Ch 1 · Lesson 41Esperanto · Chapter 1 · Lesson 41 · Grammar primer
Asking: ĉu
in front of any statement and it becomes a yes/no question. Nothing else moves.
The short version
?
Why?Hide
One word at the front turns any statement into a yes/no question and nothing else moves: becomes ? No inversion, no auxiliary do. Resist the English instinct: ? reads as the statement with the verb stressed, not as a question. And never shares a direct question with a ki- word.
? - , !
Why?Hide
Ask ? and means I AM coming, means I am not: Esperanto ignores the question's negative wrapping and answers the state of the world. English agrees, so anglophones coast, but Japanese and others run the opposite convention, which makes a one-syllable answer a coin toss in an international language. Answer with a clause instead. Two extra words, zero missed dinners. The all-purpose , meanwhile, is ?, which never changes form.
Put ĉu in front of any statement and it becomes a yes/no question. Nothing else moves: no inversion, no do.
.- You speak Esperanto.?- Do you speak Esperanto?
English needs an auxiliary from nowhere (do), an inversion, and a bare main verb. Esperanto needs one word.
Ĉu: the question mark you say out loud
has no meaning of its own. It flags whatever follows as asked rather than said, in every tense and for every verb:
| Question | English |
|---|---|
? | Will she come? |
? | Is he there? |
? | Did they go? |
? | Could you help? |
Zamenhof took the word from Polish czy, which does the same job.
Answering: jes, ne, and the trap
Positive questions behave: ? gets jes or ne, as in English. Negative questions are the trap, because languages disagree about what yes means in reply to one.
In the usual Esperanto convention, confirms the fact, not the wording:
| Question | Answer | Means |
|---|---|---|
? | , . | I am coming. |
? | , ! | I AM coming. |
? | , . | I am not coming. |
English works the same way. Japanese, among others, runs the opposite system (yes, you are right, I am not coming), and both conventions turn up in Esperanto conversation. So answer with a clause, not a syllable. Two extra words, no misunderstanding. The negation article covers the same trap from the side.
Going further: The ki- words: questions with content and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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9-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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Lesson 41 of 51 in this chapter