What is the difference between the interjections "ĝuste" and "prave"?

Question

I understand the difference between ĝusti and pravi.

Tio ĝustas - that is right, that is correct

Vi pravas - you are right, what you are saying saying is correct

But what about when the adverb-forms are used as interjections? When somebody is speaking, I can exclaim "Ĝuste!" or "Prave!". Can they be used interchangably? Or are there different situations where one or the other is better?

Answer 1

They are as interchangable as ĝusta and prava. As you hinted at, ĝusta refers to being "correct" in the sense of being "appropriate" while prava refers to being "correct" in the sense of being "true":

• ĝusta: Precize konforma al regulo, leĝo, destiniteco; Precize konforma al la cirkonstancoj, al la intencata celo; Tia, ke ĝi liveras informojn verajn
• prava: Havanta opinion konforman al la vero; Konforma al la vero

So, if someone states a correct fact, I would say prave, because the fact they stated is true (konforma al la vero). If someone shows me a translated sentence that is grammatically correct, I would say ĝuste, because it conforms to the rules of the language, and it would be odd to say that it is "true". In many cases, however, they are ambiguous if not interchangeable and most likely no one will get confused if you use one or the other.

Answer 2

You can say i.e. "ĝuste tion", but not "prave tion". I guess that "ĝuste" is used for objects and "prave" for persons, ideas, opinions etc. But I'm not sure if this is a general rule.