There are two main types of questions in Klingon:
Yes/no questions - Answered with Hija' “yes” or ghobe' “no.”
Question-word questions - Require an explanation, like “what?”, "why?" or “how?”
Yes/No Questions
These questions use the Type 9 suffix -‘a’ on the verb. This turns a statement into a yes/no question.
Dayaj - You understand it
Dayaj'a' - Do you understand it?
qar - It is accurate.
qar'a' - Is it accurate?
chab Sop'a' be'nI'wI' - Did my sister eat the pie?
Appropriate responses to yes/no questions are:
HIja' or HISlaH - Yes
ghobe' - No
You can also create tag questions (e.g., “...right?”) by adding qar'a' to a statement. It can either follow the verb or come at the end of the sentence. Both of the following are correct:
De' Sov qar'a' HoD
De' Sov HoD qar'a'
- The captain knows the information, right?
Question Words
These words are used when a more detailed answer is needed:
'Iv - who?
nuq - what?
'ar - how many? how much?
nuqDaq - where? (literally “what-at?”)
ghorgh - when?
qatlh - why?
chay' - how?
'Iv - Who and nuq - What
These two question words act like nouns and go in the sentence where the answer would normally appear:
yaS legh 'Iv - Who sees the officer? (subject is unknown)
yaS legh HoD - The captain sees the officer
'Iv legh yaS - Whom does the officer see? (object is unknown)
HoD legh yaS - The officer sees the captain
nuq legh yaS - What does the officer see?
Duj legh yaS - The officer sees a ship
Duj ghoStaH nuq - What is approaching the ship?
Duj ghoStaH chanDab - The meteor is approaching the ship
In terms of grammar, 'Iv and nuq are treated as third-person nouns when it comes to verb prefixes:
nughoStaH nuq - What is approaching us?
nuq Dalegh - What do you see?
'ar - How many/much?
This word follows the noun it refer to. It is not used with nouns that have plural suffix (-pu', -mey, -Du').
yaS 'ar Haw’pu’ - How many officers fled?
nIn 'ar wIghaj - How much fuel do we have?
Duj 'ar DIlegh - How many ships do we see?
bIQ 'ar wIlegh - How much water do we see?
If the noun being questioned can be either singular or plural 'ar is interpreted as “how many?” If the noun refers to something uncountable, 'ar means “how much?”
Location, Time, Reason, and Method
The remaining question words occur at the beginning of the sentence:
nuqDaq So'taH yaS - Where is the officer hiding?
ghorgh Haw'pu' yaS - When did the officer flee?
qatlh Haw'pu' yaS - Why did the officer flee?
chay' Haw'pu' yaS - How did the officer flee?
chay' jura' - What are your orders? (Literally: “How do you command us?”)
chay' may also be used by itself to mean “What happened?” or “How did that happen?”
Asking
In Klingon, ghel and tlhob both translate as "ask" in English, but they serve distinct functions.
ghel means to ask a question. It is used when the speaker seeks information.
tlhob means to ask for something, to request, or to plead. It refers to seeking an action or favor, not information.
Example: lutlhob naDevvo' vaS'a'Daq majaHlaH'a'? - He asked, 'Can we go to the Great Hall from here?'
Marc Okrand notes that tlhob can sometimes overlap with ghel, being used where English would still say "ask a question," but its core meaning remains the request sense. This overlap reflects natural variation and evolution within the language rather than strict error.
