Questions & Answers about Ĉu originalo, ĉu kopio, la konsulo kontrolos ĝin.
Why does the sentence start with ĉu? Isn’t ĉu usually used for yes/no questions?
Yes, ĉu often introduces a yes/no question, as in Ĉu vi venos? = Are you coming?
But Esperanto also uses the paired structure ĉu ... ĉu ... to mean whether ... or ... or either ... or ....
So here:
Ĉu originalo, ĉu kopio
means something like
whether it is an original or a copy / be it an original or a copy.
In this sentence, the opening ĉu does not make the whole sentence a question.
So is the whole sentence a question or a statement?
It is a statement, not a question.
The paired expression ĉu originalo, ĉu kopio is just an introductory phrase meaning whether original or copy. The main clause is:
la konsulo kontrolos ĝin
= the consul will check it
So the whole sentence says that the consul will check it in either case.
What exactly does ĉu originalo, ĉu kopio mean grammatically?