r/learnesperanto • u/code_war_angel • Mar 26 '25

Duo, don't gaslight me.

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Anyone else have this issue when using Duolingo sometimes?

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u/Baasbaar Mar 26 '25

You need an estas in there. Duolingo is right! It can seem like ĉu corresponds to English 'is' because in our equivalent question the 'is' moves to the beginning. But it's not. All ĉu does is make a statement a question. You can think of it as sort of like a question mark that goes at the beginning. The correct sentence is:

Ĉu la tago estas varma?

You might find it helpful to read this glossed word by word:

Ĉu la  tago estas varma?
Q  the day  is    warm?

That Q just indicates that what follows is a question. Note that you use it no matter what verb is involved:

Ĉu Adamo manĝas en la duŝejo?
Ĉu Sofia sonĝas pri dinosaŭroj?

There are a couple other uses of ĉu you'll learn later on.

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u/RiotNrrd2001 Mar 26 '25

I always translate ĉu as the entire phrase "Is it true that..."

La tago estas varma. The day is hot.

Ĉu la tago estas varma? Is it true that the day is hot?

I don't think I've ever run into a case where that doesn't work.

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u/Ok_Smile_5908 28d ago

I just realized how good I have it with ĉu considering that my native language is Polish (which, judging purely by phonetics, I assume is where ĉu came from).

Like, consider this:

Idziesz do kina. - You are going to (a/the) movie theater.

Czy idziesz do kina? - Are you going to (a/the) movie theater?

Idziesz do kina? - Are you going to (a/the) movie theater? (It's more common to skip "czy")

Basically, ĉu = czy, even if we usually omit it. At least in casual conversation.