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"I don't know if ..." (Grammar question)

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Ubutumwa 4

ururimi: English

jeff121271 (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 3 Mukakaro 2015 02:49:09

Alright, quick grammar question. Say I'm trying to express a thought such as, "I don't know if that's possible," or, "I don't know whether that's possible or not." It's the if/whether part of the sentence that's confusing me. All I can think of is,
Mi ne scias (something) tio estas ebla.
Should that be a correlative, or cxu, or am I better off restructuring this sentence?

nornen (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 3 Mukakaro 2015 02:55:12

I would copy Zamenhof:

Zamenhof:Sed mi ne scias, ĉu tio ĉi estas granda merito.
No matter whether a question be direct or indirect, use ĉu.

Mi ne scias, ĉu tio eblas.
Mi ne scias, ĉu tio estas ebla.

jeff121271 (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 3 Mukakaro 2015 02:56:12

I was leaning towards that, but I wasn't too sure. Dankon!

orthohawk (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 3 Mukakaro 2015 11:34:47

jeff121271:Alright, quick grammar question. Say I'm trying to express a thought such as, "I don't know if that's possible," or, "I don't know whether that's possible or not." It's the if/whether part of the sentence that's confusing me. All I can think of is,
Mi ne scias (something) tio estas ebla.
Should that be a correlative, or cxu, or am I better off restructuring this sentence?
Where is thee* from Jeff? and where is thee learning Esperanto from?
De kie ci* estas, Jeff? Kaj kie ci lernas Esperanton?

*Anyone wondering about my use of "thee" and "ci" should see my profile.
Iu ajn kiu scivolas pri mia uzo de "thee" kaj "ci" devas rigardi mian profilon.

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