Questions & Answers about Ĉu unu jaron, ĉu dek jarojn, la pasporto validos.
What does ĉu ... ĉu mean here?
Here ĉu ... ĉu introduces two alternatives: whether ... or.
So:
- Ĉu unu jaron, ĉu dek jarojn = whether for one year or for ten years
This is a different use of ĉu from the very common yes/no-question use, as in Ĉu vi venos? In this sentence, it is not asking a yes/no question by itself; it is setting up a contrast between two possibilities.
Why is there -n on jaron and jarojn?
The -n ending here marks the accusative of duration (also called the accusative of measure or extent).
In Esperanto, a time expression can take -n to show how long something lasts:
- Mi atendis unu horon. = I waited for one hour.
- Li loĝis tie tri jarojn. = He lived there for three years.
So in your sentence:
- unu jaron = for one year
- dek jarojn = for ten years
There is no direct object here. The -n does not mean the passport is “validating” the years. It marks duration.
Why is it unu jaron but dek jarojn?