Esperanto correlatives: table of all 45 words

Correlatives are 45 basic question and answer words such as kiu – "who", tie – "there" and neniam – "never". Each one joins one of 5 beginnings with one of 9 endings, so 14 pieces give all 45 words. Esperanto speakers call them tabelvortoj – "table words", and all of them are in the Fundamento of 1905.

#The table of correlatives

Columns are the beginnings, rows are the endings.

ki- + -o = kio

Ending	ki- (question, "wh-")	ti- (that)	i- (some)	ĉi- (every)	neni- (no)
-o thing	kio – what	tio – that	io – something	ĉio – everything	nenio – nothing
-u person, individual	kiu – who, which	tiu – that one	iu – someone	ĉiu – everyone, each	neniu – no one, none
-a kind, quality	kia – what kind of	tia – such	ia – some kind of	ĉia – every kind of	nenia – no kind of
-e place	kie – where	tie – there	ie – somewhere	ĉie – everywhere	nenie – nowhere
-el manner, degree	kiel – how, as	tiel – so, like that	iel – somehow	ĉiel – in every way	neniel – in no way
-am time	kiam – when	tiam – then	iam – sometime, ever	ĉiam – always	neniam – never
-om amount	kiom – how much, how many	tiom – that much, so many	iom – some, a little	ĉiom – all of it	neniom – none at all
-al reason	kial – why	tial – therefore	ial – for some reason	ĉial – for every reason	nenial – for no reason
-es owner	kies – whose	ties – that one's	ies – someone's	ĉies – everyone's	nenies – no one's

#How to remember them

Learn the 14 pieces, not the 45 words. Then read any correlative as "beginning + ending": neni- "no" + -am "time" = neniam – "never".

The beginnings match English patterns:

• ki- asks or links, like English "wh-": kio – "what", kie – "where", kiam – "when".
• ti- points, like English "th-": tio – "that", tie – "there", tiam – "then".
• i- is vague like "some-", ĉi- covers everything like "every-", and neni- denies like "no-".

The endings are the harder part. These memory aids help (they are tricks, not etymology):

• -e for place, as in English "here, there, where".
• -es for owner, like the English possessive "'s".
• -al for reason, as in "causal".
• -u is for a person or a single item; -o for a thing in general.

Drill one row at a time across all five columns: kiam? – tiam – iam – ĉiam – neniam. Question and answer often come in pairs: Kie? – Tie. ("Where?" – "There.") Kiam? – Tiam. ("When?" – "Then.")

#Kiu or kio, ĉiu or ĉiuj

Kiu asks about a person or one item from a group, and can stand before a noun: kiu libro – "which book", tiu domo – "that house". Kio asks about a thing in general and stands alone:

• Kio estas tio? – "What is that?"
• Kiu estas tiu? – "Who is that?"

Ĉiu means "each, every(one)" and is singular; ĉiuj means "all, everyone" and is plural:

• Ĉiu infano ludas. – "Every child is playing."
• Ĉiuj infanoj ludas. – "All the children are playing."

#Adding -n and -j

Only some correlatives take endings. Those in -u and -a agree with their noun just like adjectives. Those in -e, -el, -am, -om and -al work as adverbs and stay unchanged, except -e words, which take -n for direction.

• Kiun vi vidis? – "Whom did you see?"
• Mi aĉetis tiujn librojn. – "I bought those books."
• Kion vi diris? – "What did you say?"
• Kien vi iras? – "Where are you going?" Compare Kie vi estas? – "Where are you?"
• Mi vidis neniun. – "I saw no one."

The rules for -n are the same as everywhere else: see the accusative.

#Ĉi tiu and tiu ĉi: "this"

Ti- words are neutral about distance, so tiu can mean "this" or "that". Add ĉi to show nearness: ĉi tiu or tiu ĉi – "this (one here)", ĉi tie or tie ĉi – "here". Both orders mean the same.

Write them as two words, without a hyphen. The hyphen appears only in words built from them: ĉi-jare – "this year", ĉi-nokte – "tonight".

#Ajn: "-ever"

Ajn after a correlative means "-ever" or "any at all": kiu ajn – "whoever, anyone", kio ajn – "whatever", kie ajn – "wherever", iam ajn – "at any time". It always comes right after the correlative. Nenion ajn means "nothing at all".

#Correlatives that link clauses

Ki- words also start relative and indirect-question clauses, like English "who", "which" and "where":

• La viro, kiu venis, estas mia patro. – "The man who came is my father."
• La libro, kiun mi legas, estas bona. – "The book that I'm reading is good."
• Mi faris tion, kion vi petis. – "I did what you asked."
• Mi ne scias, kie li loĝas. – "I don't know where he lives."

For amounts of something, add da: Kiom da mono vi havas? – "How much money do you have?" Questions with ki- words are covered on questions and negation.

#Examples in sentences

• Kiu estas tiu viro? – "Who is that man?"
• Kio estas en la skatolo? – "What is in the box?"
• Kian veteron vi havas tie? – "What's the weather like there?"
• Ĉiu infano ricevis donacon. – "Every child got a present."
• Ĉiuj ĝojis pri la neĝo. – "Everyone was happy about the snow."
• Iu frapas ĉe la pordo. – "Someone is knocking at the door."
• Mi serĉis la ŝlosilon ĉie, sed trovis ĝin nenie. – "I looked for the key everywhere but found it nowhere."
• Kiam vi alvenos, telefonu al mi. – "When you arrive, call me."
• Ĉi tiu domo estas pli granda ol tiu. – "This house is bigger than that one."
• Prenu kiun ajn libron vi volas. – "Take whichever book you like."

#Common questions

#How many correlatives are there in Esperanto?

There are 45: five beginnings (ki-, ti-, i-, ĉi-, neni-) times nine endings (-o, -u, -a, -e, -el, -am, -om, -al, -es). Forms like aliu with ali- "other" are unofficial and PMEG advises against them.

#What is the difference between kiu and kio?

Kiu is for people and for one item out of several ("who", "which"), and it can stand before a noun. Kio is for things in general ("what") and stands alone.

#Is it ĉi tiu or tiu ĉi?

Both are correct and mean the same: "this". Ĉi can stand before or after the correlative.

#Do correlatives take -n?

Those ending in -u, -a and -o take -n as objects: kiun, tian, tion. Those in -e take it only for direction: tien. The rest never change.

#Why are they called correlatives?

Because they come in matching sets: each question word has its pointing, vague, total and negative partners. In Esperanto they are called tabelvortoj, after the table in which they are usually learned.

#Sources

• PMEG: Tabelvortoj – bazaj reguloj, Postpartoj kaj finaĵoj, ALI-vortoj
• PMEG: Ĉi, Ajn, N por direkto
• Fundamento de Esperanto – Akademio de Esperanto
• Esperanto vocabulary – Wikipedia