Grammar

How Esperanto Works

One of the cornerstone ideas behind Esperanto is that one needn’t have a separate word for every possible noun, verb, and adjective in human language, but can build an infinite number of words from just a small number of roots and affixes, mixing and matching them like Lego bricks.

For example, from the root bel- (“beautiful”):

The Lego-ness of the language is such that the derivational affixes themselves (the yellow and green bricks in the example above) are often used as separate words, much like “ism” is in English:

This makes word-building on the fly a fairly simple matter — but not always a simple as it seems. For example, consider the root paf- (“shoot”):

One would surmise from this that -o names the action, -ad- prolongs the action, and -il- names the instrument. But now look at klab- (“bludgeon”):

Why does klabo name the instrument, you might ask, and not klabilo? If klabado indicates prolonged or repeated action, what’s the suffix for a single strike with a klabo?

The reason for the different treatment of paf- and klab- is that klab- is by default a noun root referring to the instrument, whereas paf- is by default a verb root referring to the action. One can make klab- a verb by changing -o to -i, but one can’t make the action of klabi into a noun by changing the -i back to -o; one must preserve the “verbness” by adding a verbal suffix.

The suffix -ad-, which indicates repetitive action, is the only such suffix available in Esperanto; for a single stroke of a klabo, one must make a compound word like klabofrapo “a club-strike”. (Someone once proposed -im- to indicate a single action, as in martelimo “a hammer strike”, but that seems to have never caught on.)

The importance of knowing to which grammatical class a root belongs applies to all words in Esperanto, not just the odd one here and there. Unfortunately, a root’s grammatical class is rarely obvious; for that, the novice will need a dictionary before the mixing and matching can begin.

Speaking Esperanto

Alphabet

The Esperanto alphabet contains 28 letters — 5 vowels and 23 consonants:

• A as in Ahmed.

• B as in boat.

• C like [ʦ] in mitts in all positions.

• Ĉ like English ch in charming.

• D as in deportation.

• E as in eight.

• F as in famous.

• G as in guard in all positions, even before e and i.

• Ĝ as in general in all positions.

• H as in homeward.

• Ĥ like German ch in Achtung. Over the years, this has largely been replaced by k.

• I as in Iwo Jima.

• J like y in yodel.

• Ĵ as in Jacques.

• K as in kite.

• L as in long.

• M as in moat.

• N as in nautical.

• O as in order.

• P as in political.

• R as in Spanish Roberto (with a trilled [r]).

• S as in suspend.

• Ŝ like sh in ship

• T as in tank.

• U as in lute.

• Ŭ like w in western.

• V as in vendetta.

• Z as in zither.

When writing in media that cannot accommodate circumflexes and breves (oldschool message boards and such), the custom nowadays is to transcribe them with a following x: la cxehxa regxo ludas sxakon jxauxde instead of la ĉeĥa reĝo ludas ŝakon ĵaŭde.

Note that each consonant should be pronounced separately, even when the same consonant is doubled:

• banko ['ban-ko] not ['baŋ-ko]

• longa ['lon-ga] not ['loŋ-ga]

• interrompi [in-ter-'rom-pi] not [in-te-'rom-pi]

Similarly, every vowel in Esperanto constitutes a separate syllable, even adjacent vowels:

• Francio [fran-'ʦi-o] France

• filino [fi-'li-no] daughter

• avenuo [a-ve-'nu-o] avenue

Diphthongs

In English, some vowels can combine with other vowels to form sounds pronounced as a single (or close to single) syllable, as in coin and couch. These combination vowel sounds are called diphthongs. In Esperanto, vowels never combine with other vowels, but with the consonants j or ŭ to produce one of eleven diphthongs — six “falling” (aj, ej, oj, uj, aŭ and eŭ) and five “rising” (ja, je, ji, jo, and ju)*.

Tonic Stress

Without exception, words in Esperanto are stressed on the next-to-the-last syllable, as in fortuno [for-'tu-no] and mencii [men-'ʦi-i]. While this makes proper stress easy and unambiguous, English-speakers will need to take care not to stress familiar-looking words with traditional stress: opero (“opera”) is [o-'pe-ro], not ['o-pe-ro], Anglio (“England”) is [an-'gli-o], not ['an-gli-o], for example.

Articles

An article is a kind of adjective, such as the and a, that indicates whether the thing being discussed is something specific, nonspecific, or unique.

In Esperanto, there is, strictly speaking, only one kind of article — the definite:

The Definite Article

The definite article indicates that a person or thing has already been mentioned, is common knowledge, is about to be defined, or is otherwise a specific member of a class of similar people or things. In English, the definite article is the. In Esperanto, it’s la:

• Ni trinkas la sangon, ni manĝas la korpon. Saluton, Satano! | We drink the blood, we eat the body. Hail Satan! (the blood and body of Christ)

• Ĉu vi scias la vojon al San-Joseo? | Do you know the way to San Jose? (the best way)

• Mi estas la viro en la ŝvitejo. | I’m the man in the box. (the man being punished in the hot box)

• Akompanu la razkapulojn por kegloludi. | Take the skinheads bowling. (the ones on my lawn)

• Karolo la Kalva | Charles the Bald (as opposed to Charles the Great or Charles the Fat)

As in English, the definite article can be used to indicate a single, countable noun in general, though it’s more common in English to use plural nouns with no article at all:

• Estas la servisto kiu prenas monon. | It’s the servant (as a class) who takes money.

• La feo surportas botojn. | Fairies wear boots.

The definite article is used before a generic noun followed by a proper noun to indicate a unique entity:

• la bando Coil | (the band) Coil

• la kosma krozŝipo Jamato | (the) space cruiser Yamato

When followed by an adjective, la can be used alone as a stand-in for a person or thing:

• La via estas la intelekto supera! | Yours is the superior intellect!

• Mia patrino diris ke mi elektu la plej bonan, kaj vi ne estas tiu. | My mother told me to pick the very best one and you are not it.

If the person or thing la is standing for is plural, something other than la must be pluralized, or another workaround found:

• Mia patrino diris ke mi elektu la plej bonajn, kaj vi ne estas ili. | My mother told me to pick the very best ones and you are not they.

• Banala diskuto ĉe nia tablo! Mi sentas min kiel la familio Kardashian! | A vapid discussion at our table! I feel like the Kardashians!

The same formula is used to express the names of languages, where those languages are associated with a particular ethnic group:

• Vi povus averti ilin ... se vi nur parolus la hovitan. | You could warn them ... if only you spoke Hovitos.

• Vi ne parolas la anglan, Keto! Vi parolas Esperanton, aŭ ian lingvon, kian ĝemeloj instruas unu al la alia! | You aren't speaking English, Keith! You're speaking Esperanto, or some sort of language that twins teach each other!

La is often — but not always — used before abstract nouns, depending on the habits of the speaker:

• La feliĉo estas varma pafilo. | Happiness is a warm gun.

• La libero | Liberty

• Libereco, egaleco, frateco | Liberté, égalité, fraternité

La is often — but not always — used to introduce a kinship relation, body part, article of clothing, or other object intimately associated with the speaker:

• Ĉesu tuŝi la filinon. | Stop touching my daughter.

• Ĉesu tuŝi la genuon. | Stop touching my knee.

• Ĉesu tuŝi la ĉapelon. | Stop touching my hat.

• Ĉesu tuŝi la iPhone. | Stop touching my iPhone.

The Indefinite Articles

The indefinite article indicates that the person or thing being introduced is a nonspecific member of a class of similar people or things.

In Esperanto, any common noun without a definite article is by default indefinite.

• Mi vidas mortintojn. | I see dead people.

• Plagon al ambaŭ viaj domoj! | A plague o’ both your houses!

However, there is also a range of indefinite “correlative” words one can use to underscore in­def­initeness of identity (iu), type (ia), or quantity (ioma, iom da, or just da):

• Iu ulo koliziis kun mia kotŝirmilo, kaj mi diris al li ‘Fruktu kaj multiĝu’. Sed ne per tiuj vortoj. | Some guy hit my fender, and I told him ‘be fruitful, and multiply.’ But not in those words.

• Politika diskuto ĉe nia tablo! Mi sentas min kiel iu Kennedy! | A political discussion at our table! I feel like a Kennedy!

• Ia besteto min mordis. | Some bug bit me.

• Plaĉus al mi (iom) da pano. | I’d like some bread.

Note that while the absence of indefinite articles in Esperanto makes the language easier to use in many cases — especially for those whose own language doesn’t have them — one must take care not to confuse indefinite common nouns with proper nouns, especially in speech:

• Custer estis venkita de Freneza Ĉevalo. | Custer was defeated by Crazy Horse.

• Custer estis venkita de freneza ĉevalo. | Custer was defeated by a crazy horse.

• En la komenco estis la Vorto, kaj la Vorto estis kun Dio, kaj la Vorto estis Dio. | In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

• En la komenco estis la Vorto, kaj la Vorto estis kun dio, kaj la Vorto estis dio. | In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with a god, and the Word was a god.

Nouns

A noun is any sort of person, place, or thing, and comes in two varieties: common and proper.

Common Nouns

Common nouns are generic words that identify members of a class of people, places, or things. In Esperanto, all common nouns end in -o:

• magiisto | wizard

• provinco | shire

• ringo | ring

The plural adds -j:

• magiistoj | wizards

• provincoj | shires

• ringoj | rings

Words that are not already nouns can be made into one simply by adding -o to the root. What sort of noun they will become depends on the sort of root they are; adjectival roots become abstract nouns, verbs usually (but not always) become single instances or results of their action, while adverbs, prepositions and numbers become more or less concrete manifestations of the root:

• malico (from malica “malicious”) | evil, malice

• sorĉo (from sorĉi “to bewitch”) | a spell

• hodiaŭo (from hodiaŭ “today”) | today, the present day

• dekduo (from dek du “twelve”) | a dozen

• ekstero (from ekster “outside of”) | an exterior

The type of root a word has is not always obvious — from brosi, for example, one might expect broso to mean “a brush stroke”, but it actually means “a brush”, because bros- is a noun root denoting the instrument, not the action. To make brushstroke from bros-, one must add a word like tir- (“pull”) and make brostiro. On the other hand, kombo does not mean “a comb”, because komb- is a verb root denoting the action; the instrument is a kombilo.

The -o of Esperanto nouns should not be confused with the masculine -o of Spanish and Italian; every noun in Esperanto, whether it’s male, female, neuter, or epicene, ends in -o. On the other hand, words that indicate kin relationships (and traditionally all living creatures) are male by default unless suffixed with -in- or prefixed with ge-:

• frato | brother

• fratino | sister

• gefratoj | siblings

• koko* | rooster/chicken

• kokino | hen

It should be noted that ge- means “both sexes together”, and traditionally (and logically) could refer only to groups of mixed gender; one had to combine it with -an- “member” to refer to an individual (ex., gefratoj “siblings”, gefratano “sibling”). Only sometime after 1980 did the Plena Ilustrita Vortaro acknowledge the use of ge- with singular nouns to convey “one of either sex”, though it otherwise still means “both sexes together”, and is not used as a general epicene prefix for anything else. (One uses koko for “chicken”, for example, not gekoko.)*

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns name a particular person, place, or thing, and in Esperanto have posed a problem since the beginning.

At the heart of the trouble is Esperanto’s accusative ending -n, which requires that names, like any other noun, end in a vowel. The free word order possible in Esperanto makes the accusative case difficult to avoid — without it, one could not tell who is doing what to whom — which means that either all names must be forced to end in a vowel, even if only when used as the direct object, or Esperanto’s more conventional subject-verb-object default word order must be observed while using “indeclinable” names.*

For many names, this is not an issue — most biblical and classical names, along with many familiar modern European ones, have more or less offical Esperanto equivalents; Gaius Julius Caesar, for example, is Gajo Julio Cezaro, where each name has been Esperanto-ized.

As for names without an Esperanto equivalent, those originally written in the Roman alphabet (including Latin renderings of Greek and Biblical names) are often transcribed as-is (ex. Barack Obama); those written in other alphabets are transcribed phonetically (ex., Nikita Ĥruŝĉov).

Countries and Demonyms

The names of countries, oceans, and international rivers and mountain ranges more or less preserve their Latin (or Latinized) form, but conform to Esperanto’s orthography and have, where necessary, been altered for the sake of regularity:

• Afriko | Africa

• Ameriko | America

• Azio | Asia

• Eŭropo | Europe

• Ĉinio | China

• Kostariko | Costa Rica

• Peruo | Peru

• Rusio | Russia

• Usono* | The United States

• Mediteraneo | The Mediterranean Sea

• Pacifiko | The Pacific Ocean

• Balkano | The Balkan Mountains

In English, the name of a country’s inhabitants is sometimes the basis for the name of the country and language (e.g., “England” and “English” from the ancient Ængle), sometimes the other way around (e.g. “Congolese” from “Congo”). In the latter case, the language might instead be derived from the ethnic group whose language it is (“Spanish” in the case of Mexico), or have its own name (“Swahili” in the case of Kenya).

Esperanto follows a similar model: anglo (“an Englishman”) forms the country name by adding -io* to the root (Anglio) and the language name with la -a (e.g., la angla “the English language”), but kongano (“a Congolese”) and la kongana (“Congolese language”) are derived from Kongo by adding -an- to the root. The language of Mexico is la hispana (“Spanish”, from hispano “a Spaniard”); the language of Kenya is la svahila.

• japano | a Japanese

• japana | Japanese (language)

• Japanio | Japan

• Brazilo | Brazil

• Brazilano | a Brazilian

• la brazilportugala | Brazilian Portuguese (language)

The names of states, provinces, and cities, most of which don’t have common Latinized or Latinizable names like many countries do, are more or less treated like personal names; some larger cities and well-known states have Esperanto-ized names (ex., Nov-Jorko, Kalifornio), but most are either re-written with Esperanto’s orthography or left as-is.

Capitalization

Esperanto capitalizes the first letter of a word when:

• The word is the first one in a sentence. In the title of a book, movie, etc., the first word is also capitalized, but the remaining words may or may not be, according to the writer’s preference. Non-initial la, however, is never capitalized:

• Ĉi tio ne estas pipo. | This is not a pipe.

• La mirinda destino de Amelio Poulain | Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain

• La kodo de Da Vinĉi | The Da Vinci Code

• The word is a the name of a person, country, geographical region, or society — but not the name of an institution, nationality or language. On the other hand, adjectives derived from the names of countries are sometimes capitalized (Usona, Kanada), sometimes not (meksika). “Esperanto”, and the names of other artificial languages, however, is capitalized, as is “Esperantist”:

• Aŭdreo Tautou | Audrey Tautou

• Francio | France

• la franca | French (language)

• Alzaco | Alsace

• alzaca | Alsatian

• katolikismo | Catholicism

• katolico | Catholic

• Volapukaĵo | Volapükism

• The word is a title being used in lieu of a personal name — though this, too, varies according to preference:

• Sinjoro Retejestro | Mr. Webmaster

• laŭ ordono de la Reĝo | by order of the King

The Accusative Case

The accusative case is an inflection used to mark a word as the object of an action or the goal of a motion.

English doesn’t have an accusative case; the object of a verb is indicated by word order, and the goal of a motion by a preposition or adverb:

• Harold punches Kumar. | (Kumar is the object of the action)

• Kumar punches Harold. | (Harold is the object of the action)

• Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. | (White Castle is the goal of the motion)

Esperanto, which has a freer word order*, indicates the object of an action with -n:

• Haroldo frapas Kumaron. | Harold punches Kumar.

• Kumaron frapas Haroldo. | Harold punches Kumar.

• Kumaro frapas Haroldon. | Kumar punches Harold.

• Haroldon frapas Kumaro. | Kumar punches Harold.

• Mi ne scias (tiun), kiu frapas Haroldon. | I don’t know who hits Harold.

• Mi ne scias (tiun), kiun frapas Haroldo. | I don’t know whom Harold hits.

This is often seen in exclamations, where a Mi deziras al vi or Mi donas al vi is elided:

• Saluton! | Hello!

• Dankon! | Thanks!

• Feliĉan Festivon! | Merry Festivus!

The accusative ending is not used with quotations, titles of books, names of games, etc.:

• Li diris, “Ĉiuj la venenoj kiuj kaŝas sin en la koto elkoviĝu.” | He said, “Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out.”

• Ŝi diras, ke ŝi hatis Kvindek Helecoj de Grizo, tamen ŝi legis la tutan trilogion. | She says she hated Fifty Shades of Grey, yet she read the whole trilogy.

• Ni ludu “La soleca kamionisto trovas mortintinon ĉe la stratflanko.” | Let’s play “The Lonely Trucker Finds a Dead Girl by the Side of the Road.”

To indicate the goal of a motion, Esperanto will either use al (“to”), -n, or a preposition or adverb of place in conjunction with -n:

• Haroldo kaj Kumaro iras al Blanka-Kastelo. | Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.

• Haroldo kaj Kumaro iras Blanka-Kastelon. | Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.

• Haroldo kaj Kumaro estas en iu Blanka-Kastelo. | Harold and Kumar are in a White Castle.

• Haroldo kaj Kumaro iras en iun Blanka-Kastelon. | Harold and Kumar go into a White Castle.

• Haroldo kaj Kumaro estas ĉi tie. | Harold and Kumar are here.

• Haroldo kaj Kumaro venas ĉi tien. | Harold and Kumar are coming here.

Finally, the Esperanto accusative is also used in expressions of time, measure, and value — or as a substitute for theoretically any preposition.

Of course, actual prepositions can be used instead, but since which preposition to use in some situations varies from language to language, -n is often used as a convenient alternative:

• Mi ankaŭ bezonos ke vi daŭrigu antaŭen kaj venu ankaŭ dimanĉon. | I’m also gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday, too.

• Memoru, memoru, la kvinan de novembro | Remember, remember, the fifth of November

• Tio kostas 600 dolarojn. | That costs 600 dollars.

• virino aĝa 110 jarojn | a woman 110 years old

• rilate vian proponon | in connection with your proposal

One must be careful, however, not to use the accusative as a replacement for a preposition where it can create confusion with another use of the accusative:

• Haroldo kaj Kumaro iris en iun Blanka-Kastelon je la kvina de novembro. | Harold and Kumar went into a White Castle on the fifth of November.

(not iris en iun Blanka-Kastelon la kvinan de novembro)

Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that refers either to the participants in the discourse at hand (eg. I, you) or to someone or something mentioned in that discourse (eg., he, they, those). In Esperanto, there are six different types of pronoun: personal, reflexive, possessive, demonstrative, relative, and indefinite.

Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns of Esperanto are much like those of English:

• mi | I/me

• ci | thou/thee

• li/ŝi/ĝi | he/she/it

• ni | we/us

• vi | you all

• ili | they/them

In practice, ci is rarely, if ever used; vi does duty for both the singular and plural, just as you does in English.

Ĝi was originally meant to refer to people whose gender is unknown or irrelevant, but nowadays refers only to animals, objects, and, occasionally, children. The original role of ĝi is sometimes given to the demonstrative pronoun tiu (“that one”) or li:*

• Ĉu la leterportisto liveris la pakon? Jes, tiu/li liveris ĝin hodiaŭ matene. | Did the mailcarrier deliver the package? Yes, they delivered it this morning.

There is also an indefinite pronoun oni, used to refer to an unspecified person or people in general:

• Kiu diris tion al vi? ‘Oni’. ‘Oni’ multe parolas, ĉu ne? Jes ja. | Who told you that? ‘They’. ‘They’ talk a lot, don’t they? They certainly do.

• Oni ne aplaŭdas la tenorulon pro klarigi al si la voĉon. | One does not applaud the tenor for clearing his throat.

• Oni povas gluti pindon da sango antaŭ ol malsaniĝi. | You can swallow a pint of blood before you get sick.

Note that where English uses “it” to refer to a situation or circumstance, Esperanto uses nothing at all:

• Pluvas. | It’s raining.

• Ne gravas. | It’s not important.

Reflexive Pronouns

A pronoun that refers back to the subject of a clause (eg., English myself, themselves) is called a reflexive pronoun. In Esperanto, this is identical to the personal pronouns — except for those in the “third person” (he, she, they, etc.), all of which use si:

• Mi vundis min hodiaŭ. | I hurt myself today.

• Vi vundis vin hodiaŭ. | You hurt yourself today.

• Ni vundis nin hodiaŭ. | We hurt ourselves today.

• Ŝi vundis sin hodiaŭ. | She hurt herself today.

• Ili vundis sin hodiaŭ. | They hurt themselves today.

If one were to use a pronoun other than si in the last two examples, it would mean that the subjects hurt someone else, not themselves:

• Ŝi vundis ŝin hodiaŭ. | She hurt her today.

• Ili vundis ilin hodiaŭ. | They hurt them today.

Bear in mind that si refers only to the subject of the clause that it’s in, which may or may not be the main clause of the sentence.

• Ŝi vidis ke li vundis lin. | She saw that he hurt him.

• Ŝi vidis ke li vundis sin. | She saw that he hurt himself.

• Ŝi vidis lin vundi sin.* | She saw him hurt himself.

• Ŝi vidis lin (esti) vundanta sin.* | She saw him hurting himself.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show what belongs to whom, and in Esperanto simply add -a to the personal pronouns:

• mia | my/mine

• cia | thy/thine

• lia/ŝia/ĝia | his/her/hers/its

• nia | our/ours

• via | your/yours

• ilia | their/theirs

The reflexive is sia, the indefinite onia.

• Mia Dio! Ĝi estas plena de steloj! | My God! It’s full of stars!

• Kio estas cia ordono, mia majstro? | What is thy bidding, my master?

• Viajn inojn, mi volas aĉeti viajn inojn. Vendu al mi viajn filinojn! | Your women, I want to buy your women. Sell me your daughters!

• Neniu movu sin aŭ mi deskrapos la tutan ŝminkon al ŝi! | Nobody move or I scrape off all her makeup!

• Li manĝis la hepaton al li kun faboj kaj bona Kianta vino. | He ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

• Li manĝis la hepaton al si (mem) kun faboj kaj bona Kianta vino. | He ate his (own) liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

• Revolucio estas ĉiam laŭleĝa en la unua per­sono, kiel “nia revolucio”. Estas nur en la tria persono — ilia revolucio — ke ĝi estas kon­traŭ­leĝa. | Revolution is always legal in the first person, such as “our revolution”. It is only in the third person — “their revolution” — that it is illegal.

• Tiuj el vi sufiĉe bonŝanca havi ankoraŭ viajn vivojn, prenu ilin kun vi! Sed lasu la mem­brojn kiujn vi perdis; ili jam apartenas al mi. | Those of you lucky enough to still have your lives, take them with you! But leave the limbs you have lost; they belong to me now.

• Ne sufiĉas sukcesi; onia plej bona amiko devas malsukcesi. | It is not enough to succeed; one’s best friend must fail.

Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives

Esperanto has two demonstrative adjectives, tiu (“that”) and tia (“such”), which are used to indicate a specific entity or type of entity observed by the speaker. To indicate something close at hand, one adds ĉi:

• tiu porkido | that little piggy

• ĉi tiu porkido | this little piggy

• tia porkido | such a little piggy

All three words can be used without change as pronouns for the nouns they refer to:

• Jen la du porkidoj! Ĉi tiu iris al merkato. Tiu restis hejme. | There’s the two little piggies! This one went to market. That one stayed home.

When tiu is changed into a noun (by adding -o to the root), it means not only “this/that thing” but “this/that business or fact”.

• Ĉi tiu iris al merkato, kaj tio plaĉas al mi. | This one went to market, and that pleases me.

Relative & Interrogative Pronouns

Relative pronouns refer to an expressed or implied person or thing in another clause; they correspond with English who, what, and which:

• Renkontu la viron kiu renkontis Anĉjon Griffith! | Meet the man who met Andy Griffith!

• Renkontu la muson kiu renkontis Anĉjon Griffith! | Meet the mouse that/which met Andy Griffith!

• Mi ne aŭdis kion diris la viro kiu renkontis Anĉjon Griffith. | I couldn’t hear what the man who met Andy Griffith said.

• Mi ne aŭdis, kio perturbis min. | I couldn’t hear, which upset me.

Like in English, Esperanto relative pronouns are also used as interrogative pronouns, that is, pronouns used in questions:

• Kiu renkontis Anĉjon Griffith? | Who (what/which man) met Andy Griffith?

• Kiu estas la viro kiu renkontis Anĉjon Griffith? | Who is the man who met Andy Griffith?

• Kion diris la viro kiu renkontis Anĉjon Griffith? | What did the man who met Andy Griffith say?

Interrogative pronouns generally come first in a sentence, but beyond this the word order of Esperanto sentences need not alter when made into questions, as it often does in English sentences:

• Kiun Anĉjo Griffith insultis? | Whom did Andy Griffith insult?

• Kiu insultis Anĉjon Griffith? | Who insulted Andy Griffith?

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are those that do not refer to any definite entity in particular, corresponding to English someone, something, nobody, nothing, everyone, everything (iu, io, neniu, nenio, ĉiu, ĉio):

• Nu la unua fojo, kiam oni mortigas iun, jen la plej malfacila. | Now the first time you kill somebody, that's the hardest.

• Mi volas nenion. Mi volas nenion. Mi volas nenian reciprokaĵon. | I want nothing. I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo.

• Ĉiuj deziras mian karulinon! | Everybody wants my baby!

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that attribute a quality to a person or thing. In Esperanto, all adjectives end in -a:

• bona | good

• malbona | bad

• malbela | ugly

As in some other European languages, adjectives in Esperanto must agree with the nouns they modify in both number and case — that is, if a noun has a plural -j and/or an accusative -n, so must its adjectives:

• La malica kunĉjo ekbruligis ĉiujn la bestojn. | The evil bunny set fire to all the animals.

Words that aren’t already adjectives can be made into them simply by changing their endings to -a. What sort of adjectives they will become depends on the sort of root they have; adjectivized verbs tend to mean “that which -s”, adverbs of time mean “occurring on”, numbers become ordinals, prepositions “located”, and nouns any number of meanings, depending on the context:

• sorĉa (from sorĉi “to bewitch”) | bewitching, magic, enchanting, enchanted

• hodiaŭa (from hodiaŭ “today”) | of today, today’s, hodiernal

• dekdua (from dek du “twelve”) | twelfth

• ekstera (from ekster “outside of”) | exterior

• ora (from oro “gold”) | consisting of gold, containing gold, pertaining to wealth, as expensive or important as gold, gold-colored

While the function of adjectives is to describe nouns, they can also be used as stand-ins for nouns:

• la bona, la malbona, kaj la malbela | the good, the bad, and the ugly

• Evitu la verdajn. Ili ankoraŭ ne estas maturaj. | Avoid the green ones. They’re not ripe yet.

The Placement of Adjectives

Generally speaking, adjectives in Esperanto come before the people or things they describe, except for emphasis or stylistic flourish:

• egoista, idioteca, hirta nerfisto | a stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder

• ideo absurda | an absurd idea

However, adjectives that have a complement must come after the person or thing being described in order to make sense:

• Mi vidis ĉielon nigra pro fumo. | I saw a sky black from smoke.

• Mi estas anĝelo ekstermanta pudelojn. | I am an angel exterminating poodles.

Degrees of Comparison

“All animals are equal,” declares the ever-amended constitution in Animal Farm, “but some animals are more equal than others”. Such comparisons (equal and unequal) are expressed in Esperanto in much the same way as they are in English:

• Vi estas malpli egala ol mi. | You are less equal than I.

• Vi estas (egale) tiel egala kiel mi. | You are (just) as equal as I.

• Vi estas (eĉ) pli egala ol mi. | You are (even) more equal than I.

• Vi estas la pli egala de/el la du. | You are the more equal of/out of the two.

• Vi iĝas ĉiam pli egala ĉiutage. | You’re becoming more and more equal every day.

• Vi estas la plej egala de/el ĉiuj. | You are the most equal of/out of all.

• Vi estas la malplej egala de/el ĉiuj. | You are the least equal of all.

• Kvankam ambaŭ vi estas egalaj, mi preferas vin (pli multe) ol vian amikon. | Though you are both equal, I prefer you to (more than) your friend.

As might be expected from a planned language, there are no irregular or synthetic comparatives, as there are in English and other languages:

• bona, pli bona, plej bona | good, better, best

• stulta, pli stulta, plej stulta | dumb, dumber, dumbest

Adverbs

Adverbs are words that say something about the time, place, manner, or degree regarding a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Some words are adverbial by nature, like now, very, and too in English; some are created from other sorts of word by adding -e to the root, much like those created by adding -ly in English:

• Nu, iru vivi feliĉe ĉiam poste aŭ mi devos fal-piedbati la dentojn el via buŝo. | Now, go live happily ever after or I’ll have to dropkick the teeth out of your mouth.

• “He! Vi dormu hejme.” “Kial? Oni pagas min dormi ĉi tie.” | “Hey! You count sheep at home.” “Why? I get paid to count ’em here.”

• Via patrino estas ĉi interne, Karras. Ĉu plaĉus al vi lasi mesaĝon? Mi certigos ke ŝi ricevu ĝin. | Your mother’s in here, Karras. Would you like to leave a message? I’ll see that she gets it.

• Mi volas ke vi batu min kiel eble plej forte. | I want you to hit me as hard as you can.

• Ekspertulo estas tiu, kiu scias ĉiam multe pri ĉiam malmulte. | An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less.

• Vi estas kiel la furtisto kiu tute ne bedaŭras ke li furtis, sed multege bedaŭras ke li iros al prizono. | You’re like the thief who isn’t the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he’s going to jail.

Questions

Oftentimes in English, a yes-or-no question can be expressed simply by raising the pitch of one’s voice at the end of a sentence:

• My father fought in the Clone Wars?

• You think I like avoiding my wife and kids to hang out with nineteen year old girls every day?

In Esperanto, such questions are always begin with ĉu (“whether”), even in subordinate clauses:

• Ĉu mia patro batalis en la Klonmilitoj? | Did my father fight in the Clone Wars?

• Ĉu vi kredas ke plaĉas al mi eviti mian edzinon kaj filojn por pasigi tempon kun deknaŭ-jarulinoj ĉiutage? | Do you think I like avoiding my wife and kids to hang out with nineteen year old girls every day?

• Mi dubas ĉu mia patro batalis en la Klonmilitoj. | I doubt whether my father fought in the Clone Wars.

• Mi demandas min ĉu vi kredas ke plaĉas al mi eviti mian edzinon kaj filojn por pasigi tempon kun deknaŭ-jarulinoj ĉiutage. | I wonder if you think I like avoiding my wife and kids to hang out with nineteen year old girls every day.

Other sorts of questions, those asking “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, etc., are introduced by the appropriate question word:

• Kiu amus min nun? | Who could love me now?

• Kiun mi amus nun? | Whom could I love now?

• Kia koloro estas la ĉielo en via mondo? | What color is the sky in your world?

• Precize kion vi kredas ke vi faras, Daviĉjo? | Just what do you think you’re doing, Dave?

• Reiru al de kie vi venis! | Get back whence you came!

• Li venkos, kiu scias kiam li povas batali kaj kiam ne. | He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that expresses a relationship between one noun or noun phrase and another word or element in the same sentence:

• Trans la riveron kaj tra la arbaron, ĉe Avinon ni iras. | Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go.

• Violoni dum Romo brulas | To fiddle while Rome burns

• Ne kun vulpo. Ne en skatolego. Nek kun muso aŭ en domego. | Not in a box. Not with a fox. Not in a house. Not with a mouse.

• Kia kompleto de manĝoĉambro difinas min estiel personon? | What kind of dining set defines me as a person?

In Esperanto, prepositions never end a sentence, as they often do in English:

• Pro kio vi faris tion? | What did you do that for?

• Pri kio estas ĉi tiu filmo? | What is this movie about?

There is also an “anything” preposition in Esperanto, je, which has no definite meaning of its own but is used when no other preposition seems appropriate:

• Los es sub on tasos. | They are under cups.

• Los es on subtasos. | They are saucers.

• ante il vider (aut vido je) la resulto | before seeing the outcome

• ante-vider la resulto | to foresee the outcome

There are two “back-up” prepositions in Romániço. The first, je, indicates the recipient of an action (the “direct object”) in ambiguous sentences, as when the usual subject-verb-object word order is inverted:

• Brutus pugnaligin Iulius. | Brutus stabbed Julius.

• Je Iulius Brutus pugnaligin. | Brutus stabbed Julius.

• Je Iulius pugnaligin Brutus. | Brutus stabbed Julius.

• Mi aman vi cuale je mea fratro. | I love you like (as if you were) my brother.

• Mi aman vi cuale mea fratro. | I love you like my brother (loves you).

Je is also useful with verbs made into nouns:

• je la nomo de paco | in the name of peace

• esti graveda je ĝemeloj | to be pregnant with twins

When describing a change in location, if the preposition used doesn’t by itself indicate it, one adds -n to the object of the preposition:

• la reklamisto kondukis sian aŭton en la homamaso | the publicist drove her car (around) in the crowd

• la reklamisto kondukis sian aŭton en la homamason | the publicist drove her car into the crowd

• Do, se vi volas, mi metos la pafilon sur la tablon | So, if you want, I’ll put the gun on the table

Prepositions can be changed into other parts of speech by the addition of suffixes if the meaning allows:

• kontraŭ | against

• kontraŭa | contrary

• kontraŭe | on the contrary

• kontraŭulo | adversary

• kontraŭaĵo | the contrary, opposite

One can technically use any preposition before infinitive verbs, though tradionally this only true of anstataŭ, krom, por, and, in the present era, sen. When using other prepositions, infinitives are (or were) often turned into nouns, preceded by a conjunction, or rephrased altogether.

• Li decidis televidi anstataŭ mortigi sin | he decided to watch TV instead of kill himself

• Li estas malsana pro tro labori (aŭ troa laboro) | he’s sick from working too much

• la ideo pri lavi la manojn post uzi la necesejon estis klare fremda al li (aŭ lavi la manojn uzinte aŭ post kiam li uzis) | the idea of washing his hands after using the restroom was clearly foreign to him

The traditional workarounds for preventing infinitives from being the objects of prepositions don’t always make consistent sense — one says antaŭ ol -i but never post ol -i, for example — but because prepositions are also used as prefixes to verbs, such workarounds can be helpful to avoid ambiguity:

• post dati ĉekon (datinte ĉekon aŭ post kiam oni datis ĉekon) | after dating a check

• postdati ĉekon | to postdate a check

Verbs

Words that express any sort of action, state, or occurrence are called “verbs”, and there’s usually at least one in any complete sentence:

• Ĉi tiuj brecoj igas min soifa! | These pretzels are making me thirsty!

• Mi ne havis seksajn rilatojn kun tiu virino! | I did not have sexual relations with that woman!

• Kion vi faros sen libero? | What will you do without freedom?

• Mi drapirus min per veluro se estus socie akcepteble. | I would drape myself in velvet if it were socially acceptable.

• Deprenu tiun bebtukon de la kapo, remetu ĝin sur la fratinon! | You take that diaper off your head, you put it back on your sister!

Past, Present, and Future Action

There are three basic “tenses” available to Esperanto verbs — past, present, and future — each expressing action happening at different times relative to the speaker:

The Present Tense

Verbs that express action that one has begun but not yet completed (those in the present tense) are marked by the suffix -as:

• Ne ekzistas kulero. | There is no spoon.

• La Kongreso oficiale akuzas la prezidenton (nun). | Congress is impeaching the president (right now).

• Mi legas La nesubtenebla leĝereco de esti. | I’m reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being (right now, or these days).

Note that the form of the verb does not change depending on who is performing it, as it does in English:

• Mi butikumas, do mi ekzistas. | I shop, therefore I am.

• Vi butikumas, do vi ekzistas. | You shop, therefore you are.

• Li butikumas, do li ekzistas. | He shops, therefore he is.

The Past Tense

Verbs that express something that happened prior to the moment one is speaking (those in the past tense) are marked by the suffix -is:

• Ne ekzistis kulero. | There was no spoon.

• Hieraŭ la Kongreso oficiale akuzis la prezidenton. | Yesterday Congress impeached the president.

The Future Tense

Verbs that express something that will happen after the moment one is speaking (those in the future tense) are marked by the suffix -os:

• Ne ekzistos kulero. | There will be no spoon.

• Morgaŭ la Kongreso oficiale akuzos la prezidenton. | Tomorrow Congress will impeach the president.

Hypothetical Action

The past, present, and future tenses all express actions that actually did, do, or will take place, and collectively make up what grammarians call the “indicative mood”. But there’s also a way to express hypothetical action that probably won’t take place, called the “conditional mood”, which in Esperanto is expressed by -us:

• Klare, se ne ekzistus kuleroj, ankaŭ ne ekzistus “sporks”. | Obviously, if there were no spoons, there would be no sporks, either.

• Tion mi aĉetus po unu dolaro! | I’d buy that for a dollar!

• la Kongreso oficiale akuzus la prezidenton se la prezidento jam ne demisius. | Congress would have impeached the president if the president hadn’t already resigned.

Desired Action

Verbs expressing something requested are marked by the suffix -u:

• For la fetorajn manaĉojn de mi, malbenita malpura simio! | Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!

• Ne rigardu min! | Don’t look at me!

• Vi ne rigardu min! | Don’t you look at me!

• Vi ne rigardas min! | You’re not looking at me!

• Ili manĝu brioĉon! | Let them eat cake!

• Ili manĝas brioĉon! | They’re eating cake!

• Iu mortu por ke la ceteraj ni pli ŝatu la vivon. | Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more.

Reported Action: The Sequence of Tenses

In English, when one reports what someone else says or feels, the tense of the quoted action changes depending on the tense of the main verb:

• Direct quote: | He said, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for”.

• Indirect quote: | He said that these weren’t the droids we were looking for.

• Indirect quote: | He’ll say that these aren’t the droids we’re looking for.

In Esperanto, the tense of the quoted material stays the same as if it were quoted directly:

• Direct quote: | Li diris, “Ĉi tiuj ne estas la droidoj, kiujn vi serĉas”.

• Indirect quote: | Li diris ke ĉi tiuj ne estas la droidoj, kiujn ni serĉas.

• Indirect quote: | Li diros ke ĉi tiuj ne estas la droidoj, kiujn ni serĉas.

Infinitives

When expressing the basic idea of an action without binding it to any particular tense or subject, English either uses the word to followed by the simple form of the verb or attaches -ing to it, as in “I like to dance” or “I like dancing”. In Esperanto, the same idea is expressed by adding -i to the root of the verb:

• Vidi estas kredi. | Seeing is believing.

• Ne fumi. | No smoking.

• Ŝajnas ke mi elektis la malĝustan semajnon por ĉesi snufi gluon. | Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

• Tanko, mi devas lerni piloti FireFox T-1000. | Tank, I need to learn how to fly a T-1000 FireFox.

• Unu Ringo por ilin regi, Unu por ilin preni, Unu Ringo por en tenebron ilin gvidi kaj kateni! | One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them!

• Mi rigardis lin morti | I watched him die

While there’s nothing technically wrong with using infinitives after prepositions, it may be less jarring for some to express the same idea as an adverb instead:

• Neniu eliru ĉi tiun lokon sen kanti la bluson (or nekantinte la bluson). | Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.

Impersonal Action

English often uses the pronoun it when there’s no obvious subject for a sentence, as in “It is freezing in here” and “It would be great if you could come in on Saturday”. Esperanto expresses the same idea by using no pronoun at all.

• Dio diris “Pluvu!”, kaj pluvis. | God said, “Rain!”, and it rained.

• Estas bone* esti la reĝo. | It’s good to be the king.

• Se Dio ne ekzistus, estus necese lin inventi. | If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.

English “there is”, “there are”, “here is”, etc., is rendered the same way:

• Ne ekzistos Provinco, Pippin. | There won’t be a Shire, Pippin.

• Estas nenia registaro kiel nenia registaro. | There’s no government like no government.

except when one wants to call attention to the subject, in which case Esperanto uses jen:

• Nu, jen la unu perfektaĵo, kion mi kolektis: mineralakvo. | Alright, now here’s the one perfecto thing I picked up: mineral water.

• Jen mi. | Here I am.

• Jen via reĝo! | Behold your king!

Participles

Adjectives created from verbs are called “participles”. Most modern European languages, including English, recognize two kinds of participle — those expressing action currently being performed by the nouns they modify, and those expressing completed action, whether being performed by or on the nouns they modify:

In Progress

• a revealing dress

• living relatives

• a winning smile

• a rising star

Completed

• a revealed truth

• dearly departed

• a defeated sigh

• a fallen star

In Esperanto, too, there are two basic types of participle: “active” (those being performed by the nouns they modify) and “passive” (those being performed on the nouns they modify by someone or something else). However, both types come in three distinct forms — one to express completed action, one for action in progress, and one for action yet to come:

Active

• akuzinta kongreso | a congress that has impeached

• akuzanta kongreso | a congress currently impeaching

• akuzonta kongreso | a congress about to impeach

Passive

• akuzita prezidento | a president who was impeached

• akuzata prezidento | a president being impeached

• akuzota prezidento | a president about to be impeached

Participles as Adverbs

A participle can also be used as an adverb by changing the final -a to -e. In this form it tells when or why something happens:

• Rigardante la Kongreson voĉdoni, la prezidento ektremis. | Watching Congress vote, the president began to tremble.

• Oficiale akuzinte la prezidenton, la Kongreso decidis elpostenigi lin/ŝin. | Having impeached the president, Congress decided to remove him/her from office.

In English, when adverbial participles have their own subjects, they form a “nominative absolute”, that is, an independent part of a sentence that describes the main subject and verb. (Ex., The president impeached, his party set about blocking witnesses.) In Esperanto, however, adverbial participles cannot have their own subject, and nominative absolutes must be rendered as subordinate clauses:

• Post kiam la prezidento estis akuzita, lia partio komencis malpermesi atestantojn. | The president impeached, his party set about blocking witnesses.

• Post kiam la senato voĉdonis por ne konvikti, la prezidento jam estis libera komenci reprezaliojn. | The senate voting not to convict, the president was now free to begin retaliations.

Participles as Nouns

By changing the final -a to -o, a participle can be used as a noun. In this form it expresses a person or thing that performs an action, or on whom it is performed:

• Ŝi vivis timante la revenon de la vivantaj mortintoj. | She lived in fear of the return of the living dead.

• Ni mortontoj salutas vin! | We who are about to die salute you!

• La ĉasantoj kaj la ĉasatoj | The hunters and the hunted

Compound Verbs

Simple verbs in English and Esperanto show not only when the action took place (tense), but the degree of the action’s completion (aspect). For example, the simple past tense generally shows completed action (mi skribis leteron), the present tense action in progress (mi skribas leteron), and the future tense action that will be completed later on (mi skribos leteron). With compound verbs, one can express any degree of completion in any tense:

• La Kongreso estis akuzinta la prezidenton kiam mi eniris. | Congress had (already) impeached the president when I went in.

• La Kongreso estis akuzanta la prezidenton kiam mi eniris. | Congress was impeaching the president when I went in.

• La Kongreso estis akuzonta la prezidenton kiam mi eniris. | Congress was about to impeach the president when I went in.

• Etc.

• La prezidento estos akuzita kiam mi eniros. | The president will have been impeached when I go in.

• La prezidento estos akuzata kiam mi eniros. | The president will be being impeached when I go in.

• La prezidento estos akuzota kiam mi eniros. | The president will be about to be impeached when I go in.

• Etc.

Note that there is no pluperfect tense in Esperanto, so to convey that one of two actions in the past precedes the other, one needs to use adverbs of time like jam antaŭe (jam alone, usually translated as “already”, can also mean “starting now” or “starting then”):

• La Kongreso jam antaŭe estis akuzinta la prezidenton kiam mi eniris. | Congress had already impeached the president when I went in.

Compound tenses are much more common in English than in Esperanto, which generally uses them only to underscore the time and completeness of one action in relation to another (akuzi and eniri in the previous example) or to emphasize the agent of a passive action (Kongreso in akuzata de la Kongreso). Otherwise, where English uses a compound verb, Esperanto uses a simple one.

• La Kongreso oficiale akuzis la prezidenton antaŭ ol mi eniris. | Congress had impeached the president before I went in. (action in the past)

• La Kongreso jam antaŭe akuzis la prezidenton kiam mi eniris. | Congress had already impeached the president when I went in. (action in the past)

• Mi scias ke vi kaj Franko projektis malkonekti min... | I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me... (action in the past)

• Vi kaj Franko estis projektanta malkonekti min, kiam grandega feto subite aperis el nenie. | You and Frank were planning to disconnect me when, suddenly, a giant fetus appeared out of nowhere. (action in the past occuring during an action in progress)

• Ĉi tie supre, mi jam foriris. | Up here, I’m already gone.

• VI interferis en la fundamentaj fortoj de NATURO! | YOU have meddled with the primal forces of NATURE!

• Venas la vintro. | Winter is coming.

• Mi prenos ĉi tiujn Huggies, kaj kiom ajn da mono vi havas. | I’ll be taking these Huggies, and whatever cash you got.

• Mi diras tiun merdon de antaŭ jaroj. Kaj se oni aŭdis ĝin, tio signifis onian morton. | I’ve been saying that shit for years. And if you heard it, it meant your ass.

Note that when action in the past continues into the present, the simple present is used, usually in conjunction with a start time.

• Mi loĝas en prizono el timo de post tiu tago. | I have been living in a prison of fear since that day.

• Cady, ĉio, kion mi manĝas nuntempe estas ĉi tiuj tabuletoj de Kälteen. Ili aĉas. | Cady, all I’ve been eating are these Kälteen bars. They suck.

Transitive and Intransitive Action

When a person or thing directs action toward another person or thing, the action is said to be “transitive” (i.e., it transits its action onto something else). For example, pay (a fee), watch (a movie), say (the truth). The person or thing being acted on (in the previous examples, fee, movie, and truth) is called the “direct object”.

When the action is not directed toward something else, like be, sit, and recline, it is said to be “intransitive”.

In English, many verbs are both transitive and intransitive, depending on the context:

Intransitive

• The ball rolled into the street.

• The water is boiling.

• The snow will melt.

Transitive

• The boy rolled the ball into the street.

• The cook is boiling the water.

• The sun will melt the snow.

In Esperanto, a verb is either transitive or intransitive, never both. To make an intransitive verb transitive, one can add -ig- to the root; to make a transitive verb intransitive, one can add -iĝ- to the root:

Intransitive

• La pilko ruliĝis en la straton.

• La akvo bolas.

• La neĝo fandiĝos.

Transitive

• La knabo rulis la pilkon en la straton.

• La kuiristo boligas la akvon.

• La suno fandos la neĝon.

However, some intransitive verbs can have an object if that object is a noun version of the verb:

• danci la dancon malpermesatan | to dance the forbidden dance

• vivi la dolĉan vivon | to live the good life

• paroli la paroladon de la italoj | to speak the speech of the Italians

or a specific example of the same:

• danci la lambadon | to dance the forbidden dance

• paroli la italan | to speak Italian

Note, too, that one can use a transitive verb without an object, so as to emphasize only the idea of the action itself:

• Hieraŭ mi legis libron. | Yesterday I read a book.

• Hieraŭ mi legis dum la tuta tago. | Yesterday I read all day.

Numbers

The basic, “cardinal” numbers of Romániço are:

• unu | one

• du | two

• tri | three

• kvar | four

• kvin | five

• ses | six

• sep | seven

• ok | eight

• naŭ | nine

• dek | ten

• cent | hundred

• mil |thousand

• miliono | million (10⁶)

• miliardo | billion (10⁹)

But for the last two in this list, these words are all roots, and are used without further modification before nouns to convey quantity:

• tri saĝuloj | three wisemen

• sep nanoj | seven dwarves

• ok etaj boacoj | eight tiny reindeer

• naŭ muzoj | nine muses

Miliono and miliardo use da:

• 8 miliono da manieroj morti | 8 Million Ways to Die

One can combine the roots to produce numbers greater than ten, writing such combinations as separate words by powers of ten:

• Ĉi tiuj iras ĝis dek unu. | These go to eleven.

• kvardek tagoj, kvardek noktoj | forty days, forty nights

• La Frenezaj Okdek Ok | The Crazy Eighty-Eight

• Du mil unu: Kosma odiseado | Two Thousand One: A Space Odyssey*

• Vi devos pagi al mi ... MILIONON DA DOLAROJ. Pardonu ... CENT MILIARDOJN DA DOLAROJ! | You’re going to have to pay me ... ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Sorry ... ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS!

• naŭcent naŭdek naŭ mil naŭcent naŭdek naŭ boteloj da biero ĉe la muro | nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall

For numbers greater than a billion, one can add -iliono (a million to the power of x) or -iliardo (a thousand times a million to the power of x) to the numbers one through ten:

• duiliono | trillion (10¹²)

• duiliardo | quadrillion (10¹⁵)

• triiliono | quintillion (10¹⁸)

• triiliardo | sextillion (10²¹)

• dekiliono | novemdecillion (10⁶⁰)

• dekiliardo | vigintillion (10⁶³)

Numbers can be made into nouns denoting groups or sets by adding -o. In these cases, numbers greater than ten are written as one word:

• ĵaza trio | a jazz trio

• du dekduoj da ovoj | two dozen eggs

Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are those that express a thing’s position in a series, such as first, second, third. In Esperanto, ordinals are formed by adding -a or -e to the equivalent cardinal number:

• Unue vi devas trovi ... ankoraŭ arbustaron! | Firstly you must find ... another shrubbery!

• La tria premio estas maldungo. | Third prize is you’re fired.

• Nu, la hodiaŭo estis tago speciala por mi. Ĝi estis la cent sepdek naŭa tago sukcedanta en kiu mi faris precize la saman aferon! | Well, today was a special one for me. It was the hundred and seventy-ninth day in a row where I did exactly the same thing!

When asking for something requiring an ordinal number, one uses kioma, which means “which one of the series?”:

• “Kiu tago estas?” “Estas Kristonasko, sinjoro!” | “What day is it?” “It’s Christmas Day, sir!”

• “Kioma tago estas?” “Estas la 25a, sinjoro!” | “What day is it?” “It’s the 25th, sir!”

Fractional Numbers

Fractional numbers are those that express a value that is not a whole number, eg. half, a fourth, etc. In English, as in many European languages, these are mostly indistinguishable from ordinal numbers (eg., the fifth Beatle vs. a fifth of the Beatles), but in Esperanto are marked by the suffix -on-:

• dekduono | a twelfth part

• dek kaj duono | ten and a half

• dek duonoj | ten halves

• kvardek tri centonoj | forty-three hundredths

• kvardek tricentonoj | forty three-hundredths

• Trionon de la tero voris pudeloj. | A third of the earth was devoured by poodles.

• Duonon el vi mi ne konas duone tiom, kiom mi volus; kaj mi ŝatas malpli ol duonon el vi duone tiom, kiom vi meritas. | I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

Multiplicative Numbers

Multiplicative numbers are those like English double, triple, and quadruple. In Esperanto, they are formed from the cardinal numbers by adding -obl-:

• Duobligu vian plezuron, duobligu vian amuzon! | Double your pleasure, double your fun!

• Vivasekuro saldas trioble kiam oni mortas dum negocvojaĝo. | Life insurance pays off triple if you die on a business trip.

• Kvaroble kvin estas dudek. | Four times five is 20.

Distributive Numbers

Distributive numbers are formed from cardinal numbers by adding -op-, which means “x at a time:

• La sturmantoj venis duope. | The stormtroopers came as a pair, or two at a time

• La sablanoj defilas unuope por kaŝi sian nombron. | The sandpeople march single file to hide their numbers.

• Kiomope vi vendas la biletojn? | How many tickets at a time can you sell?

Arithmetic

Some common operations in arithmetic:

• Dek kvin plus tri estas dek ok. | Fifteen plus three equals eighteen.

• Dek kvin minus tri estas dek du. | Fifteen minus three equals twelve.

• Dek kvin multiplikite per tri estas kvardek kvin. | Fifteen times three equals forty-five.

• Dek kvin dividita per tri estas kvin. | Fifteen divided by three equals five.

• Dek je la dua potenco estas cent. | Ten to the power of two is a hundred.

Time

Time in Esperanto is expressed in terms of which hour it is (first, second, third, etc.) and the minutes or fraction of an hour before or after the hour in question:

• Kioma horo? Kiomas? | What hour is it?

• Estas la unua. | It’s one o’clock.

• Estas la dekunua kaj duono. | It’s eleven-thirty.

• Estas kvin antaŭ la sesa. | It’s five minutes to six.

• Estas la kvina kaj kvindek kvin. | It’s five fifty-five.

Affixes

In order to reduce the number of words one would have to learn in order to speak the language, much of Esperanto’s vocabulary is composed of a comparatively small stock of root words that can be combined with an even smaller group of familiar affixes to create new words as needed.

Note that what constitutes an affix in Esperanto is largely a matter of dictionary tradition at this point, as most non-technical affixes are also roots (e.g. mal- “un-”, malo, “opposite”).

Official Prefixes

• bo-: Relationship by marriage, -in-law:

• bopatrino | mother-in-law

• bofrato | brother-in-law

• dis-: Separation, dispersion:

• disdoni | to deal out

• disvastigi | to diffuse

• ek-: Commencement, suddenness:

• ekscii | to find out

• ekstari | to stand up

• eks-: Former, ex-:

• eksedzo | ex-husband

• eksulo | has-been

• ge-: Both sexes together:

• gepatroj | parents

• gesinjoroj | ladies and gentlemen

• mal-: The opposite of:

• malinfekti | to disinfect

• malfacila | difficult

• malbona | bad

• malfermi | to open

• maldekstra | left

• mis-: Badly, incorrectly:

• misuzi | to misuse

• miskompreni | to misunderstand

• miskalkuli | to miscalculate

• pra-: Primordiality; great-:

• praonklino | great-aunt

• prahistorio | prehistory

• re-: Once more; again; back to a previous state:

• refari | to redo

• relegi | to re-read

• redoni | to give back

Official Suffixes

• -aĉ-: Of low quality:

• belaĉa | tawdry

• aŭtomobilaĉo | jalopy

• skribaĉi | to scrawl

• -ad-: Prolonged, continuous, or repetitive action:

• Li studadas la kvenjan. | He’s been studying Quenya.

• Ŝi senpantalonigadis la fraton. | She kept pantsing her brother.

• Ĉu tabuliĝado ankoraŭ estas populara | Is planking still a thing?

• -aĵ-: Product, deed, result, part:

• pentraĵo | painting

• majstraĵo | masterpiece

• Ĉu frenezaĵo? Jen Sparto!!! | Madness? This is Sparta!!!

• -an-: Having membership in the country, city, domain, class, or group of:

• Kanadano | Canadian

• Usonana virino | American woman

• policano | policeman

• -ar-: Collective, group:

• anseraro | gaggle of geese

• homaro | mankind

• registaro | government

• -ĉj-: Masculine pet name; inserted after any syllable:

• Mikeĉjo, Miĉjo | Mike

• paĉjo | Dad

• -ebl-: Able to be -ed:

• la nedirebla nomo de Dio | the unspeakable name of God

• disponebla mono | disposable money

• facile legebla | easy to read

• -ec-: Quality or condition:

• amikeco | friendship

• riĉeco | wealth

• kaptiteco | captivity

• -eg-: Great of size, extent, intensity:

• nazego | honker, very large nose

• verdega | deep green

• amegi | to adore

• -ej-: Place allotted to or characterized by:

• manĝejo | dining room, mess hall

• dormejo | dormitory

• prezidentejo | presidential home or palace

• -em-: Disposition, tendency:

• kredema | credulous

• dormema | sleepy

• parolema | talkative

• -end-: Passive obligation:

• pagenda | payable

• farendaĵoj | things to do

• spektenda filmo | must-see movie

• -er-: Small element of a whole:

• pluvero | raindrop

• fajero | spark

• -estr-: chief of:

• lernejestro | headmaster

• ŝipestro | captain

• regnestro | sovereign, head of state

• -et-: Small of size, extent, intensity:

• varmeta | warm

• rivereto | riverlet

• beleta | pretty

• dormeti | to nap

• -id-: Descendant of:

• reĝido | prince

• Izraelido | Israelite

• ĉevalido | colt

• -ig-: Cause to do, cause to be:

• saligi | to salify

• malvarmigi | to cool

• mortigo | killing

• -iĝ-: To become, get:

• Vidiĝos, ke... | It will be seen that...

• Bonvolu sidiĝi. | Please sit down.

• riĉiĝi | to get rich

• edziĝi | to get married, become a husband

• -il-: Tool, implement:

• ludilo | toy

• veturilo | vehicle

• -in-: Femininity:

• bovino | cow

• fratino | sister

• fiulino | strumpet

• -ind-: Worthy of, deserving of:

• laŭdinda | praise-worthy

• murdindulo | man who ought to be murdered

• -ing-: Holder, stand, sheath:

• kandelingo | candlestick

• cigaretingo | cigarette-holder

• elingigi | to unsheathe

• -ism-: Theory, system, party:

• kristanismo | Christianity

• darvinismo | Darwinism

• socialismo | socialism

• -ist-: Professional; enthusiastic amateur; adherent, partisan; habitual doer:

• ŝtelisto | thief

• motorciklisto | motorcyclist

• komunisto | communist

• -nj-: Feminine pet name; inserted after any syllable:

• Katerinjo, Kanjo | Kathy

• panjo | Mom

• -obl-: Multiple of:

• duoble | doubly

• triobla | triple

• -on-: Fractional number:

• sesono de sia sentoj | a sixth of one’s senses

• tri kvinonoj de homo | three fifths of a man

• -op-: In groups of:

• duope | two by two

• triopo | pack of three

• -uy-: Container, receptacle:

• krajonujo | pencil box

• keksujo | cookie jar

• -ul-: Person:

• kontraŭulo | adversary

• vertebrulo | vertebrate

• babilulo | chatterbox

• -um-: No fixed meaning:

• nazumo | pince-nez

• orelumo | earring

• malvarmumi | to catch cold

• plenumi | to fulfill

• krucumo | crucifixion

• umdek | umpteen

• umi | to do something unspecified, do whatever

Unofficial Suffixes

• -ab-: Installation:

• lavabo | sink

• necesabo | toilet

• urinabo | urinal

• -ac-: (bot.) Name of a family, -aceae:

• salikacoj | Salicaceae

• liliacoj | Liliaceae

• -al-: (bot.) Name of an order, -ales:

• lilialoj | Liliales

• malpigialoj | Malpighiales

• -al-: (chem.) Aldehyde, -al:

• metanalo | methanal

• etanalo | ethanal

• -algi-: (med.) Pain, -algia:

• neŭralgio | neuralgia

• cefalalgio | cefalalgia

• -an-: (chem.) Saturated hydrocarbon, -ane:

• metano | methane

• butano | butane

• -at-: (chem.) Salt or ester of -ic acid, -ate:

• sulfato | sulfate

• kalcia karbonato | calcium carbonate

• -ator-: Machine, -ator; often interchangeable with -il-:

• transformatoro | transformer

• generatoro | generator

• -ed-: (zool.) Name of family, -idae:

• araneedo | Arachnid

• karabedo | Carabid

• -en-: (chem.) Unsaturated hydrocarbon, -ene:

• menteno | menthene

• buteno | butene

• -en-: (zool.) Name of subfamily, -inae:

• marmotenoj | Xerinae

• gerbilenoj | Gerbillinae

• -esk-: (lit.) In the manner of, -esque:

• japaneska | Japanesque

• kafkeska | Kafkaesque

• -graf-: -ographer:

• geografo | geographer

• biografo | biographer

• -i-: Domain under the authority of:

• Ĉinio | China

• Anglio | England

• -i-: Science, theory, study, art, system of the person or thing that does that work:

• biologio | biology

• demokratio | democracy

• -icid-: (bio.) Substance that kills, -icide:

• fungicido | fungicide

• insekticido | insecticide

• -id-: (chem.) -ide:

• klorido | chloride

• cianido | cyanide