Lesson 2: Correlatives — ki-, ti-, i-

Overview

Esperanto's correlatives (tabelvortoj — table words) are one of the most celebrated features of the language. They form a perfectly regular table: nine meaning-endings combine with five prefixes to produce 45 words that cover everything from "what" to "everything" to "nothing". Once you understand the table, you know all 45 words without memorizing each one separately.

This lesson covers three of the five prefix columns: ki- (question/relative words, like English wh-words), ti- (demonstrative words, pointing to something specific), and i- (indefinite words, meaning some/any). The remaining two columns — ĉi- (universal/every) and neni- (negative/no) — are covered in Lesson 3.

Learning Objectives

• Recognize and use all nine ki- question/relative words fluently
• Match each ki- word with its ti- (demonstrative) and i- (indefinite) counterpart
• Form grammatically correct questions using ki- correlatives
• Use ti- and i- correlatives in statements and answers

Vocabulary

Esperanto	English	Type
kio	what (thing)	question/relative
tio	that / it (thing)	demonstrative
io	something / anything	indefinite
kiu	who / which (person or item)	question/relative
tiu	that one (person or item)	demonstrative
iu	someone / anyone	indefinite
kia	what kind of	question/relative
tia	that kind of	demonstrative
ia	some kind of	indefinite
kie	where	question/relative
tie	there	demonstrative
ie	somewhere / anywhere	indefinite
kiel	how / as	question/relative
tiel	so / thus / in that way	demonstrative
iel	somehow / in some way	indefinite
kiam	when	question/relative
tiam	then / at that time	demonstrative
iam	sometime / ever / once	indefinite
kial	why	question/relative
tial	therefore / for that reason	demonstrative
ial	for some reason	indefinite
kiom	how much / how many	question/relative
tiom	that much / that many	demonstrative
iom	some / a bit / somewhat	indefinite
kies	whose	question/relative

Grammar Focus

Pattern 1: ki- words as question markers

Ki- correlatives begin questions (or introduce relative clauses). They directly replace the element being asked about.

Questions with ki- words:

• Kio estas tio? — What is that?
• Kiu estas via nomo? — What (which one) is your name? / Who are you?
• Kie vi loĝas? — Where do you live?
• Kiam vi naskiĝis? — When were you born?
• Kiel oni diras "thank you" en Esperanto? — How does one say "thank you" in Esperanto?
• Kial vi lernas Esperanton? — Why do you learn Esperanto?
• Kiom da homoj estis tie? — How many people were there?
• Kia estas la vetero hodiaŭ? — What is the weather like today?
• Kies estas ĉi tiu libro? — Whose is this book?

Ki- words in relative clauses:

• La homo, kiu parolis al mi, estis amika. — The person who spoke to me was friendly.
• La urbo, kie mi naskiĝis, estas malgranda. — The city where I was born is small.
• Mi ne scias, kiam li venos. — I don't know when he will come.

Common mistake: Confusing kio (what-thing) and kiu (who/which-one). Use kio when asking about the identity of a thing, and kiu when selecting among options or asking about a person. "Kiu estas tiu homo?" (Who is that person?) — selecting from possible identities. "Kio estas Esperanto?" (What is Esperanto?) — defining a concept.

Pattern 2: ti- words as demonstratives

Ti- words point back to something already mentioned or known. They answer ki- questions.

Question (ki-)	Answer (ti-)	Example
Kio estas tio?	Tio estas mia libro.	What is that? — That is my book.
Kiu venis?	Tiu venis — mia frato.	Who came? — That one came — my brother.
Kie li estas?	Li estas tie — en la ĝardeno.	Where is he? — He is there — in the garden.
Kiam vi iras?	Mi iras tiam — je la kvina.	When are you going? — I'm going then — at five.
Kiel ŝi faras tion?	Ŝi faras tion tiel — tre zorge.	How does she do that? — She does it that way — very carefully.
Kial vi restas?	Mi restas tial — ĉar mi estas laca.	Why do you stay? — I stay for that reason — because I am tired.

Full examples:

• Mi vidas tiun viron ĉiutage. — I see that man every day.
• Tia muziko plaĉas al mi. — That kind of music pleases me.
• Tiom da tempo ni ne havas. — We don't have that much time.

Pattern 3: i- words as indefinites

I- words express vagueness, possibility, or the existence of something unspecified. They correspond roughly to English "some-" or "any-" words.

• Io interesa okazis. — Something interesting happened.
• Iu frapis la pordon. — Someone knocked on the door.
• Ie en la urbo estas bona restoracio. — Somewhere in the city there is a good restaurant.
• Iam mi vojaĝos al Japanio. — Someday I will travel to Japan.
• Iel ni solvos ĉi tiun problemon. — Somehow we will solve this problem.
• Ial ŝi ne venis hodiaŭ. — For some reason she did not come today.
• Iom da kafo, bonvolu. — A bit of coffee, please.
• Ia estas la solvo, mi certas. — There is some kind of solution, I am sure.

Common mistake: Using io where iom is needed. Io = a thing (a countable something). Iom = an amount/degree (uncountable or measured quantity). "Mi volas iom da akvo" (I want some water — a quantity). "Mi volas ion dolĉan" (I want something sweet — a thing).

Dialogue

Karla renkontas novan kolegon, Dmitrion. (Karla meets a new colleague, Dmitri.)

Esperanto	English
Karla: Saluton! Vi estas nova ĉi tie, ĉu ne? Kiu vi estas?	Hello! You are new here, aren't you? Who are you?
Dmitri: Jes, mi estas Dmitri. Mi venas el Rusio.	Yes, I am Dmitri. I come from Russia.
Karla: Ho, interese! Kie vi loĝas nun?	Oh, interesting! Where do you live now?
Dmitri: Mi loĝas ie proksime al la centro. Mi ankoraŭ serĉas pli bonan lokon.	I live somewhere near the center. I am still looking for a better place.
Karla: Kiam vi alvenis al nia urbo?	When did you arrive in our city?
Dmitri: Mi alvenis antaŭ du semajnoj. Iam mi sciis neniun ĉi tie, sed nun mi konas iom da homoj.	I arrived two weeks ago. Formerly I knew no one here, but now I know some people.
Karla: Kial vi elektis ĉi tiun urbon?	Why did you choose this city?
Dmitri: Tial, ke ĉi tie estas mia nova laboro. Kia estas la komunumo de Esperantistoj ĉi tie?	For the reason that here is my new job. What kind is the Esperanto community here?
Karla: Tia komunumo estas tre aktiva! Ni renkontiĝas ĉiun semajnon.	That kind of community is very active! We meet every week.
Dmitri: Tio estas bonega novaĵo. Mi volis tiom longe trovi Esperantistojn!	That is wonderful news. I wanted for so long to find Esperantists!

Practice

Exercise 1: Complete the Table

Fill in the missing correlatives (ki-, ti-, i- only for now):

ki-	ti-	i-	Meaning
kio	tio	___	thing
___	tiu	iu	person/thing
kia	___	ia	kind
kie	tie	___	place
___	tiel	iel	manner
kiam	___	iam	time
kial	tial	___	reason
___	tiom	iom	amount
kies	___	ies	possession

Answers: io / kiu / tia / ie / kiel / tiam / ial / kiom / ties

Exercise 2: Choose the Correct Correlative

Choose kio, kiu, kie, kiam, kiel, kial, or kiom to complete each question.

1. _____ estas via preferata filmo? (What is your favorite film?)
2. _____ da studentoj estas en la klaso? (How many students are in the class?)
3. _____ vi lernas Esperanton? (Why do you learn Esperanto?)
4. _____ vi naskiĝis? (When were you born?)
5. _____ estas la plej proksima stacidomo? (Where is the nearest station?)
6. _____ estas tiu persono apud la fenestro? (Who is that person by the window?)
7. _____ oni preparas paston? (How does one prepare pasta?)

Answers: 1. Kio 2. Kiom 3. Kial 4. Kiam 5. Kie 6. Kiu 7. Kiel

Exercise 3: Translation

Translate these sentences into Esperanto using correlatives.

1. Someone called you while you were out.
2. Somewhere in this building there is a good meeting room.
3. I don't know why she left.
4. The city where I grew up is beautiful.
5. That is exactly what I wanted to say.

Sample answers:

1. Iu telefonis al vi, dum vi estis ekster la domo.
2. Ie en ĉi tiu konstruaĵo estas bona kunvena ĉambro.
3. Mi ne scias, kial ŝi foriris.
4. La urbo, kie mi kreskis, estas bela.
5. Tio estas precize tio, kion mi volis diri.

Cultural Note

The correlative table was invented by Zamenhof and has been praised by linguists as a rare example of perfectly systematic vocabulary design. Unlike English, where question words (who, what, where, when, why, how) have no visible connection to demonstratives (that, there, then, therefore) or indefinites (someone, somewhere, sometime), Esperanto makes the family relationships explicit. This table is often displayed on the wall at Esperanto meetings worldwide, and learning it is considered a rite of passage for new speakers. Once mastered, it dramatically expands your ability to express nuanced ideas.