When a Mando'ad use tion or meg to ask a question, an honest answer is expected (though they also understand that sometimes people lie). Regardless of how the question is asked, always include a question mark at the end of a question (or a rising tone, if talking and the speaker can do that) as an additional way to indicate that the sentence is a question.
Closed questions are ones that can be answered with elek (yes) or nayc (no). To turn a statement into a closed question, add the question particle tion at the beginning of the statement. The speaker may drop the subject if they are certain the listener will understand who the question is directed toward. Do not use a beten to link tion with a pronoun, verb, or adjective.
Example: Ni ba'slana. (I leave.) Tion ni ba'slana? (I leave?)
Open questions require more thoughtful answers.
To ask for clarification about a specific topic, attach tion with a beten to the noun.
Example: Tion'ad pirimmu ibic? (Which person uses this? Who uses this?)
To ask a more general "what" or "which" question, use tion'meg. (Normally, meg is a relative pronoun used in the middle of a sentence and means "that," "which," "who," or "what," depending on context. At the beginning of a sentence, it means "what" or "which.") In casual speech, some choose to drop the tion. Do not attach meg with a beten to any other word. In certain idioms, meg appears as me’, but those are the only circumstances in which meg is shortened that way unless doing so is part of your local dialect.
Example (formal): Tion'meg hiibi teh tayat? (What take/took from storage? What do/did you take from storage?)
If the question is a directed at a specific subset of a group, include the person's or group's name before the interrogative particle. Set off the name with a comma when writing the question.
This particular grammar rule is fan speculation based on a sentence that the conlang author corrected to Karen, tion mhi hibira Mando'a iviin'yc?; find the original post on this page: https://web.archive.org/web/20061129174822/http://forums.starwars.com/thread.jspa?threadID=237751&start=120
Include the negative particle in front of the verb, as is done for a statement. Do not include put it before the question particle, or attach it before or after the question particle.
Example: Gar nu ba'slana. (You didn't leave.) Tion gar nu ba'slana? (You don't leave?)
Example (formal): Tion'meg nu hiibi teh tayat? (What not take/took from storage? What don't/didn't you take from storage?)
The final way to create a question is leave off the subject and the question particle (tion) and only indicate that it is a question with a rising tone or question mark. Such questions can be understood one of two ways.
If the sentence follows another question, or if the sentence is short and rhetorical (no answer is needed), the tion is implied and it is only necessary to include a question mark or (if possible) a rising tone. One example: Tion'meg pelne? Sarade, senaare, ra shune? What is softest? Flowers, birds, or breads?
If a subjectless question is presented by itself, the question is rude or sarcastic. In such situations, unlike with other forms of questions, a Mando doesn't expect any other answer than backing down or an apology. One example: Duraani, bur'cya? You looking at me funny, pal?
Note that none of these phrases are used in the middle of a sentence. All are loose translations. In particular, tion does not specifically mean "what" or "which," but that's how it is often translated into English. See below for tips on translating "how" questions.
Tion'ad ... : Who ...
Tion'jor ... : Why ...
Tion'meh ... : What if ...
Tion'solet ... : How much ... How many ...
Tion'tuur ... : Which day ...
Tion'ca'nara ... : What time ...
Tion'de ... : By which means (is it accomplished) ... By what procedures ... By what methods ...
Tion'ti ... : With what ...
Tion'nar ... : What action ...
(Note that some places render this Tion'nari ..., following the original dictionary entry.)
Tion'bor ... : What task ...
Tion'yust ... : Which way ...
(Note that this is only used for asking for directions, not in the metaphysical or procedural sense.)
Tion'vaii ...: Where ...
Me'copaani? : What do you want?
Me'bana sha ca'nara ...: What happens when ...
Me'bana bah ...: What happens to ...
Me'bana meh ...: What happens if ...
Me'bana projor? What happens next?
Note that in some dialects, me'bana? and me'copaani? are complete phrases that cannot be combined with anything else. With those dialects, use meg bana or tion'meg bana in place of me'bana.
Because there is no canon way of asking "how" in Mando'a, you'll need to get creative. Choose one of the phrases above that can best get you the information you need. You might also choose a version based on what the rest of the sentence is asking. General guidelines for which phrase to use when:
tion'de ("by which means/by what procedures") questions ask the steps of a plan to be laid out.
tion'bor ("which task/project") questions ask for a broad idea of what to do.
tion'nar/tion'nari ("which action") questions seek to understand one step that needs to be done.
tion'ti ("with what") questions want to find out which tool, device, etc. is needed.