Kie asks or relates a place: Kie estas la stacidomo? “Where is the station?” and la kvartalo, kie mi loĝas “the neighborhood where I live.” Add directional -n to form kien “to what place/where to.” That contrast—location kie, destination kien—is the essential grammar of this correlative.
The uses on this page are neutral in speech and writing. Esperanto also permits prepositions such as de, el, tra, ĝis before kie when the spatial relationship is more specific.
Kie in the 5×9 table
The 45 table words combine five fixed initial series with nine fixed semantic domains. Ki- gives question or relative force; -e gives the place domain.
| Dimension | Relevant forms |
|---|---|
| Initial series | ki- question/relative, ti- demonstrative, i- indefinite, ĉi- universal, neni- negative |
| Final domains | -u individual, -o thing, -a kind, -es possessor, -e place, -am time, -al reason, -el manner, -om quantity |
| The -e column | kie, tie, ie, ĉie, nenie |
| The ki- row | kiu, kio, kia, kies, kie, kiam, kial, kiel, kiom |
The table-word ending -e is fixed; it is not the ordinary adverb ending attached freely to ki-. Place correlatives never take plural -j. They may take -n, but only with directional meaning.
See The Table-Word System for the complete grid and Direction with Spatial Adverbs for the wider directional pattern.
Asking about location
Use kie when asking where someone or something is, lives, works, or where an activity happens.
Kie vi lasis la ŝlosilojn de la aŭto?
Where did you leave the car keys?
— Kie estas la plej proksima apoteko? — Apud la poŝtoficejo.
— Where is the nearest pharmacy? — Next to the post office.
Kie vi kutime tagmanĝas dum la laborsemajno?
Where do you usually have lunch during the workweek?
No plural is needed when the answer names several places:
Kie vi loĝis dum la pasintaj kvin jaroj? — En Tuluzo kaj poste en Liono.
Where did you live during the past five years? — In Toulouse and then in Lyon.
Kie asks for the place domain as a whole; the number of locations in the answer does not change its form.
Kie versus kien
Add accusative -n when the place is the destination or direction reached: kie “at what place,” kien “to what place.”
Kie la infanoj ludas nun? — En la ĝardeno.
Where are the children playing now? — In the garden.
Kien la infanoj kuris? — En la ĝardenon.
Where did the children run to? — Into the garden.
Kien vi metis la rezervan seĝon?
Where did you put the spare chair?
In the last example, moving the chair to a destination motivates kien. Mere motion is not enough: Kie vi promenas? asks where the walking takes place; Kien vi promenas? asks toward what destination you are walking.
The -n on kien is directional, never a direct-object ending. A place correlative cannot become the grammatical object of a verb merely by adding -n.
More precise spatial relations
Prepositions can specify origin, departure from an interior, route, or endpoint.
De kie venas tiu stranga odoro?
Where is that strange smell coming from?
El kie vi prenis tiun malnovan mapon?
Where did you take that old map out of?
Tra kie ni povas eniri post la sesa?
Which way can we enter after six?
Ĝis kie veturas ĉi tiu nokta buso?
How far does this night bus go?
De kie broadly asks origin or starting point. El kie specifically presents movement out of an interior or source container. Tra kie asks the path through a place, and ĝis kie asks the spatial endpoint. These are regular preposition + place-correlative combinations.
Embedded questions
Kie/kien also introduce indirect questions. Direction remains explicit.
Mi ne memoras, kie ni parkis la aŭton.
I don't remember where we parked the car.
Ĉu vi jam decidis, kien ni iros post la koncerto?
Have you decided where we'll go after the concert?
English uses the same where in both sentences. Esperanto requires the speaker to choose location or destination.
Relative kie
Relative kie introduces a clause anchored to a place. It can follow tie, a place noun, or an understood tie.
Mi atendos tie, kie ni renkontiĝis hieraŭ.
I'll wait where we met yesterday.
Ni trovis trankvilan kafejon, kie oni povas labori.
We found a quiet café where one can work.
Kie estas fumo, tie ofte estas fajro.
Where there is smoke, there is often fire.
In the first and third examples, tie makes the place correlation explicit. It can often be omitted when the clause itself fills the required place role: Mi atendos, kie ni renkontiĝis.
Relative kie can take the same direction and prepositions as question kie:
Jen la tunelo, tra kie ni venis.
Here is the tunnel we came through.
Ni revenis al la vilaĝo, de kie mia avo devenis.
We returned to the village my grandfather came from.
Kie versus en kiu
After a genuine place noun, kie is often the most natural general relative. A preposition plus kiu is equally possible and can state the exact relation more explicitly.
La domo, kie ŝi loĝas, havas verdan pordon.
The house where she lives has a green door.
La domo, en kiu ŝi loĝas, havas verdan pordon.
The house in which she lives has a green door.
The first is compact and neutral; the second foregrounds “inside.” With abstract nouns that are not literally places, prefer the precise prepositional form: situacio, en kiu ni devas decidi, not a vague transfer of English a situation where.
Common Mistakes
1. Using static kie for a destination
❌ Kie vi metos la skatolon?
Incorrect for asking about the destination of the box.
✅ Kien vi metos la skatolon?
Where will you put the box?
2. Adding a plural ending
❌ Kiej vi laboris antaŭe?
Incorrect — place correlatives never take plural -j.
✅ Kie vi laboris antaŭe?
Where did you work before?
3. Doubling the directional ending
❌ Kienn ili translokiĝis?
Incorrect — directional -n is added only once.
✅ Kien ili translokiĝis?
Where did they move to?
4. Using bare kiu as a place relative
❌ La kvartalo, kiu mi loĝas, estas tre kvieta.
Incorrect — kiu lacks the preposition needed inside the relative clause.
✅ La kvartalo, kie mi loĝas, estas tre kvieta.
The neighborhood where I live is very quiet.
The alternative la kvartalo, en kiu mi loĝas is also correct.
5. Copying English “where” for time
❌ Mi memoras la tagon, kie ni unue renkontiĝis.
Incorrect in the standard table-word distinction — tago is a time antecedent.
✅ Mi memoras la tagon, kiam ni unue renkontiĝis.
I remember the day when we first met.
Key Takeaways
- Ki- supplies question/relative force; -e supplies the place domain.
- Kie asks location; kien asks destination. The -n is directional.
- Place correlatives never take plural -j.
- Use de kie, el kie, tra kie, ĝis kie for more precise spatial relations.
- Relative kie can correspond to tie, follow a place noun, or fill a place role by itself.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- Kiu: The Question/Relative Individual CorrelativeA1 — Use kiu to ask or relate which individual, adding -j for plural individuals and -n when its role requires the accusative.
- Tie: The Demonstrative Place CorrelativeA2 — Use tie for location at a demonstrated place, tien for direction toward it, and ĉi tie for a nearby location.
- The Table-Word SystemA1 — Learn Esperanto's 45 table words as a five-by-nine meaning system for questions, demonstrations, indefinites, universals, and negatives.
- Case and Number on CorrelativesA2 — Learn exactly which correlative families accept plural -j, object -n, or directional -n, and which remain invariant.
- Direction with Spatial AdverbsA1 — Learn how -n turns place adverbs and place correlatives into expressions of movement toward a destination.
- Kie, Kiam, and Kiel as RelativesB2 — Build relative clauses of place, time, and manner with kie, kiam, and kiel, including directional and prepositional variants.