"Are they wrong?"

Translation: Salahkah mereka?

[jonafown]

What does the "kah" do to the "salah"?

[deactivated user]

-kah is used in making "Yes-No" types of questions. When we make this type of question in English, we invert the word order:

Statement: They are wrong. --- Question: Are they wrong?

But in Indonesian when you invert this sort of statement to form a "Yes-No" type of question, you add -kah to the predicate (in this case, that's salah) and invert the word order (usually):

Statement: Mereka salah. --- Question: Salahkah mereka?

An example using apa:

Statement: Ini book. (This is a book) --- Question: Apakah ini book. (Is this a book?)

And with ada:

Statement: Ada makanan. (There is food) --- Question: Adakah makanan? (Is there food?)

[AVAX3M]

Damn why did you deactivate? You are a great Duolingoer!

[Kane645532]

thank you

[kannavkingg]

What about "apa ini book"?

[donny309620]

Why not "Apakah mereka salah?"

[CeoltoirAV]

That is accepted now (as of mid-February 2019).

[AbdullahAAK]

Why not mereka salahkah?

[Hans_Se]

Very unnatural in daily conversation but not totally wrong...

Never heard people use it though

[Kirstenv.l.]

Same question

[Violet138039]

I think its because you want to ask sth... Like the other questions
Apa itu?
Siapa nama kucingmu?
If I'm not wrong...

[AbdullahAAK]

Do the H sounds in salahkah have to be forced out like salahhh-kahhh or can we drop the heavy H sound and say sala-ka ?

[Wira_basa]

The Hs in "Salahkah" should be voiced (not silent).

[DuskyDaniel]

Would "Mereka salah?" be correct?

[RamenDutchman]

Nope, "Mereka salah." means "They're wrong." as a statement.

"-kah" makes it a question, and in questions it goes the other way around. This makes "Are they wrong?" as a question: "Salahkah mereka?"

But good question, keep on learning!

[aine736172]

Oh deactivated user..you were soo good at explaining..please come back