Indirect wh-question

Level 3Sounds Like kosvennyj vopros s voprositelʹnym slovom

Indirect wh-questions report specific inquiries using words like кто (who), что (what), or где (where). Unlike English, Russian does not shift tenses when reporting past speech.

How It Works

In Russian, indirect wh-questions (косвенный вопрос) are used to report what someone asked or to express uncertainty about specific information.

1. The Connector: The question word (e.g., кто, когда, почему) serves as the link between the main clause and the subordinate clause. You must always place a comma before this word.

2. Tense Consistency: This is a major difference from English. Russian does not use a 'Sequence of Tenses.' If the original question was in the present tense, the indirect question stays in the present tense, even if the reporting verb (like 'asked') is in the past.
Example: 'He asked where I live' (He asked: 'Where do you live?') → Он спросил, где я живу.

3. Case and Morphology: If the question word is a pronoun like кто or что, it must decline to match its grammatical role in the subordinate clause.
Example: 'I don't know whom he saw' → Я не знаю, кого он видел. (Accusative case).

4. Word Order: While Russian word order is flexible, it generally follows the neutral word order of the original question. You do not need to perform the 'subject-verb' flip required in English indirect questions.

Examples (5)

  1. Он спросил, где я живу.

    He asked where I live.

    Word by Word: He asked, where I live.

    Notice that 'live' is in the present tense (живу) because the original question was 'Where do you live?'

  2. Я не знаю, что он делает.

    I don't know what he is doing.

    Word by Word: I not know, what he does.

    Here, 'что' acts as a pronoun representing the object of the action.

  3. Мы не понимали, почему она плачет.

    We didn't understand why she was crying.

    Word by Word: We not understood, why she cries.

    The present tense 'плачет' is used because she was crying at the moment of the 'not understanding'.

  4. Скажите мне, чья это сумка.

    Tell me whose bag this is.

    Word by Word: Tell me, whose this bag.

    The question word 'чья' (whose) must agree in gender with 'сумка' (feminine).

  5. Она поинтересовалась, когда приедет поезд.

    She inquired when the train would arrive.

    Word by Word: She inquired, when will-arrive train.

    The future tense 'приедет' is used to match the original inquiry about a future event.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the past tense when the person still lives there.

    Different MeaningОн спросил, где я жил.
    Он спросил, где я живу.

    «Он спросил, где я жил» is correct, but it is about where I lived earlier. Russian keeps the tense of the original question, so if he asked «Где ты живёшь?», say «Он спросил, где я живу».

  • Using 'если' for indirect questions.

    Я не знаю, если он придёт.
    Я не знаю, придёт ли он.

    «Если» is only for conditions ('If it rains, I'll stay'). For 'whether' in an indirect yes-no question, use the particle «ли» (придёт ли он) or add «или нет» (придёт он или нет).

  • Adding 'что' before the wh-word.

    Я спросил, что где он.
    Я спросил, где он.

    Do not use 'что' (that) as a filler before other question words like 'где' or 'когда'.

How It Connects

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Indirect wh-questionLevel 3

Learn This First

To learn indirect wh-questions, a learner needs to be comfortable with the basic question words (who, what, where, why) and understand how they function as conjunctions. Additionally, since indirect questions are embedded clauses, knowledge of neutral word order is necessary to correctly structure the subordinate clause.

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Words in This Pattern

ктогдегдекогдакогдаоткудапочемузачемкакойкакойчейсколькосколько