Questions in Russian with ли
A while ago, I learned that yes / no questions have the same word order as a sentence, in Russian. Only the pronunciation can give a hint, that it is a question.
Now I have an old grammar book, which tells me that a question with "was - был" would need a " ли"
Was he not? - Не был ли он?
Was she? - Была ли она?
Why has the word order been changed?
Does this rule only apply to the verb "was"?
Do I need the ли, or is it oldfashioned?
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 8
1
В разговорном русском редко употребляется частица ЛИ. Чаще, когда речь идёт о сомнения в чем-либо, в разговорном русском, Вы услышите: может, он не знал? , может, он не умеет?, может, он не хочет?
0
Yes, we usually use "ли" in questions like these:
1. Was he today in the University? - Был ли он сегодня в университете?
2. Was she your wife? - Была ли она твоей женой?
But we don't use it always. It's not a error, not to use "ли" in these questions.
We use "ли" in complex sentences:
My mother asked me if my brother was in university today - Моя мама спросила, был ли мой брат сегодня в университете.
And, as Maxim wrote, "ли" is similar to "ob" in German. But the small difference exists.
0
"ой ли!" close to "really/indeed!"
0
If I'm not mistaken 'ли' is usually used like 'ob' in German
0
It is not oldfashoined, it just changes the meaning a littel bit. You can use ли to show that you doubt something. It can be used in sentence, too, for example: "I'm not sure if I can do this"/"Не уверен, смогу ли я (сделать это)".
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