«Поздравляем сильную половину человечества с Днём защитника Отечества!» [(We) congratulate the strong half of humanity with Defender of the Fatherland Day!]. Coming across this home-made poster on the first floor of my dormitory, I could have used the marvelous little word «ли» to pose a direct question like: «Являются ли мужчины сильной половиной человечества?» [Are men the strong half of humanity?], or an indirect: «Я не знаю, мужчины ли воистину сильная половина человечества…» [I don’t know if men are truly the strong half of humanity…].

Understanding questions in Russians are no easy task for someone who has just begun learning this language. At first you might’ve been overcome with joy when you found out that Russian has «свободный порядок слов» [free word order], and you’re allowed to throw around predicates, subjects and objects as you wish. Sooner rather than later you come face to face with not understanding if a sentence like «ты придёшь» is a «приказ» [order; command] meaning the person is ordering you to come or already knows you’re coming, or if it is a «вопрос» [question], thus: «ты придёшь?», which should be accompanied by an intonation that goes ‘up’ in the end of the sentence. Russian intonation follows its own special rules, and even though there are (at least!) seven different types of intonation in Russian, it is easier said than done to tell one from the other. Learning to understand Russian intonation demands more of a learner than just know all the «ИК-1», «ИК-2», «ИК-3» [pronounced like ‘iika-adin’, ‘iika-dva’, ‘iika-tri’] and so on, first of all you must come to terms with the fact that Russian intonation in general sounds more ‘commanding’ than ‘asking’ in all intonations, which has caused more than one foreigner in this great nation to never turn down an invitation to drink tea at someone’s house. During my first year in Russia I didn’t get most of those questions in Russian that have the same word order as statement or imperative-like sentences. Consequentially I for a very long time agreed to everything Russians asked me, just because I thought they were ‘commanding’ me to do something or other. Later I found a very grateful acquaintance in the beautiful tiny word «ли» [conjuction: if; whether; and interrogating particle] and established a safe haven in it because now I could detect at least those questions and make up my own mind as to what to answer.

«Ли» is used in direct questions, for example: «Придёшь ли ты ко мне в гости воскресенье вечером?» [Are you coming to visit me on Sunday evening?], or «Не хочешь ли ты прийти ко мне в гости воскресенье вечером?» [Don’t you want to come visit me on Sunday evening?]. It can also be used in the function of ‘if; whether’, for example: «Не знаю, смогу ли я прийти к тебе в гости воскресенье вечером» [I don’t know if I’ll be able to come visit you on Sunday evening].

Here are a couple of other sentences using the word «ли»:

«Здоров ли он?» [Is he healthy/well?]

«Я не знаю, здоров ли он» [I don’t know if he’s healthy/well].

«Я ли тебе не помогала!» [As if I wouldn’t help you!]

«Дома ли он, на работе ли, или где-то ещё, представления не имею» [I have no idea if he’s home or at work or somewhere else].

«Сделает ли она это или не сделает» [Whether she does it or not].

«На улице то ли снег, то ли дождь» [It neither snows nor rains outside, it’s something in between].

Perhaps a good idea for a future post would be dealing with Russian intonation? How about it?