Reported Questions | Esperanto Grammar

A reported question embeds the content of a question inside a larger clause. Use ĉu when the original question asks for yes-or-no confirmation, and retain the relevant ki- correlative when it asks who, what, where, when, why, how, or how much. Do not introduce either type with statement ke.

Reporting a yes-no question with ĉu

Compare a direct question with its reported form:

Lina demandis: ‘Ĉu la trajno jam alvenis?’

Lina asked, ‘Has the train already arrived?’

Lina demandis, ĉu la trajno jam alvenis.

Lina asked whether the train had already arrived.

The embedded clause ĉu la trajno jam alvenis functions as the content of demandis. It remains finite, with its own subject la trajno and past verb alvenis.

English uses “whether” or sometimes “if” here. Esperanto uses ĉu, the same marker that begins a direct yes-no question:

Mi ne scias, ĉu la apoteko ankoraŭ estas malfermita.

I do not know whether the pharmacy is still open.

Bonvolu kontroli, ĉu ĉiuj fenestroj estas fermitaj.

Please check whether all the windows are closed.

Do not substitute conditional se. Ĉu introduces an unresolved question; se introduces a condition:

Mi telefonos, se la oficejo estas malfermita.

I will call if the office is open.

Mi kontrolos, ĉu la oficejo estas malfermita.

I will check whether the office is open.

The first makes the call conditional on opening; the second describes an investigation whose possible answers are yes and no.

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Reconstruct the direct question. If it begins with ĉu, its reported version also begins with ĉu; if it begins with a ki- word, retain that word.

Reporting a content question with a ki- correlative

The question word itself introduces the subordinate clause. The broader pattern is developed on the ki-correlative embedded questions page:

La kliento demandis: ‘Kiam alvenos la pakaĵo?’

The customer asked, ‘When will the parcel arrive?’

La kliento demandis, kiam alvenos la pakaĵo.

The customer asked when the parcel would arrive.

No ke or ĉu is added. The same applies throughout the correlative system:

Ŝi volis scii, kial la fakturo estas pli alta ĉi-monate.

She wanted to know why the bill was higher this month.

Ni ankoraŭ ne decidis, kie ni renkontiĝos.

We still have not decided where we will meet.

La teknikisto demandis, kiel mi reproduktis la eraron.

The technician asked how I reproduced the error.

The reporting expression need not literally contain demandi. Scii, memori, kontroli, decidi, klarigi, and expressions of uncertainty can all take embedded questions.

— Ĉu vi scias, kie Nina estas? — Ne, sed mi provos ekscii, kiam ŝi revenos.

— Do you know where Nina is? — No, but I will try to find out when she will return.

The ki- word keeps its role inside the question

A ki- form is not merely a conjunction; it has a grammatical role within the embedded clause. Use kiu for the subject and kiun for a direct object:

Mi ne memoras, kiu proponis la ŝanĝon.

I do not remember who proposed the change.

Mi ne memoras, kiun la komitato elektis.

I do not remember whom the committee elected.

In the second example, la komitato is the subject and kiun the object. English often leaves “who” unmarked in both roles, so the Esperanto -n carries essential information.

A preposition likewise belongs to the question word's internal role:

Ŝi demandis, kun kiu mi vojaĝos.

She asked whom I would travel with.

Ni ne sciis, pri kio ili diskutis.

We did not know what they were discussing.

Do not place object -n on kio after a preposition: pri kio, not pri kion.

Keep the original tense and mood

Reported questions follow Esperanto's general rule for indirect speech: preserve the verb form that represents the original question. Do not apply English sequence-of-tense backshift.

Ŝi demandis: ‘Ĉu vi volas kuniri?’

She asked, ‘Do you want to come along?’

Ŝi demandis, ĉu mi volas kuniri.

She asked whether I wanted to come along.

The present volas is present relative to her asking. A future question keeps -os:

Li demandis, kiam mi finos la raporton.

He asked when I would finish the report.

Even if the finishing is now in the past, finos represents a future event from the original question's viewpoint. If the speaker originally asked about an earlier event, use -is:

Li demandis, kial mi foriris tiel frue.

He asked why I had left so early.

For a deliberative question or proposal originally using -u, retain -u:

Ŝi demandis, ĉu ni iru kune.

She asked whether we should go together.

This reports Ĉu ni iru kune?, a question about joint action, not the factual future Ĉu ni iros kune?.

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Esperanto tense inside reported speech is anchored to the original mental or speech event. English translations often use “was,” “had,” or “would” even when Esperanto correctly retains -as, -is, or -os.

Adjust pronouns and viewpoint expressions

Pronouns change according to who is now narrating and who is now being addressed:

Karlo demandis al Eva: ‘Ĉu vi venos kun mi?’

Karlo asked Eva, ‘Will you come with me?’

Karlo demandis al Eva, ĉu ŝi venos kun li.

Karlo asked Eva whether she would come with him.

Here direct vi becomes ŝi, and direct mi becomes li. If Eva herself retells the question, she says ĉu mi venos kun li. There is no mechanical rule “first person becomes third person”; the narrator's actual viewpoint determines the form.

Time and place expressions may also need adjustment:

Hieraŭ ŝi demandis, ĉu mi povos iri tien hodiaŭ.

Yesterday she asked whether I would be able to go there today.

If hodiaŭ still names the day of the current narration, it remains appropriate. If it refers only to the original speaker's day, use tiun tagon. Accuracy, not automatic replacement, governs deictic words.

Reported questions are subordinate, not quoted

A reported question normally has no quotation marks, colon, or independent question mark:

La gardisto demandis, kial ni atendas ekstere.

The guard asked why we were waiting outside.

The whole sentence is a statement about asking, so it ends with a period. If the main clause is itself a direct question, use a question mark:

Ĉu la gardisto demandis, kial ni atendas ekstere?

Did the guard ask why we were waiting outside?

The final punctuation reflects the entire sentence, not the embedded clause in isolation.

A question can also be packaged after a noun or preposition:

Restas la demando, ĉu ni havas sufiĉe da tempo.

The question remains whether we have enough time.

Mi interesiĝas pri tio, kiel la sistemo traktas erarojn.

I am interested in how the system handles errors.

After a preposition, tio often gives the entire question clause a clear nominal anchor, particularly before ĉu.

Question versus relative information

Some ki- clauses can be interpreted either as an embedded question or as a relative-like description:

Ŝi klarigis, kion la libro enhavas.

She explained what the book contains.

This may report the answer to “What does the book contain?” It can also emphasize the content itself—the things that the book contains. Context normally resolves the difference. If the question status matters, explicitly mention la demando pri la enhavo de la libro or rewrite with pri tio, kion ….

Common Mistakes

Introducing a yes-no question with ke

❌ Li demandis, ke mi venos.

Incorrect for a reported question — ke introduces a statement or desired content, not a yes-no question.

✅ Li demandis, ĉu mi venos.

He asked whether I would come.

Using conditional se for “whether”

❌ Mi ne scias, se ŝi estas hejme.

Incorrect for ‘I don't know whether’ — se introduces a condition.

✅ Mi ne scias, ĉu ŝi estas hejme.

I do not know whether she is at home.

Combining ĉu with a ki- question

❌ Ŝi demandis, ĉu kiam la buso venos.

Incorrect — kiam already introduces the content question.

✅ Ŝi demandis, kiam la buso venos.

She asked when the bus would come.

Backshifting a present question

❌ Li demandis, kial mi estis laca.

Wrong if the original question was Kial vi estas laca? — estis moves the tiredness earlier.

✅ Li demandis, kial mi estas laca.

He asked why I was tired.

Forgetting the case of the question word

❌ Mi ne scias, kiu ili invitis.

Incorrect — the unknown person is the direct object of invitis.

✅ Mi ne scias, kiun ili invitis.

I do not know whom they invited.

Key Takeaways

Use ĉu for an embedded yes-no question and a ki- correlative for an embedded content question. Never add statement ke, and distinguish interrogative ĉu from conditional se. Keep the ki- word's internal case or preposition, preserve the original tense or mood, adjust viewpoint expressions according to the current narration, and punctuate according to the sentence as a whole.

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