дали / ли

Yes or No Questions

Level 1Sounds Like dali; li

To ask a yes-or-no question, put Дали in front of an ordinary sentence: Дали зборуваш англиски? (Do you speak English?)

How It Works

1. Дали at the start. Put дали in front of a statement. The rest of the sentence stays as it was.

  • Зборуваш англиски. → Дали зборуваш англиски?
  • Ана е дома. → Дали Ана е дома?

2. Ли after the verb. Start with the verb and put ли right after it: Зборуваш ли англиски?, Имаш ли време? This is very common in everyday speech.

If не or a short pronoun comes before the verb, it stays in front, and ли still follows the verb: Не знаеш ли? (Don't you know?), Го знаеш ли? (Do you know him?). See Where Ли Goes.

3. Ли after another word. When ли follows a word other than the verb, that word becomes the point of the question, often with some surprise: Кафе ли сакаш? (Is it coffee you want?).

4. Only your voice. In conversation you can keep the statement and raise your voice at the end: Зборуваш англиски?

Use one marker. Дали and ли do the same job, so a question uses one of them, not both.

Answering. Answer with да or не, often repeating the verb: Да, зборувам. See Simple Answers and Joining. A question that asks for information starts with a question word instead: see Question Words.

Examples (6)

  1. Дали зборуваш англиски?

    Do you speak English?

  2. Зборуваш ли македонски?

    Do you speak Macedonian?

    Word by Word: Speak-you li Macedonian?

    Ли comes right after the verb.

  3. Дали сте од Скопје?

    Are you from Skopje?

    Сте is the вие form, used for several people or politely for one person.

  4. Имаш ли брат?

    Do you have a brother?

  5. Не знаеш ли?

    Don't you know?

    Не stays before the verb, and ли follows the verb.

  6. Дали Ана е дома?

    Is Ana at home?

Common Mistakes

  • Using дали and ли in the same question.

    Дали зборуваш ли англиски?
    Дали зборуваш англиски?

    Дали and ли both mark a yes-or-no question. Choose one: Дали зборуваш англиски? or Зборуваш ли англиски?

  • Putting ли between a short pronoun and the verb.

    Го ли знаеш?
    Го знаеш ли?

    A short pronoun and its verb stay together, and ли comes after the verb.

  • Writing the Serbian form да ли.

    Да ли зборуваш англиски?
    Дали зборуваш англиски?

    Macedonian writes дали as one word.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

дали / лиLevel 1Yes or No Questions

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Questions start from simple present sentences.

Words in This Pattern