ли

Yes-No Questions with Ли

Level 1Sounds Like vʺprositelna častica li

Statement: Говориш български. Question: Говориш ли български? (Do you speak Bulgarian?)

How It Works

  • General question: put ли after the verb: Имате ли свободна стая? (Do you have a free room?)
  • With ще: ли follows the main verb: Ще дойдеш ли утре? (Will you come tomorrow?)
  • With не: ли follows the verb: Не искаш ли кафе? (Don't you want coffee?)
  • With short pronouns in affirmative questions: ли comes before the pronoun: Виждаш ли го? (Do you see him?) Negative questions have a different clitic order.
  • With съм in affirmative questions: ли follows the noun or adjective and precedes the present form: Студент ли си? Готова ли е? Negative questions can have не е ли or не си ли. See съм/си/е/сме/сте/са.
  • Focusing on one word: put ли after that word: Ти ли си Мария? (Are you Maria? – asking about the person) See ли за фокус.

Questions with a question word like къде or какво normally do not take ли. Adding it makes a wondering question; see ли в риторични въпроси.

Answer with да (yes) or не (no). In casual speech a rising tone alone can also mark a question: Говориш български?

Examples (6)

  1. Говориш ли български?

    Do you speak Bulgarian?

    Word by Word: Speak-you (question) Bulgarian?

  2. Студент ли си?

    Are you a student?

    Word by Word: Student (question) are-you?

    With съм, ли comes before си.

  3. Ще дойдеш ли утре?

    Will you come tomorrow?

    Word by Word: Will come-you (question) tomorrow?

  4. Не искаш ли кафе?

    Don't you want coffee?

    Word by Word: Not want-you (question) coffee?

  5. Ти ли си Мария?

    Are you Maria?

    Word by Word: You (question) are Maria?

    Ли after ти asks specifically about the person.

  6. Имате ли свободна стая?

    Do you have a free room?

    Word by Word: Have-you (question) free room?

Common Mistakes

  • Starting the question with ли.

    Ли говориш български?
    Говориш ли български?

    Ли is unstressed and can never come first. It always follows the word it asks about.

  • Putting ли after a present form of съм in an affirmative question such as Студент си ли?

    Ти си ли студент?
    Ти студент ли си?

    In an affirmative question such as Студент ли си?, put ли after the noun or adjective and before съм. Negative questions can instead use не е ли or не си ли.

  • Writing ли together with the verb.

    Говоришли български?
    Говориш ли български?

    Ли is a separate word and is always written with a space before it.

How It Connects

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лиLevel 1Yes-No Questions with Ли

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Yes-no questions with ли need verb forms and съм to attach to.

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