A question with no question word uses ea: Galdetu dit ea etorriko naizen (She asked me whether I will come). See Whether (ea). To report a statement rather than a question, use That: -(e)la.
Examples (6)
- Ez dakit non dagoen.
I don't know where it is.
dago becomes dagoen.
- Galdetu dit zer ordu den.
She asked me what time it is.
- Badakizu noiz iristen den trena?
Do you know when the train arrives?
- Galdetu diot zenbat balio duen.
I have asked him how much it costs.
- Ez dut ulertzen zergatik haserretu den.
I don't understand why he got angry.
- Ez dakigu nork irabazi duen.
We don't know who has won.
Common Mistakes
Leaving the verb as in a direct question.
Ez dakit non dago.Ez dakit non dagoen.A question inside a sentence needs -(e)n on its verb: dagoen.
Using -(e)la instead of -(e)n.
Ez dakit non dagoela.Ez dakit non dagoen.-(e)la reports a statement. After a question word, the verb takes -(e)n.
Keeping -t before -(e)n.
Ez dakizu zer nahi dutan.Ez dakizu zer nahi dudan.A final -t becomes -da- before -n: dut becomes dudan.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Indirect questions combine question words with -(e)n.
Related Patterns
- ea ... -(e)nWhether (Ea)
Indirect yes-no questions, introduced by ea.
Level 3 - -(e)laThat: -(e)la
Reports statements instead of questions.
Level 2 - Reported Speech + -(e)laReporting What Someone Said
Reporting what someone said, as opposed to what they asked.
Level 3 - -(e)nikThat in Negative Sentences
Another clause ending, used after negative verbs of saying and thinking.
Level 3
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Indirect Question + -(e)n in Bubblegum
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