Yes/no questions: 'Da li…?' and '…li?'
Make a yes/no question in two ways: put 'Da li' at the front (Da li radiš? — Do you work?), or invert and add the clitic 'li' right after the verb (Radiš li?). Both are correct; 'Da li' is the everyday spoken default.
Examples
- Da li govoriš srpski? Do you speak Serbian?
- Govoriš li srpski? Do you speak Serbian?
- Da li je ovo tvoje? Is this yours?
The full lesson
Everything in the video, in text.
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You want to ask someone something, but you're not sure how to form the question? Serbian has no English 'do' — there are just two simple patterns.
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A yes/no question is one you answer with 'yes' or 'no'. In Serbian you build it two ways, and both are perfectly correct. Here's the core idea.
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First way: put 'Da li' right at the start of the sentence, and everything else stays the same as a statement. Second way: the verb goes first, and the little word 'li' comes right after it.
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Let's see the same question both ways. First with 'Da li' at the front. Da li govoriš srpski?
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Now the same question, but inverted: the verb goes first, and 'li' comes right after it. Govoriš li srpski?
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Notice the key difference: with 'Da li' the two words sit together at the start. In the short form, 'li' is never first — it's always second, right after the verb.
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It works with the verb 'to be' too. With 'Da li' the sentence sounds most natural in everyday speech. Da li je ovo tvoje?
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The same question in the short form: the verb 'je' goes first, and 'li' lands right after it. Je li ovo tvoje?
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Another everyday example. Want to ask about time? 'Da li' works perfectly. Da li imaš vremena?
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And its short twin. The verb 'imaš' first, then 'li' right after. Imaš li vremena?
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Here's the most common mistake. English speakers try to build the question with 'do', like 'Do you speak…'. Serbian has no such auxiliary 'do' — you just use 'Da li' or the inverted order with 'li'.
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A quick note on pronunciation: in speech 'Da li je' and 'Je li' often shrink to 'Je l''. You'll hear 'Je l' ovo tvoje?' — same question, just said faster.
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Let's recap. You make a yes/no question two ways: 'Da li' at the front for everyday speech, or the verb first with 'li' right after it. And remember — there's no 'do'.