"Where are the sheep standing?"

Translation: Kie la ŝafoj staras?

[JadeMcDougall]

is "Kie estas la safoj staras" correct also? if not why not?

[mizinamo]

1. No, it isn't.
2. Why is "Where is the sheep stands?" not correct in English? Esperanto doesn't form present continuous with present + present, nor does English.

If you do want present continuous, then the helping verb "estas" is in the simple present, yes, but the main verb is in the present participle form, as in English (English: -ing; Esperanto: -anta).

So: Kie la ŝafoj estas starantaj? (with -j ending to agree with the plural subject, since participles end in -a and are therefore adjectives)

But more common is simply the simple present.

[Mouxon]

Why kie and not kien? (we say : "kion vi acxetas" and not "kio vi acxetas")

[mizinamo]

Because this is an adverb, not a noun. (We also say "Li kuras rapide" and not "Li kuras rapiden".)

"Kien" exists but it means "to where? whither?", so it doesn't work with "stari" which does not indicate motion.

[Coeurdialement]

Why "sheep" isn't plural ?

[mizinamo]

It's the same in singular and plural: one sheep, two sheep.

[Coeurdialement]

Ok, thanks (i'm french, that's why i didn't know it)

[wgapetrenko]

Ok, just to be clear, both "Kie la ŝafoj staras?" and "Kie la ŝafo staras" should be correct right?

[mizinamo]

They are both correct Esperanto sentences, but only the first of those is a translation of the English sentence with its plural verb "are".