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:
“The at present unutterable things we may find somewhere uttered. These same questions that disturb and puzzle and confound us have in their turn occurred to all the wise men; not one has been omitted; and each has answered them, according to his ability, by his words and his life.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I loved reading, and had a great desire of attaining knowledge; but whenever I asked questions of any kind whatsoever, I was always told, “such things were not proper for girls of my age to know.”... For “Miss must not enquire too far into things, it would turn her brain; she had better mind her needlework, and such things as were useful for women; reading and poring on books would never get me a husband.””
—Sarah Fielding (1710–1768)
“There is a certain class of unbelievers who sometimes ask me such questions as, if I think that I can live on vegetable food alone; and to strike at the root of the matter at once,—for the root is faith,—I am accustomed to answer such, that I can live on board nails. If they cannot understand that, they cannot understand much that I have to say.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)