Kilo Lingo
Esperanto grammar Part of Chapter 2

CEFR A1-A2

4 min read

Test yourself (21 questions)

Esperanto Question Words: Kiu, Kio, Kie and the Ki- Table

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 11 October 2026

Esperanto's question words are one column of the correlative table: every one starts with ki-, and the ending says what is being asked. Put the word first, leave the rest of the sentence alone, and you have a question.

ki- (a question)ending (what is asked)plural -jobject -nWhat do the colours mean?
WordAsks aboutEnglish
individualwhich one, who
thingwhat
kindwhat sort of
placewhere
timewhen
mannerhow
reasonwhy
quantityhow much, how many
ownerwhose

Quick check

Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Read the English in brackets, then pick the ki- word that asks for it.

  1. homo venis? (which person came?)

  2. estas tio? (what is that?)

  3. estas via domo? (where is your house?)

Four panels: a smiling man with a moustache (who); a folded map with a red pin and a dotted path (where); an alarm clock (when); a pile of gold coins and two stacks (how much).
  1. ?
  2. ?
  3. ?
  4. ?

Who, where, when, how much: the same ki- every time, and only the ending says what you are asking about.

Each at work:

WordEsperantoEnglish
?Who came?
?What happened?
?What kind of person is he?
?Where are you?
?When did you come?
?How are you?
?Why are you afraid?
?How much does it cost?
?Whose book is that?

Swap ki- for ti- and every question becomes its own answer:

  • ? . - Where are you? I am there.
  • ? . - When did you come? I came then.

Kiu against kio

picks an individual out of a set: which, and most of who. asks about an unnamed thing: what.

WordEsperantoEnglish
?Which of the children is speaking?
?Which person came?
?What is in your hand?

counts, so it takes -j for several. never does:

  • ? - Who came? (several people)
  • ? - Which people came?

The accusative: kiun and kion

When the ki- word is the object of the verb, it takes the accusative -n:

RoleEsperantoEnglish
subject ?Who saw you?
object ?Whom did you see?
subject ?What happened?
object ?What did you say?

English shows this split only in the fossil who/whom. Esperanto applies it every time. stacks both endings:

  • ? - Which ones did you see?

A ki- word in front of a noun agrees with it, like any adjective:

  • ? - Which friend did you help?

Kia, kiom and kies: three that behave differently

is an adjective, so it agrees with its noun:

  • ? - What kind of books do you read?

asks about quality; asks which individual:

WordEsperantoWants as an answer
?a big old one
?that one on the corner

asks how much or how many. A noun after it takes :

  • ? - How much coffee do you drink?
  • ? - How many children came?

never changes. When the thing owned is the object, the noun takes the -n:

  • ? - Whose book did you take?

Kie and kien: where, and where to

The -n ending also marks direction. asks where something is; asks where it is going:

WordEsperantoEnglish
?Where do you live?
?Where are you going (to)?
Two panels. In the first, a man with a moustache walks along the grass towards a yellow house, a dashed arrow pointing at its door. In the second, the same house is cut away to show him inside, waving, beside a lamp.
  1. ? .
  2. ? .

On his way in, he is going kien, into the house, with -n; once inside he is kie, in the house, with none.

English lost this split with whither. ? for where are you going? marks an English speaker at once.

With a preposition

A preposition goes in front of the question word, never stranded at the end:

EsperantoEnglish
?Who are you talking to?
?What are you talking about?
?Who did you come with?

After a preposition the ki- word normally takes no -n ( , not ): the preposition already shows its role. The one exception is direction after a place preposition such as or :

  • ? - Which room do you sleep in?
  • ? - Which room are you going into?

The prepositions page has the list.

Where the question word goes

To the front, and nothing else moves. No inversion, no do:

Question word
The statement, unchanged
empty
.
?
?
?
  • . - You came.
  • ? - When did you come?

Yes/no questions use instead of a ki- word ( ?, did you come?); that has its own article.

The same words without a question

The ki- words also open relative clauses and indirect questions, with the same endings and the same -n:

UseEsperantoEnglish
relative: who , , .The man who came is my brother.
relative: which , , .The book I am reading is long.
indirect question , .I do not know where he lives.

How these clauses attach, and where the commas go, is in subordinate clauses.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
? ?the object takes -n
? ?going somewhere is
? ?the preposition goes first
? ?a ki- word already asks; drop
Kioj ? ? never takes -j

What to do next

  1. Ask yourself one question with each of the nine words about your day.
  2. Turn three of them round into object questions: ?
  3. Read correlatives: the same endings with four other beginnings.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/7

Read the English in brackets, then pick the ki- word that asks for it.

  1. homo venis? (which person came?)

  2. estas tio? (what is that?)

  3. estas via domo? (where is your house?)

  4. vi venis? (when did you come?)

  5. vi fartas? (how are you?)

  6. vi timas? (why are you afraid?)

  7. homo li estas? (what kind of person is he?)

Pick the right one

0/6

Subject or object? The plain form when the ki- word does the verb, the -n form when the verb lands on it.

  1. vi vidis? (whom did you see?)

  2. vi diris? (what did you say?)

  3. vidis vin? (who saw you?)

  4. okazis? (what happened?)

  5. amikon vi helpis? (which friend did you help?)

  6. vi trovis en la domo? (what did you find in the house?)

Spot the mistake

0/4

Each question has one wrong word. Tap it.

Put the words in order

0/4

Put the words in order. The ki- word, with its preposition, goes first; nothing else moves.

  1. Whom did you see?

    Your sentence is empty.

  2. Who are you talking to?

    Your sentence is empty.

  3. What are you talking about?

    Your sentence is empty.

  4. Which friend did you help?

    Your sentence is empty.

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Esperanto · Free printables

Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. Table 1
  3. Table 2
  4. Kiu against kio
  5. The accusative: kiun and kion
  6. Kia, kiom and kies: three that behave differently
  7. Kie and kien: where, and where to
  8. With a preposition
  9. The same words without a question
  10. Mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

Related grammar

Frequently asked questions

What are the question words in Esperanto?
Nine words, all starting with ki-: (which one, who), (what), (what kind of), (where), (when), (how), (why), (how much, how many) and (whose). The ending carries the meaning: -e is place, -am is time, -al is reason. The same endings run across the whole correlative table, so these nine teach you far more than nine words.
What is the difference between and ?
picks an individual out of a set and covers both which and who: ? is who came?, ? is which person? It takes -j and -n: , , . asks about an unnamed thing: ? is what happened? It takes -n () but never -j. If you could point at the candidates, ask with ; if not, ask with .
How do you ask a yes/no question in Esperanto?
Not with a ki- word at all, but with the particle at the front of an ordinary statement. means you came; ? means did you come? Nothing inverts in either kind of question.
When do you use and ?
When the ki- word is the object of the verb. ? is who saw you? ( does the seeing, no -n). ? is whom did you see? (the seeing lands on ). Likewise ? (what happened, subject) against ? (what did you say, object).
Can a preposition go at the end of an Esperanto question?
No. The preposition goes in front of the question word: ? is who are you talking to? ? is what are you talking about? After a preposition the ki- word normally takes no -n: , not . The exception is motion into a place after or : ? (which room are you going into?).