Questions
"Wh" questions are asked with one of the interrogative/relative (ki-) correlatives. They are commonly placed at the beginning of the sentence, but different word orders are allowed for stress:
- Li scias, kion vi faris (He knows what you did.)
- Kion vi faris? (What did you do?)
- Vi faris kion? (You did what?)
Yes/no questions are marked with the conjunction ĉu (whether):
- Mi ne scias, ĉu li venos (I don't know whether he'll come)
- Ĉu li venos? (Will he come?)
Such questions can be answered jes (yes) or ne (no) in the European fashion of aligning with the polarity of the answer, or ĝuste (correct) or malĝuste (incorrect) in the Japanese fashion of aligning with the polarity of the question:
- Ĉu vi ne iris? (Did you not go?)
- — Ne, mi ne iris (No, I didn't go); — Jes, mi iris (Yes, I went)
- — Ĝuste, mi ne iris (Correct, I didn't go); — Malĝuste, mi iris (Incorrect, I did go)
Note that Esperanto questions may have the same word order as statements.
Read more about this topic: Esperanto Grammar
Famous quotes containing the word questions:
“When great questions end, little parties begin.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“Dignity, and even holiness too, sometimes, are more questions of coat and waistcoat than some people imagine.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
“The wounded surgeon plies the steel
That questions the distempered part;
Beneath the bleeding hands we feel
The sharp compassion of the healer’s art
Resolving the enigma of the fever chart.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)