i don't know in Esperanto

“I don’t know” in Esperanto is Mi ne scias (mee neh STSEE-ahs). Scii means “to know a fact”, and ne “not” goes right before the verb. For people and places use koni “to be acquainted with”: Mi ne konas lin “I don’t know him”.

Other ways to say it

• Mi tute ne scias pri tio.I have no idea about that. (tute “completely”)
• Mi ne havas ideon.I have no idea.
• Mi ne certas.I’m not sure.
• Mi ne memoras.I don’t remember.

Example sentences

• Mi ne scias ŝian nomon.I don’t know her name.
• Mi ne konas lin.I don’t know him.

Esperantopedia · Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR

Scii can be followed by ke “that” or a question word: Mi ne scias, kie mi estas “I don’t know where I am”. ReVo warns against using koni for knowing facts: that is the job of scii.

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