How to ask questions in Tibetan

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The main rule

In Tibetan, when you want to ask a question, you have to use the verb of the answer.

Here is an example:

• English way: Are you Tibetan? → I am Tibetan.

• Tibetan way: Am you Tibetan? → I am Tibetan.

The main rule

It works in the other way also:

• English way: Am I crazy? → You are crazy!

• Tibetan way: Are I crazy? → You are crazy!

But with the 3rd person (he, she, they), it works like in English:

• English/Tibetan way:

Is he in Lhasa? → He is in Lhasa.

Interrogative marks

• When you use an interrogative pronouns (where, who, when, what, how many…), you do not need an interrogative mark.

• But if you do not use one of them, then you must add a mark after the verb, according to its last character.

Interrogative marks

last character interrogative

mark

ང་ ངས་ ག་ གས་

anything else པས་

Examples

• ཁྱོད་བྱོད་པ་ཡིན་པས། khyōd bod.pa yin-pas

Are you Tibetan?

• མྱོ་སླབ་གྲྭ་ལ་འདུག་གས། mo slāb.grwa-la 'dug-gas

Is she at school?