"Kiu estas ŝi?"
Translation:Who is she?
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I thought that in esperanto you don't switch the order of the words to make a question, or is that only with 'cu?
But wouldn't you say, if it wasn't a question, Si estas.... not Estas si.... In general, does the word order matter?
someone said the word order doesn't matter but i think this is a different case, i'm not really sure, i don't wanna give out wrong information.
Kiu ŝi estas is also correct, if I'm not wrong. If the word order changes, it's because here you don't have an object (therefore, no accusative, esti merely exprimes something is something), you have a verb and two subjects ('ŝi' is 'kiu,' and kiu is 'ŝi').
We put 'kiu' first to address that we don't know the person, but we know that there is someone who is a person, and this person is the "ŝi." I hope youse understood.
1325
The part indicating you're asking a question always goes first. With a yes or no question, that's ĉu. With who questions, it's kiu.
So can I use "kiu" both when I'm asking about a person and about things? Kiu estas ŝi? - Who is she? Kiu estas ĝi? - What is it?
Kiu is "what one", so it means both "which" and "who". "Kio(j)(n)" is used for "what".
- 1325
You're correct, except that Kio(n) is never plural. We never use a j on kio, even if we're asking about more than one thing.
I think this word didn't come from a language. It is a word which Zamenhof invented himself.
And I think that k- prefix comes from French, Latin and others. (But there is another point of view, which says that the is prefix has Slavic origin)
I've noticed the qu- prefix to some sort in a number of languages, which would have been changed to ki, because phonetic pronunciation and all that.
Ke comes from the French que, I believe.
- 160
It's not Farsi, but close to Farsi. Ki in Farsi means Who. "Oon kie?" is "Who is he/she" (no genders in Farsi). Idk if this Kiu is related to the Farsi Ki, but it definitely has made things a lot easier for Farsi speakers lol.
It could be a quote from Nikki Graham, a notorious UK Big Brother contestant some years ago. Her catch phrase was "Who is she" said in a loud childish voice about any woman she didn't like.
