Yes/No Questions with 'li'

01

Questions with 'to be'

With the verb biti (to be), the question opens with the verb itself, followed by li. It is the long form that goes in front - jesi li, jeste li - because the short form is unstressed and cannot begin a sentence. The third person is the exception: it uses the short je and asks je li.

• Je li ovo tvoj ujak?

  Is this your uncle?

• Jesi li bolestan?

  Are you sick?

• Jeste li otvoreni?

  Are you open?

02

The Particle 'zar'

Placing zar at the start of a sentence makes a question that expresses surprise or expects a particular answer, often a "no".

• Zar nemaš posao?

  Don't you have a job?

• Zar ta haljina nije prekratka?

  Isn't that dress too short?

03

Answering a Yes/No Question

Answer with da (yes) or ne (no). It is natural to repeat the verb rather than leave a bare "yes/no".

• Radite li ovdje? Da, radim.

  Do you work here? Yes, I do.

• Imaš li posao? Ne, nemam.

  Do you have a job? No, I don't.

04

Information Questions

Questions that ask for information (not just yes or no) begin with a question word and do not add li.

• ko (who), šta (what), gdje (where), kada (when), kako (how), zašto (why), koliko (how much / how many)

• Šta sada radite?

  What are you doing now?

• Gdje je hrana?

  Where is the food?

• Koliko ovo košta?

  How much does this cost?

In relaxed everyday speech you can also ask a yes/no question simply by raising your intonation, with no li at all - but li is the clear, standard choice and is never wrong.

• Spavaš?

  You're sleeping? (casual)