"That is the end."

Translation: Tio estas la fino.

[FredCapp]

okay, why is tiu not accepted here?

[MrMorley3]

It's possible to imagine a context where "Tiu estas la fino" might be possible, but generally, "Tio..." is much more likely.

Use "tiu" when you're making a choice between two or more alternatives, i.e. when you're indicating "which one". If there's a stack of books and someone asks, "Which one's yours?", you can answer "That one!" = "Tiu!"

But here, it's difficult to imagine how it could mean "That one there, that is the end". That... what, exactly?

Hope that helps.

[johmue]

Because "tiu" cannot stand alone. It has to stand with some (maybe implicit) noun.

[FredCapp]

So fino is not a noun?

[johmue]

It is a noun, but it does not stand with "tio".

[FredCapp]

Okay, reading all of this it now makes more sense. I've long been confused by the difference.

[BossLearner87]

Me too

[R_R1234]

Duo being dramatic here...

[Fel05RG]

poor Adamo :c

[AdamHrankowski]

It sounds like 'tio' is a demonstrative pronoun while 'tiu' is a demonstrative adjective. Is that correct?

[BossLearner87]

Cxiuj mia problemoj semas tro malproksime