Indirect questions: sé on és, no sé què dir
A question hidden inside a statement loses its question mark but keeps the question word and the straight order: Sé on és la consulta — I know where the consultation is, No sé què dir — I do not know what to say, Explica'm quan arriba el paquet — explain to me when the package arrives. No inversion, as in the English "I do not know where it is" — the Catalan order here is the straight one all the way. For example…
How it works
A question hidden inside a statement loses its question mark but keeps the question word and the straight order: Sé on és la consulta — I know where the consultation is, No sé què dir — I do not know what to say, Explica'm quan arriba el paquet — explain to me when the package arrives. No inversion, as in the English "I do not know where it is" — the Catalan order here is the straight one all the way.
The yes/no question in an indirect question lives in the word si: "No sé si vindrà" — I do not know whether he will come. The English "whether" is rendered exactly by si, not by inversion. And the question word here is without the stress mark: "Quan arriba?" — but "No sé quan arriba" is already a story.
Table
| direct question | indirect question | translation |
|---|---|---|
| On és? | Sé on és | I know where |
| Què vols? | No sé què dir | I do not know what |
| Vindrà? | No sé si vindrà | whether he will come |
By example
- Sé on és la consulta del metgeI know where the doctor's office is
- No sé què dirI do not know what to say
- No sé si vindrà demàI do not know whether he comes tomorrow
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Indirect questions: how does it work in Catalan?
A question hidden inside a statement loses its question mark but keeps the question word and the straight order: Sé on és la consulta — I know where the consultation is, No sé què dir — I do not know what to say, Explica'm quan arriba el paquet — explain to me when the package arrives. No…
What does it look like in an example sentence Catalan?
“Sé on és la consulta del metge” — I know where the doctor's office is. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.