Embedding questions

'I asked if she was home', 'tell me where you live' — embedding questions inside sentences.

When you turn a direct question into an indirect one ('Where is she?' → 'I asked where she was'), Russian keeps the original tense (no English-style backshifting) and uses ли for yes/no questions and a question word for content questions.

Yes/no question → 'ли'

Direct: Анна дома? (Is Anna home?) Indirect: Я не знаю, дома ли Анна. (I don't know whether Anna is home.) Ли goes after the focused word — typically the word the question is really asking about. The verb tense stays the same as in the original.

WH-question → repeat the question word

Direct: Где она живёт? (Where does she live?) Indirect: Скажи мне, где она живёт. (Tell me where she lives.) Keep the question word (где, что, кто, когда, почему). No 'whether' / 'if' here — only for yes/no questions.

Tense stays the same

Russian doesn't backshift tenses the way English does: English: 'He said he WAS coming.' (was, not is) Russian: Он сказал, что он идёт. (literally 'he said that he is coming.') Keep the tense the speaker would have used at the moment of speaking. Future stays future, present stays present.

Combining with чтобы

When the indirect speech is a request or command, use чтобы + past: - Я попросил его, чтобы он пришёл. = I asked him to come. - Учитель сказал, чтобы мы прочитали книгу. = The teacher told us to read the book. (From lesson 36 — same construction.)

Examples

Я не знаю, дома ли Анна.

I don't know whether Anna is home.

Yes/no → ли.

Скажи мне, где ты живёшь.

Tell me where you live.

WH → keep word.

Он спросил, что я делаю.

He asked what I was doing.

Note: что я делаю (present in Russian — same as the original direct question).

Анна сказала, что она придёт.

Anna said she would come.

Russian future stays future — придёт, not пришла бы.

Я не помню, прочитал ли он эту книгу.

I don't remember whether he's read this book.

Past tense + ли.

Я попросил его, чтобы он позвонил.

I asked him to call.

чтобы + past for request.