Ĉu ni konkurencas teame, ĉu sole, ni ne trompas.

In this sentence, ĉu ... ĉu ... means whether ... or ....

So:

• Ĉu ni konkurencas teame, ĉu sole = Whether we compete as a team or alone

This is a standard Esperanto pattern for presenting alternatives.

It is different from the very common sentence-opening ĉu that introduces a yes/no question, such as Ĉu vi venos? = Will you come?

Here, the pair ĉu ... ĉu ... works together as one structure.

No. Even though ĉu often marks a yes/no question, in this sentence it does not make the whole sentence a question.

That is because it is part of the fixed pair ĉu ... ĉu ..., which means whether ... or ....

So the full sentence is a statement, not a question:

• Ĉu ni konkurencas teame, ĉu sole, ni ne trompas.
• Whether we compete as a team or alone, we do not cheat.

Because Esperanto often uses an adverb to describe how an action is done.

• teamo = a team
• teama = team-related
• teame = in a team way / as a team / teamwise

So konkurencas teame means compete as a team or compete in teams.

English often uses a prepositional phrase here, but Esperanto can express the same idea neatly with an adverb.

sole is the adverb form of sola.

• sola = alone, single
• sole = alone, individually

So:

• ĉu sole = or alone / or individually

Like teame, it is an adverb because it describes the manner of competing.

Because Esperanto, like English, can leave out repeated words when they are clearly understood.

So:

• Ĉu ni konkurencas teame, ĉu sole...

is understood as:

• Ĉu ni konkurencas teame, ĉu ni konkurencas sole...

But repeating the verb would sound unnecessarily heavy.

This kind of omission is very normal.

In Esperanto, ne normally comes before the word or part of the sentence it negates.

So:

• ni ne trompas = we do not cheat / we do not deceive

Putting ne after the verb would be wrong in standard Esperanto.

A good basic rule is:

• ne usually comes before the verb if you are negating the whole action.

Literally, trompi most basically means to deceive, to trick, or to mislead.

But in many contexts, especially competitive ones, it can naturally be understood as cheat.

So in this sentence:

• ni ne trompas

can mean:

• we do not cheat
• or more literally, we do not deceive

The exact English choice depends on the context already given to the learner.

The present tense here expresses a general rule, principle, or habit.

• konkurencas = compete / are competing
• trompas = cheat / are cheating

In a sentence like this, Esperanto present tense often works like English present tense in statements of principle:

• Whether we compete as a team or alone, we do not cheat.

It is not necessarily about only one specific moment; it can describe a general stance.

You could analyze it that way word-for-word, but it would sound unnatural in English.

A more natural English rendering is:

• Whether we compete as a team or alone, we do not cheat.

That is often the best way to understand Esperanto: know the literal structure, but translate it into natural English rather than copying every word mechanically.

The commas separate the introductory ĉu ... ĉu ... part from the main clause.

Structure:

• Ĉu ni konkurencas teame, ĉu sole, = introductory alternative clause
• ni ne trompas. = main clause

The commas help show the rhythm and structure:

• Whether we compete as a team, or alone, we do not cheat.

In English, punctuation might vary a bit depending on style, but in Esperanto the commas here are very natural.

Yes. Esperanto often allows both compact and more expanded versions.

For example, you might see ideas like:

• en teamo = in a team
• kiel teamo = as a team
• individue = individually
• solaj or sola would need a different structure, because those are not adverbs

But teame and sole are elegant and concise here, because they match each other as adverbs describing the manner of competing.

The sentence has this structure:

• Ĉu X, ĉu Y, Z

Meaning:

• Whether X or Y, Z

In this case:

• X = ni konkurencas teame
• Y = sole (with konkurencas understood)
• Z = ni ne trompas

So the overall pattern is:

• Whether we compete as a team or alone, we do not cheat.

This is a very useful pattern to recognize in Esperanto.