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Should Esperanto correlatives agree when they link the same items?

by rgvandewalker, May 10, 2019

Messages: 4

Language: English

rgvandewalker (User's profile) May 10, 2019, 2:59:59 PM

Duolingo translates "Whose auto is that?" as "Kies aŭto estas tio?" Would better Esperanto be "Kies aŭto estas tie?"

nornen (User's profile) May 10, 2019, 4:00:41 PM

"Tio" refers to "aŭto" and there is indeed agreement between both: singular and inanimate.

"Kies aŭto estas tie?" means "Whose car is there?"

If you do not want to refer back to "aŭto" but to "kies", the right correlative would be "ties".

Ekzemplo de Zamenhof: Kies gasto mi estas, ties feston mi festas.

Kies panon mi manĝas, ties kanton mi kantas. = Whose bread I eat, his song I sing. = Wes(sen) Brot ich ess, des(sen) Lied ich sing.

rgvandewalker (User's profile) May 10, 2019, 7:32:30 PM

Thank-you very much!

Metsis (User's profile) May 11, 2019, 1:30:26 PM

Just a minor addendum to Nornen's good explanation. For some reason the genitive correlatives are the same in singular and plural.

Kies gasto mi estas, ties feston mi festas.
Kies gastoj ni estas, ties festojn ni festas.

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