A KI-correlative introduces an embedded content question when one detail—person, thing, kind, owner, place, time, reason, manner, or quantity—is unknown. Mi ne scias, kie Nora loĝas means “I do not know where Nora lives.” The clause kie Nora loĝas represents the question Kie Nora loĝas? and functions as part of the larger sentence.
The KI-word does two jobs at once: it marks the clause as interrogative and fills a grammatical role inside that clause. Kiun is an object, kie is a place expression, and kun kiu is a prepositional complement. Therefore you use neither ke nor ĉu before it.
From a direct content question to an embedded one
The basic transformation keeps the internal clause intact:
Kie Nora loĝas?
Where does Nora live?
Mi ne scias, kie Nora loĝas.
I do not know where Nora lives.
Ĉu vi scias, kie Nora loĝas?
Do you know where Nora lives?
Esperanto has no English-style does and no subject–verb inversion. The outer sentence can itself be a question, as in the third example, but the embedded KI-clause retains ordinary Esperanto structure.
The direct question mark disappears when the whole sentence is a statement. In Mi ne scias, kie Nora loĝas., the final period reflects the main act: the speaker states a lack of knowledge.
The nine KI domains
| KI-form | Missing information | Embedded example |
|---|---|---|
| kiu | individual | Mi demandas, kiu venos. |
| kio | thing or matter | Mi ne aŭdis, kio okazis. |
| kia | kind or quality | Ni esploras, kia solvo taŭgus. |
| kies | possessor | Ŝi ne sciis, kies sako ĝi estas. |
| kie | place | Montru al mi, kie mi atendu. |
| kiam | time | Diru, kiam vi estos libera. |
| kial | reason | Mi komprenas, kial ŝi rifuzis. |
| kiel | manner or degree | Ni kontrolu, kiel la sistemo funkcias. |
| kiom | quantity or degree | Mi ne scias, kiom tio kostos. |
La teknikisto demandis, kio aperas sur la ekrano.
The technician asked what appears on the screen.
Bonvolu klarigi, kial la kunveno estis prokrastita.
Please explain why the meeting was postponed.
Ni ankoraŭ ne kalkulis, kiom da seĝoj necesos.
We have not yet calculated how many chairs will be needed.
These clauses are finite: aperas, estis, and necesos have their own tense. The KI-word does not turn the rest into an infinitive phrase.
Case, number, direction, and prepositions
The KI-word’s form comes from its role inside the embedded question—not from the role of the whole clause in the main sentence.
Mi ne memoras, kiun ŝi invitis al la vespermanĝo.
I do not remember whom she invited to dinner.
Ĉu vi scias, kun kiu Leo parolis post la kunveno?
Do you know who Leo spoke with after the meeting?
La ŝoforo demandis, kien ni volas iri.
The driver asked where we want to go.
In the first, kiun is the direct object of invitis, so it takes -n. In the second, kun stands before kiu because paroli kun iu requires that preposition. In the third, kien has directional -n because the destination is missing.
English often leaves a preposition at the end—“who Leo spoke with.” Esperanto normally keeps the preposition before the KI-form: kun kiu Leo parolis, not kiu Leo parolis kun.
Ke, ĉu, and KI are three different choices
Compare the information structures:
Mi scias, ke la gasto alvenos je la sesa.
I know that the guest will arrive at six.
Mi ne scias, ĉu la gasto alvenos je la sesa.
I do not know whether the guest will arrive at six.
Mi ne scias, kiam la gasto alvenos.
I do not know when the guest will arrive.
Ke presents a proposition. Ĉu opens the truth of the whole proposition to a yes/no answer. Kiam assumes an arrival time is at issue and asks which time it is. Do not combine these introducers as ke kiam or ĉu kiam in a simple embedded question.
For the other two branches of this contrast, see ke-clauses and ĉu-clauses as embedded questions. The broader table-word system is mapped on correlatives in complex clauses.
Common main-clause environments
KI embedded questions follow predicates of asking, knowing, discovering, remembering, explaining, showing, deciding, checking, and wondering:
— Ĉu vi eksciis, kiu ricevis la postenon? — Jes, la komisiono elektis Aminan.
— Did you find out who got the position? — Yes, the committee selected Amina.
Ni devas decidi, kie ni okazigos la sekvan renkontiĝon.
We have to decide where we will hold the next meeting.
La mapo montras, kiel oni atingas la muzeon de la stacidomo.
The map shows how one reaches the museum from the station.
The main predicate determines whether the clause denotes an unanswered question, a known answer, or information being communicated. Mi scias, kie ŝi loĝas means that I possess the answer; the embedded clause remains interrogative in structure even though the information gap is resolved for me.
Clause roles and helper tio
Most often the embedded question is an object. It can also function as subject or as a description of a noun:
Kion ni faru poste, ankoraŭ ne estas klare.
What we should do next is not yet clear.
Restas la demando, kiu respondecos pri la fina kontrolo.
The question remains who will be responsible for the final check.
For a role requiring a preposition, the traditional clear construction uses helper tio:
Mi interesiĝas pri tio, kiel la najbara urbo organizas publikan transporton.
I am interested in how the neighboring city organizes public transport.
PMEG records accepted modern use of pri directly before adverbial KI-clauses—pri kiel, pri kial, pri kiam, and similar forms. The version with tio remains the clearest international recommendation, particularly when a direct preposition–KI sequence could be misread as belonging inside the embedded question.
Embedded question or relative clause?
KI-forms also introduce relative clauses, so form alone may not settle the interpretation. Look for an antecedent and ask whether the larger predicate selects a question.
Mi ne scias, kiun libron ŝi aĉetis.
I do not know which book she bought. (embedded question)
Jen la libro, kiun ŝi aĉetis.
Here is the book that she bought. (relative clause)
In the first, no book has been identified; kiun libron asks for its identity. In the second, la libro is the antecedent and kiun refers back to it.
Some sentences are genuinely ambiguous. Ŝi sciigis al mi, kion la libro enhavas can mean that she gave me the answer to “What does the book contain?” or that she communicated the content itself. Context and the selecting verb usually resolve the distinction. This is an honest structural overlap, not a rule that can always be eliminated.
Tense and mood remain meaningful
Reported questions do not undergo automatic English sequence-of-tenses backshift:
Hieraŭ Leo demandis, kiam ni revenos.
Yesterday Leo asked when we would return.
The original question was Kiam vi revenos?, so future revenos remains even if English uses would. Past revenis would instead present the return as earlier than the original asking.
Mood also follows the represented question:
Ni diskutas, kiel ni solvu la problemon sen plia prokrasto.
We are discussing how we should solve the problem without further delay.
The volitive solvu represents a deliberative question about the desired action. Compare La raporto klarigas, kiel ni solvis la problemon, which factually describes the method used and therefore has solvis.
Punctuation and information packaging
In neutral order, a comma normally separates the main clause from a following embedded question: Mi ne scias, kial ŝi foriris. A question mark appears only when the whole sentence functions as a question: Ĉu vi scias, kial ŝi foriris?
An embedded question can be fronted for topic or contrast, often with helper tio in the main clause:
Kiam la riparo finiĝos, tion la teknikisto ankoraŭ ne povis diri.
When the repair will be finished, the technician still could not say.
This order is marked and commoner in (formal) or contrastive writing. It can resemble a time clause, so the following tion … diri is valuable: it signals that the opening words denote the unanswered question, not the time at which the technician spoke.
Common Mistakes
1. Adding ĉu before a KI-word.
❌ Mi ne scias, ĉu kiam la buso venos.
Incorrect — kiam itself introduces the embedded content question.
✅ Mi ne scias, kiam la buso venos.
I don’t know when the bus will come.
2. Adding ke before the KI-clause.
❌ Ŝi demandis, ke kial mi foriris.
Incorrect — kial performs the introducing function.
✅ Ŝi demandis, kial mi foriris.
She asked why I left.
3. Copying English do-support or inversion.
❌ Mi demandas, kie faras Nora labori.
Incorrect — Esperanto uses a normal finite clause without English ‘does.’
✅ Mi demandas, kie Nora laboras.
I wonder where Nora works.
4. Forgetting the KI-word’s internal case.
❌ Mi ne scias, kiu ŝi invitis.
Incorrect — the unknown person is the object of invitis.
✅ Mi ne scias, kiun ŝi invitis.
I don’t know whom she invited.
5. Backshifting future to conditional.
❌ Li demandis, kiam mi revenus.
Wrong if the original neutral question was ‘Kiam vi revenos?’; revenus makes the return conditional.
✅ Li demandis, kiam mi revenos.
He asked when I would return.
Key Takeaways
- A KI-correlative introduces an embedded question about one missing detail and fills a role inside that clause.
- Preserve case, direction, and prepositions: kiun, kien, kun kiu.
- Do not add ke or ĉu, and do not copy English inversion or do.
- Distinguish embedded questions from relative clauses by meaning, antecedents, and the main predicate.
- Tense and mood represent the original temporal and modal viewpoint rather than following automatic English backshift.
Related Topics
- Ĉu-Clauses as Embedded QuestionsA2 — How ĉu introduces a finite yes/no question functioning inside a larger sentence, distinct from ke statements and se conditions.
- Ke-ClausesA2 — How finite clauses introduced by ke function as statements, subjects, objects, complements, and content descriptions.
- Reported QuestionsB2 — Embed yes-no and content questions with ĉu or a ki-correlative while preserving finite clause structure, tense, case, and viewpoint.
- Content Questions with Ki-CorrelativesA1 — Ask for people, things, qualities, places, times, reasons, manners, and quantities with Esperanto's systematic ki-correlatives.
- Indirect QuestionsB1 — Embed yes-no and content questions with ĉu or a ki-correlative while preserving Esperanto word order, case, and intended tense.
- Correlatives in Complex ClausesB2 — Learn how Esperanto correlatives introduce embedded questions and relative clauses, and how their form reflects their role inside the clause.