Embedded Wh Questions

An embedded wh-question (индиректно питање са упитном речи) allows you to report an inquiry or express an unknown fact within a complex sentence.

1. Matrix Predicates
These clauses attach to various semantic classes of verbs:

• Inquiry: питати (се), распитати се
• Cognition and Knowledge: знати, разумети, сећати се, заборавити, не знати
• Perception and Discovery: видети, чути, сазнати
• Communication: рећи, казати, објаснити
• Impersonal Expressions: јасно је, није важно, свеједно је

2. Syntactic Role, Word Classes, and Case Governance
The wh-element functions both as a subordinate clause connector and as an internal clause constituent (реченични члан):

• Interrogative Pronouns: Words like ко, шта serve as core arguments (subject, direct object, oblique object) and decline according to their role inside the subordinate clause (кога, коме; чега, чему). For instance, in Питао ме је ко долази, the pronoun ко is in the nominative as the embedded subject, regardless of what the matrix verb governs.
• Interrogative Adverbs: Words like где, куда, када, како, зашто function as adverbial modifiers (прилошке одредбе) of place, time, manner, or reason.
• Interrogative Determiners: Adjectives and pronominal modifiers such as који, какав, колики and чији agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify inside the clause (e.g., Питао је који воз путује за Нови Сад).
• Deliberative wh + да Construction: When deliberating what action to take, Serbian frequently uses an interrogative word followed by да + present tense (e.g., Не знам шта да радим; Пита се куда да иде).

3. Relative Tense (No Sequence of Tenses)
Standard Serbian does not apply English-style tense backshifting (релативно време; consecutio temporum). If an embedded event is happening at the same time as the past matrix action, use the present tense:

• Питао је где живим. (He asked where I lived [at that time], literally 'where I live').
• Using the past tense (Питао је где сам живео) signals anteriority—meaning where I had lived prior to that point.

4. Clitic Placement
Pronominal and auxiliary clitics follow Wackernagel's Law (second position rule) within the dependent clause. They immediately follow the fronted wh-word or the entire initial phrase: Не знам шта си му рекао.

5. Punctuation
The final punctuation mark depends on the communicative modality of the main clause rather than the embedded question:

• If the matrix clause is declarative, the sentence ends with a period: Рекао ми је где живи.
• If the matrix clause is direct inquiry, it ends with a question mark: Знаш ли где живи?
• If the matrix clause is an imperative directive, it ends with an exclamation mark or period depending on force: Кажи ми где живиш!