Grammar

How Ido Works

Ido is a rigorously agglutinative language, which is to say that it is entirely made up of roots and regularized affixes. In this way the language is a lot like a set of Lego bricks, for one can combine most any root with any other root or affix to form words in any part of speech.

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

That all words in Ido are built this way has the advantage of greatly reducing the number of words one needs to know in order to make oneself understood, for if one knows how to say to think in Ido (pensar), one automatically knows how to say a thought (penso), thinker (pensanto), thinking (pensanta), and so on — even if one has never encountered those words before.

Moreover, there are enough affixes in Ido to let one coin words on the fly should the need arise; if one doesn’t know the word for ugly (leda), for example, one can always say desbela “the-opposite-of-beautiful”. Indeed, one might even get away with desjorno (“the-opposite-of-day”, i.e., “night”) if one had to, though that would be extremely irregular.

It should be noted that Ido is more exact than English in that a root can usually have only one part of speech. For example, “hammer” is ordinarily a noun in English, but it can be used as a verb to mean “to strike with a hammer”. In Ido, the use of an instrument is indicated by -ag-, so “to hammer” is martelagar and “a hammering” is martelago. Similarly, “crown” can be both noun and verb in English; in Ido, krono is the noun, kronizar the verb (-iz- meaning “to provide with”). A coronation is kronizo.

Speaking Ido

Alphabet

The Ido alphabet contains 26 letters — 5 vowels and 21 consonants — most of which sound very much like their English equivalents:

• A as in Ahmed.

• B as in boat.

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

• D as in deportation.

• E as in eight.

• F as in famous.

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

• H as in homeward.

• I as in Iwo Jima.

• J as in Jacques (or as in Jack after n)

• K as in kite.

• L as in long.

• M as in moat.

• N as in nautical.

• O as in order.

• P as in political.

• Q as in quick (only appears before u).

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

• S as in suspend.

• T as in tank.

• U as in lute.

• V as in vendetta.

• W as in western.

• X as in box or example (whichever is easier — even at the beginning of words).

• Y as in yodel (never a vowel, as in byte).

• Z as in zither.

Digraphs

Like English, Ido uses the letter h in combination with certain other letters to produce “husher” sounds:

• Ch as in charming.

• Sh as in ship.

Otherwise, each consonant should be pronounced separately, even when the same consonsant is doubled:

• banko ['ban-ko] not ['baŋ-ko]

• longa ['lon-ga] not ['loŋ-ga]

• interruptar [in-ter-rup-'tar] not [in-te-rup-'tar]

Diphthongs

Ordinarily, when two vowels come together in a Ido word, each is pronounced separately. (Eg., koaktar is pronounced ko-ak-tar.) Some vowels, however, combine with other vowels to form sounds pronounced as a single (or close to single) syllable, as in English coin and couch. These combination vowel sounds are called diphthongs.

The letters i and u, when they are not the only vowel in a root and are immediately followed by a different vowel in the same word, produce a “rising” diphthong (ex. ia, ie, io, iu, ua, ue, ui, uo).

• Francia ['fran-ʦja] / ['fran-ʦi-a]* France

• januaro [ʒa-'nwa-ro] / [ʒa-nu-'a-ro]* January

• dio ['di-o] day

• fluo ['flu-o] flow

After the letters q or g, the letter u always produces a diphthong when followed by another vowel, even another u. (Otherwise, two of the same vowel are still pronounced separately.)

• guido [gwi-do] guidance

• filiino [fi-li-'ino] daughter

The letter u also forms a “falling” diphthong after a or e. The letter i, however, does not form falling diphthongs:

• kaudo ['kaw-do] tail

• feudo ['few-do] fief

• arkaika [ar-ka-'i-ka] archaic

Note that the vowels a or e + u in compound words do not form diphthongs if they belong to different roots or affixes:

• neusata [ne-u-'sa-ta] unused

• kreuro [kre-'u-ro] creation

Tonic Stress

Generally speaking, words in Ido are stressed on the next-to-the-last syllable, as in fortuno [for-'tu-no] and menciono [men-'ʦjo-no]. The exceptions to this rule are infinitive verbs, which are stressed on the last syllable (eg., parolar, “to speak”, pronounced [pa-ro-'lar]).

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 Ido, there is, strictly speaking, only one kind of article — the definite.

The Definite Articles

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 Ido, it’s la:

• Ni drinkas la sango, ni manjas la korpo. Saluto, Satano ! | We drink the blood, we eat the body. Hail Satan! (the blood and body of Christ)

• Ka vu savas la voyo a San-Jose ? | Do you know the way to San Jose? (the best way)

• Me esas la viro en la buxo. | I’m the man in the box. (the man being punished in the hot box)

• Akompanez la kap-raziti por keglo-ludo. | Take the skinheads bowling. (the ones on my lawn)

• Karolus 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:

• Esas la servisto qua prenas pekunio. | It’s the servant (as a class) who takes money.

• La feo portas boti. | 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 spacala kroznavo Yamato | (the) space cruiser Yamato

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

• La vua esas la intelekto supera ! | Yours is the superior intellect!

• Mea matro dicis ke me selektez la maxim bona, e vu ne esas lu. | My mother told me to pick the very best one and you are not it.

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

• Vu povus avertar li ... se vu nur parolus la hovita. | You could warn them ... if only you spoke Hovitos.

• Vu ne parolas la angla, Keith ! Vu parolas Esperanto, od ula linguo quan jemeli docas l’una a l’altra ! | You aren't speaking English, Keith! You're speaking Esperanto, or some sort of language that twins teach each other!

The definite article in Ido does not normally change according to number, but when indicating a plural noun that is either unspoken or has no plural form (e.g., letters, numbers, family names), one uses le:

• milito inter le blanka e le reda | a war between the whites and the reds (white and red Russians)

• le yes e le no | the ayes and the nays

• Triviala diskuto an nia tablo ! Me sentas me quale le Kardashian ! | A vapid discussion at our table! I feel like the Kardashians!

La is often used to introduce a kinship relation, body part, article of clothing, or other object intimately associated with the speaker:

• Cesez tushar la filiino. | Stop touching my daughter.

• Cesez tushar la genuo. | Stop touching my knee.

• Cesez tushar la chapelo. | Stop touching my hat.

• Cesez tushar la iPhone. | Stop touching my iPod.

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 Ido, any common noun without a definite article is by default indefinite:

• Me vidas mortinti. | I see dead people

• Pesto ad amba vua domi ! | A plague o’ both your houses!

• Feliceso esas varma pafilo. | Happiness is a warm gun.

• libereso, egaleso, frateso | liberté, égalité, fraternité

• Plezus a me pano. | I’d like some bread.

However, there are also words for “some”, “certain”, and “any” that one can use to underscore in­def­initeness or turn a proper noun into a common one:

• Ula kerlo kolizionegis kun mea parafango, e me dicis ad il ‘Esez fruktoza e multeskez’. Ma ne per ta vorti. | Some guy hit my fender, and I told him ‘be fruitful, and multiply.’ But not in those words.

• Politikala diskuto an nia tablo ! Me sentas me quale ula Kennedy ! | A political discussion at our table! I feel like a Kennedy!

• Me deziras ofico quan irga viro povas facar. | I want a job that any man can do.

Note that while the absence of indefinite articles in Ido 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 esis vinkita da Fola Kavalo. | Custer was defeated by Crazy Horse.

• Custer esis vinkita da fola kavalo. | Custer was defeated by a crazy horse.

• En la komenco esis la Vorto, e la Vorto esis kun Deo, e la Vorto esis Deo. | In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

• En la komenco esis la Vorto, e la Vorto esis kun deo, e la Vorto esis deo. | 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 Ido, all common nouns end in -o:

• sorcisto | wizard

• provinco | shire

• ringo | ring

The plural changes the final -o to -i:

• sorcisti | wizards

• provinci | shires

• ringi | rings

Words that are not already nouns can be made into one simply by adding -o to the root:

• maligno (from maligna “malignant”) | evil person or thing

• sorco (from sorcar “bewitch”) | (act of) incantation

• extero (from exter “outside of”) | outsider

The -o of Ido nouns should not be confused with the masculine -o of Spanish and Italian; every noun in Ido, whether it’s male, female, neuter, or epicene, ends in -o. So to specify that a noun is male or female, one can add -ul- or -in- to the root:

• frato | sibling

• fratulo | brother

• fratino | sister

• hano | chicken

• hanulo | rooster

• hanino | hen

Note that -ul- and -in- should only be used to avoid potential confusion. When speaking about gesiori Smith (“Mr. and Mrs. Smith”, the prefix ge- specifying both Mr. and Mrs. together), for example, one might need to distinguish between siorulo Smith (“Mr. Smith”) and siorino Smith (“Mrs. Smith”), but not when addressing either one of them directly (both are Sioro Smith).

Proper Nouns and Foreign Words

Proper nouns name a particular person, place, or thing, and as such have no generic ending; they are treated as immutable “foreign” loanwords, pronounced as closely as one can get to the original within the limits of the Ido phonetic system. Those originally written in the Roman alphabet are transcribed as-is; those written in other alphabets are transcribed phonetically. Such words include names of individual people as well as words that are exclusively national or local:

• Shakespeare | Shakespeare

• Khrushchov | Khrushchëv / Хрущёв

• Wałęsa (aut Walesa) | Wałęsa

• Sheol | Sheol / שְׁאוֹל

• dogecoin | dogecoin

• samurai | samurai / 侍

• Beijing | Běijīng / 北京

• Lisboa | Lisboa

• New-York | New York

• München (aut Munchen) | München

• Moskva | Moskva / Москва

One should use the foreign plural form, too, if such exists and is known: un berserkr, du berserkir, un pound, du pounds. If neither is the case, one can add -i (including the hyphen): un berserkr, du berserkr-i, un pound, du pound-i.

Unlike other “foreign” words, biblical and Christian given names do undergo some Ido-izing in that ch and hard c are transcribed k and ph is transcribed f — but otherwise adhere to their Latin or Latinized forms of the nominative case:

• Iakobus | Jacob, Giacomo, Jaques, etc.

• Adolfus | Adolf, Adolph, Adolfo, etc.

• Rafael | Raphael, Rafaelo, Rafaele, etc.

• Ioannes | John, Johann, Jean, Giovanni, Ivan, etc.

• Zakarias | Zachariah, Zachary, Zacarías, Zacharie, etc.

• Ludovikus | Ludwig, Louis, Luigi, Hludwig, etc.

The rules of Ido-izing such names are not consistent, however — sometimes something other than the Latin nominative case is used, sometimes the Latin termination is left off, sometimes intervocalic s is transcribed s, sometimes z:

• Iesu | IÉSV́S / ישוע

• Isaias | ÍSÁIÁS / יְשַׁעְיָהוּ

• Iozef | IÓSÉPHVS / יוֹסֵף

Countries and Demonyms

The names of countries, oceans, and international rivers and mountain ranges preserve their Latin (or Latinized) form, but are more aggressively Ido-ized in their orthography and regularization:

• Afrika | Africa

• Amerika | America

• Azia | Asia

• Kanada | Canada

• Europa | Europe

• Chinia | China

• Kostarika | Costa Rica

• Peru | Peru

• Rusia | Russia

• Usa* | The United States

• Mediteraneo | The Mediterranean Sea

• Pacifiko | The Pacific Ocean

• Balkani | 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).

Theoretically, Ido simplifies this by deriving the names of all inhabitants from the country’s name by adding -an- to the root: an English person is an Angliano and speaks la Angliana, a Congolese is a Kongano and speaks la Kongana. Of course, this regularity is not always possible: a Mexikiano doesn’t speak la Mexikiana, but la Hispaniana, and a Keniano speaks la Swahilia.

In practice, however, Ido follows the model used by English and other languages and prefers, where applicable, the names of the ancient tribes after which their countries are named — even at the expense of Ido’s principle of reversibility. An English person, therefore, is an Anglo and speaks la Angla, a Spaniard is a Hispano and speaks la Hispana, a Belgian is a Belgo and speaks la Belga:

• Franco | a French person

• la Franca | French (language)

• Francia | France

• Brazilia | Brazil

• Braziliano | a Brazilian

• la Portugaliana | Portuguese (language)

Capitalization

Ido capitalizes the first letter of a word when:

• The word is the first one in a sentence or title of a book, movie, etc.:

• Ico ne esas pipo. | This is not a pipe.

• La marveloza destino di Amalia Poulain | Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain

• La chifro da Da Vinci | The Da Vinci Code

• The word is a proper name, including names of people, countries, geographical regions, societies, and institutions. The letter remains capitalized even when the word is modified by affixes:

• Etheldreda Tautou | Audrey Tautou

• Francia | France

• la Franca | French (language)

• Alzacia | Alsace

• Alzaciana | Alsatian

• Katolikismo | Catholicism

• Katoliko | Catholic

• The word is a title being used in lieu of a personal name:

• Sinioro Prezidanto | Mr. Webmaster

• segun impero dal Rejo | 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.

English doesn’t have an accusative case; the object of a verb is indicated by word order:

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

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

It does, however, have an oblique case — an inflection used for indicating objects and indirect objects of an action — though this appears only in pronouns:

• Whom does Harold punch? | (“whom” is the object of the action)

• Harold punches him. | (“him” is the object of the action)

Ido is much like English in that word order usually determines who punches whom, but when the usual word order is changed, as in questions, it adds the accusative ending -n to mark the punchers from the punchees:

• Harold frapas Kumar. | Harold punches Kumar.

• Kumar frapas Harold. | Kumar punches Harold.

• Qua frapas Kumar ? | Who punches Kumar?

• Quan frapas Kumar ? | Whom does Kumar punch?

• Me ne savas, qua frapas ilu. | I don’t know who hits him.

Unlike English, Ido occasionally adds -n to non-pronouns where the object of an action is potentially ambiguous:

• Me amas vu quale mea fratulon. | I love you like (as if you were) my brother.

• Me amas vu quale mea fratulo. | I love you like my brother (loves you).

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 Ido, there are six different types of pronoun: personal, reflexive, possessive, demonstrative, relative, and indefinite.

Personal Pronouns

Strictly speaking, there are only six personal pronouns in Ido:

• me | I/me

• vu | you

• lu | he/she/it

• ni | we/us

• vi | you all

• li | they/them

In English, one makes no distinction between the singular and plural forms of you, except in the somewhat dialectical expression you all (or y’all); in Ido, one says vu only when addressing a single person, vi when addressing a group. Those wishing to express a higher degree of familiarity or antiquarian flavor when addressing a single person (eg., to family and very close friends) can use the secondary pronoun tu (“thou/thee”).

Note that lu refers to any third person entity, regardless of gender or animation:

• Ka la postisto livris la pako? Yes, lu livris lu camatine. | Did the mailcarrier deliver the package? Yes, they delivered it this morning.

Other languages divide the third person according to gender. This division is not necessary in Ido, but may be translated by the secondary pronouns ilu / ili (he / they), elu / eli (she / they) and olu / oli (it* / they). Except at the end of a clause, the final u is often dropped:

• Ka la postisto livris la pako? Yes, il livris ol camatine. | Did the mailcarrier deliver the package? Yes, he delivered it this morning.

• Il dicis ke el dicis... | He said she said...

All these pronouns refer to specific entities, but there are also two pronouns in Ido for referring to different types of non-specific entities. The first of these is onu, used to refer to an unspecified person or people in general:

• Qua dicis to a vu? ‘Onu’. ‘Onu’ multe parolas, ka no? Yes ya. | Who told you that? ‘They’. ‘They’ talk a lot, don’t they? They certainly do.

• On ne aplaudas la tenoro pro klarigar sua voco. | One does not applaud the tenor for clearing his throat.

• On povas glutar mi-litro de sango ante maladeskar. | You can swallow a pint of blood before you get sick.

The second is lo, more or less “the thing/business (just mentioned)” and “that which is”:

• Vu deziras ta pafilo, ka no, Zed? Avancez e prenez olu. Me volas lo. | You want that gun, don’t you Zed? Go ahead and pick it up. I want you to.

• Lo grava esas ne sembligar, ke ni panikas. | The important thing is to not make it look like we’re panicking.

Finally, there is the zero pronoun, used for purely impersonal expressions:

• Pluvas. | It’s raining.

Reflexive Pronouns

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

• Me vundis me cadie. | I hurt myself today.

• Vu vundis vu cadie. | You hurt yourself today.

• Ni vundis ni cadie. | We hurt ourselves today.

• El vundis su cadie. | She hurt herself today.

• Li vundis su cadie. | They hurt themselves today.

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

• El vundis el cadie. | She hurt her today.

• Li vundis li cadie. | They hurt them today.

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

• El vidis ke il vundis ilu. | She saw that he hurt him.

• El vidis ke il vundis su. | She saw that he hurt himself.

• El vidis il vundar su.* | She saw him hurt himself.

• El vidis il vundanta su.* | She saw him hurting himself.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show what belongs to whom, and in Ido are as follows:

• mea | my/mine

• vua | your/yours

• lua | his/her/hers/its

• nia | our/ours

• via | your/yours

• lia | their/theirs

The reflexive is sua, and one can use ilua, elua, and olua for a more gender-specific “his”, “hers”, “its”. There does not appear to be a word for “one’s”, but it would presumably be onua.

• Mea Deo ! Lu esas plena de steli ! | My God! It’s full of stars!

• Qua esas tua impero, mea mastro ? | What is thy bidding, my master?

• Vua femini, me volas komprar vua femini. Vendez a me vua filiini ! | Your women, I want to buy your women. Sell me your daughters!

• Nulu movez su o me deskrapos elua tota fardo ! | Nobody move or I scrape off all her makeup!

• Il manjis ilua hepato kun fabi e glaso de bona Chianti. | He ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

• Il manjis sua (propra) hepato kun fabi e glaso de bona Chianti. | He ate his (own) liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

• Revoluciono esas sempre segunlega en la unesma persono, quale « nia revoluciono ». Esas nur en la triesma persono — « lia revoluciono » — ke lu esas kontrelega. | 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.

• Ti ek vi suficante fortunoza havar ankore via vivi, prenez li kun vi ! Ma lasez la membri qua vi perdis ; li nun apartenas a me. | 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 suficas sucesar ; onua maxim bona amiko mustas faliar. | It is not enough to succeed; one’s best friend must fail.

Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives

Ido has three demonstrative adjectives — ica (“this”), ita (“that”), and tala (“such”) — which are used to indicate a person or thing being referred to in terms of their proximity:

• ica mikra porketo | this little piggy

• ita mikra porketo | that little piggy

• tala mikra porketo | such a little piggy

Ica and ita are usually shortened to ca and ta, without the stylistic rules that govern ilu, elu, and olu: ca mikra porketo:

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

• Yen la du mikra porketi ! Ca iris a merkato. Ta restis heme. | There are the two little piggies! This one went to market. That one stayed home.

If necessary, ca and ta can be prefixed with third person pronouns to indicate gender: ilca, elca, olca.

When changed into actual nouns (by adding -o to their roots), they mean not only “this/that thing” but “this/that business or fact”.

• Ca iris a merkato, e co plezas a me, ma ta restis heme, e to iracigas me. | This one went to market, and this pleases me, but that one stayed home, and that makes me angry.

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:

• Renkontrez la viro qua renkontris Andy Griffith ! | Meet the man who met Andy Griffith!

• Renkontrez la muso qua renkontris Andy Griffith ! | Meet the mouse that/which met Andy Griffith!

• Me ne audis to, quo la viro qua renkontris Andy Griffith dicis. | I couldn’t hear what the man who met Andy Griffith said.

• Me ne audis, quo perturbis me. | I couldn’t hear, which upset me.

Note that qua, normally an immutable adjective, is here treated like any other noun and takes the plural ending when standing in for a plural noun:

• Renkontrez la viri qui renkontris Andy Griffith ! | Meet the men who met Andy Griffith!

• Yen la viri quin Andy Griffith renkontris. | Here are the men whom Andy Griffith met.

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

• Qua renkontris Andy Griffith ? | Who (what/which man) met Andy Griffith?

• Qua esas la viro qua renkontris Andy Griffith ? | Who is the man who met Andy Griffith?

• Quo la viro qua renkontris Andy Griffith dicis ? | What did the man who met Andy Griffith say?

Interrogative pronouns take the accusative -n when they are the object of an action, somewhat like who/whom in English:

• Quan Andy Griffith insultis ? | Whom did Andy Griffith insult?

• Qua insultis Andy 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, each (ulu, ulo, nulu, nulo, omnu, omno, singlu):

• Nu la unesma foyo kande on ocidas ulu, yen la maxim desfacila. | Now the first time you kill somebody, that's the hardest.

• Me deziras nulo. Me deziras nulo. Me deziras nula kontredono. | I want nothing. I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo.

• Omnu deziras mea karo ! | Everybody wants my baby!

Adjectives

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

• bona | good

• mala | bad

• leda | ugly

Any word that isn’t already an adjective can be made into one simply by changing its ending to -a. One might also add -al- (“concerning”), -oz- (“having”), or other affix to the word’s root, depending on the meaning one wants to convey:

• oro | gold

• Me esas ora deo ! | I am a golden god! (a god made of gold)

• Me esas orea deo ! | I am a golden god! (a gold-colored god)

• Me esas orala deo ! | I am a god of gold! (a god concerning gold)

• Me esas oroza deo ! | I am a god rich in gold!

Conversely, any adjective can be turned into a noun simply by changing its ending to -o:

• bono | a good person or thing

• malo | a bad person or thing

• ledo | an ugly person or thing

• orozo | someone or something rich in gold

• oreo | a gold-colored person or thing

Not that this is always necessary, as adjectives can often do duty for nouns as-is:

• la bona, la mala, e la leda | the good, the bad, and the ugly

In these cases, to indicate that an adjective is describing something in the plural, one can either make the adjectives into plural nouns or use le, the plural form of la:

• le bona, le mala, e le leda (= la boni, la mali, e la ledi) | the good, the bad, and the ugly

• Evitez le verda. Li ankore ne esas matura. | Avoid the green ones. They’re not ripe yet.

Where euphony permits, one can drop the final -a in adjectives, if one is so inclined, though it’s recommended to limit this to words with suffixes:

• le bon, le mal, e le led | the good, the bad, and the ugly

• amikal pafo | friendly fire

Note that dropping the final -a does not change the stress; amikal is pronounced ami'kal, not a'mikal.

The Placement of Adjectives

Ido is somewhat unique among languages in that the placement of adjectives is largely determined by the relative number of syllables they have: if an adjective is longer than the noun it describes by two or more syllables, or if multiple adjectives are being used, the noun comes first:

• linguo internaciona | an international language

• nerfisto egista, imbecila, e desneta | a stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder

• Quala lineon di kozi magracha, rakitika, cedema, velkinta, obtuza, manu-domajita, e klaudikanta vu genitos ? | What kind of spindly, ricket-ridden, milky, wizened, dim-eyed, gammy-handed, limpy line of things will you beget?

If, on the other hand, the adjective and the noun are more or less the same length, placement of the adjective is determined by euphony, by which it is meant that words beginning with a vowel should usually come first in order to avoid the final vowel of one word colliding with the initial vowel of the other:

• egista nerfisto > nerfisto egista | a stuck-up nerf-herder

• nerfisto desneta = desneta nerfisto | a scruffy-looking nerf-herder

If this prescribed convention of counting syllables to determine the order of one’s words seems unduly burdensome, one can take heart in that it really only applies to formal writing; in conversation, for example, one is free to place adjectives before or after the nouns as one sees fit.

However, adjectives and participles that have a complement must come after the person or thing being described:

• Me vidis cielo nigra pro fumo. | I saw a sky black from smoke.

• Me esas anjelo exterminanta pudeli. | 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 Ido in much the same way as they are in English:

• Vu esas min egala kam me. | You are less equal than I.

• Vu esas (tote) tam egala kam me. | You are (just) as equal as I.

• Vu esas (mem) plu egala kam me. | You are (even) more equal than I.

• Vu esas la plu egala de/ek la du. | You are the more equal of/out of the two.

• Vu divenas sempre plu egala ye omna dio. | You’re becoming more and more equal every day.

• Vu esas la maxim egala de/ek omni. | You are the most equal of/out of all.

• Vu esas la minim egala de/ek omni. | You are the least equal of all.

• Quankam amba vi esas egala, me preferas vu (plu multe) kam vua amiko. | 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, plu bona, maxim bona | good, better, best

• stupida, plu stupida, maxim stupida | 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, irez vivar felice sempre poste o me mustos fal-pedfrapar la denti ek vua boko. | Now, go live happily ever after or I’ll have to dropkick the teeth out of your mouth.

• « He! Vu dormez heme. — Pro quo ? On pagas me dormar hike. » | “Hey! You count sheep at home.” “Why? I get paid to count ’em here.”

• Vua matro esas hike interne, Karras. Ka plezus a vu lasar komunikajo ? Me certigos ke el recevez olu. | Your mother’s in here, Karras. Would you like to leave a message? I’ll see that she gets it.

• Me volas ke vu frapez me maxim forte posible. | I want you to hit me as hard as you can.

• Experto esas lu qua savas sempre multe pri sempre poke. | An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less.

• Vu esas quale la furtisto qua ne regretas mem minime ke lu furtis, ma multege regretas ke lu iros a karcero. | 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 Ido, such questions are always begin with ka(d) (“whether”), even in subordinate clauses:

• Ka mea patro bataliis en la Klonmiliti ? | Did my father fight in the Clone Wars?

• Ka vu kredas ke plezas a me evitar mea spozino e filii por pasar la tempo kun yunini di dek-e-non yari omnadie ? | Do you think I like avoiding my wife and kids to hang out with nineteen year old girls every day?

• Me dubitas ka mea patro bataliis en la Klonmiliti. | I doubt whether my father fought in the Clone Wars.

• Me questionas me ka vu kredas ke plezas a me evitar mea spozino e filii por pasar la tempo kun yunini di dek-e-non yari omnadie. | 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:

• Quu amorus me nun ? | Who could love me now?

• Quun me amorus nun ? | Whom could I love now?

• Qua koloro esas la cielo en vua mondo ? | What color is the sky in your world?

• Precise quon vu kredas ke vu facas, David ? | Just what do you think you’re doing, Dave?

• Retroirez a de ube vu venis ! | Get back whence you came!

• Lu vinkos, qua savas kande lu povas bataliar e kande 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 fluvio e tra la bosko, che Avino ni iras. | Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go.

• Violinagar dum ke Roma brulas | To fiddle while Rome burns

• Ne kun foxo. Ne en buxo. Nek en domo o kun muso. | Not in a box. Not with a fox. Not in a house. Not with a mouse.

• Quala moblaro di manjochambro definas me kom personon ? | What kind of dining set defines me as a person?

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

• Pro quo vu facis to ? | What did you do that for?

• Pri quo esas ca filmo? | What is this movie about?

There is also an “anything” preposition in Ido, ye, which has no definite meaning of its own but is used when no other preposition seems appropriate. It is often used to translate “at” with reference to time or place:

• ye la lasta foyo | the last time (something happened)

• il prenis el ye la manuo | he took her by the hand

• ye dimezo | at noon

When describing a change in location, if the preposition used doesn’t by itself indicate it — and nothing else in the sentence does, either — one can prefix the preposition with ad, with or without a hyphen, somewhat like to in English into, onto:

• la reklamisto duktis sua automobilo en la turbo | the publicist drove her car (around) in the crowd

• la reklamisto duktis sua automobilo aden (or ad-en) la turbo | the publicist drove her car into the crowd

• Do, se vu deziras, me pozos la pafilo sur la tablo | So, if you want, I’ll put the gun on the table (motion onto already implied, since the gun is obviously not yet on the table)

Prepositions can be changed into other parts of speech by the addition of -a, -e, -o, etc. if the meaning allows:

• kontre | against

• kontrea | contrary

• kontree | on the contrary

• kontreo | adversary

• kontreajo | the contrary, opposite

The prepositions en, ek, and per, however, do not take suffixes directly, but use separate roots: intern-, extern-, and mediac-.

There’s also the strange case of ultre, derived from ultra, meaning “beyond due limit”, “extreme”, as in ultra zelo “extreme zeal”. In its adverbial form ultre, it functions only as a preposition meaning “in addition to”, as in ultre Ido, me studias anke la hovita “besides Ido, I also study hovitos”. For an adverbial meaning, one must use extreme “extremely” for the one sense or pluse “additionally” for the other.

One can freely use prepositions before infinitive verbs, but di and ad are usually dropped when the context is sufficiently clear.

• il esas malada pro tro laborir (or pro troa laboro) | he’s sick from working too much

• l’ideo lavar la manui pos uzir la latrino esis klare stranja ad ilu | the idea of washing his hands after using the restroom was clearly foreign to him

Because prepositions are also used as prefixes to verbs, one might occasionally need to rephrase oneself avoid ambiguity:

• pos datizir cheko (better: pos la datizir cheko, datizinte cheko) | after dating a check

• posdatizir cheko | to have postdated 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:

• Ca breceli durstigas me ! | These pretzels are making me thirsty!

• Me ne havis sexuala relati kun ta muliero ! | I did not have sexual relations with that woman!

• Quon vi facos sen libereso ? | What will you do without freedom?

• Me drapirus me per veluro se lo esus socie aceptebla. | I would drape myself in velvet if it were socially acceptable.

• Deprenez ta bebetuko de la kapo, ripozez ol sur la fratino ! | 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 Ido 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 existas kuliero. | There is no spoon.

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

• Me lektas La nesubtenebla lejereso de esar. | 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:

• Me kompradas, do me existas. | I shop, therefore I am.

• Vu kompradas, do vu existas. | You shop, therefore you are.

• Il kompradas, do il existas. | 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 existis kuliero. | There was no spoon.

• Hiere la Kongreso oficiale akuzis la prezidento. | 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 existos kuliero. | There will be no spoon.

• Morge la Kongreso oficiale akuzos la prezidento. | 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 Ido is expressed by -us:

• Klare, se ne existus kulieri, anke ne existus “sporks”. | Obviously, if there were no spoons, there would be no sporks, either.

• Ton me komprus po un dollar ! | I’d buy that for a dollar!

• La Kongreso oficiale akuzus la prezidento se la prezidento ja ne demisionus. | Congress would have impeached the president if the president hadn’t already resigned.

Desired Action

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

• For la fetida manuachi de me, maledikita simio sordida ! | Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!

• Ne regardez me ! | Don’t look at me!

• Vu ne regardez me ! | Don’t you look at me!

• Vu ne regardas me ! | You’re not looking at me!

• Li manjez briocho ! | Let them eat cake!

• Li manjas briocho ! | They’re eating cake!

• Ulu mortez por ke la cetera ni pli multe apreciez la vivo. | 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 Ido, the tense of the quoted material stays the same as if it were quoted directly:

• Direct quote: | Il dicis, « Ci ne esas la droidi, quan vi serchas. »

• Indirect quote: | Il dicis ke ci ne esas la droidi, quan ni serchas.

• Indirect quote: | Il dicos ke ci ne esas la droidi, quan ni serchas.

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 Ido, the same idea is expressed by adding -ar to the root of the verb:

• Vidar esas kredar. | Seeing is believing.

• Semblas ke me selektis mala semano por cesar sniflar gluo. | Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

• Tank, me bezonas lernar pilotar FireFox T-1000. | Tank, I need to learn how to fly a T-1000 FireFox.

• Un Ringo por guvernar omni, Un Ringo por trovar li, Un Ringo por adduktar omni ed en la tenebro ligar li ! | One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them!

• Me regardis il mortar | I watched him die

Unlike in English, infinitives in Ido are inflected for tense; most are in the present tense, but past and future infinitives are also possible with -ir and -or:

• Klasiko esas ulo, quon omni deziras lektir, ma nulu deziras lektar. | A classic is something everybody wants to have read, but no one wants to read.

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

• Nulu ekirez ca loko sen kantir la « blues » (or nekantinte la « blues »). | 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”. Ido expresses the same idea by using no pronoun at all.

• Deo dicis « Pluvez ! », e pluvis. | God said, “Rain!”, and it rained.

• Esas bona esar la rejo. | It’s good to be the king.

• Se Deo ne existus, esus necesa inventar ilu. | 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 existos Provinco, Pippin. | There won’t be a Shire, Pippin.

• Esas nula guvernerio quale nula guvernerio. | There’s no government like no government.

except when one wants to call attention to the subject, in which case Ido uses yen:

• Nu, yen la unika perfekta kozo, quon me kolektis : mineralaquo. | Alright, now here’s the one perfecto thing I picked up: mineral water.

• Yen me. | Here I am.

• Yen vua rejo ! | 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 Ido, 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:

• Regardante la Kongreso votar, la prezidento tremeskis. | Watching Congress vote, the president began to tremble.

• Akuzinte la prezidento, la Kongreso decidis degradar lu. | Having impeached the president, Congress decided to remove him/her from office.

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:

• La prezidento akuzite, ilua partiso komencis interdiktar testi. | The president impeached, his party set about blocking witnesses.

• La senato votinte por ne kondamnar, la prezidento nun esis libera komencar reprezali. | 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:

• El vivis pavorante la riveno di la vivanta mortinti. | She lived in fear of the return of the living dead.

• Ni mortonti salutas vu ! | We who are about to die salute you!

• La chasanti e la chasati | The hunters and the hunted

Compound Verbs

Simple verbs in English and Ido 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 (me skribis letero), the present tense action in progress (me skribas letero), and the future tense action that will be completed later on (me skribos letero). With compound verbs, one can express any degree of completion in any tense:

• La Kongreso esis akuzinta la prezidento kande me eniris. | Congress had (already) impeached the president when I went in.

• La Kongreso esis akuzanta la prezidento kande me eniris. | Congress was impeaching the president when I went in.

• La Kongreso esis akuzonta la prezidento kande me eniris. | Congress was about to impeach the president when I went in.

• Etc.

• La prezidento esos akuzita kande me eniros. | The president will have been impeached when I go in.

• La prezidento esos akuzata kande me eniros. | The president will be being impeached when I go in.

• La prezidento esos akuzota kande me eniros. | The president will be about to be impeached when I go in.

• Etc.

Alternatively, when describing an action that precedes another, one can use -ab-:

• La tribuo parolabas. | The tribe has spoken.

• La Kongreso akuzabis la prezidento kande me eniris. | Congress had (already) impeached the president when I went in.

• La prezidento akuzesabos* kande me eniros. | The president will have (already) been impeached when I go in.

Compound tenses are more common in English than in Ido, which generally uses them only to underscore the time and completeness of one action in relation to another (akuzar and enirar in the previous example) or to emphasize the agent of a passive action (Kongreso in akuzata dal Kongreso). Otherwise, where English uses a compound verb, Ido uses a simple one:

• La Kongreso oficiale akuzis la prezidento ante ke me eniris. | Congress had impeached the president before I went in. (action in the past)

• Me savas ke vu e Franko projetis deskonektar me... | I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me... (action in the past)

• Hike supre, me ja foriris. | Up here, I’m already gone.

• VU interferis kun la forci fundamentala di NATURO ! | YOU have meddled with the primal forces of NATURE!

• Vintro venas. | Winter is coming.

• Mi prenos ca Huggies, ed irge-quanta pekunio vu havas. | I’ll be taking these Huggies, and whatever cash you got.

• Me dicas ta merdo de yari. E se on audis olu, to signifis onua morto. | 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.

• Me lojas en karcero ek timo de post ta dio. | I have been living in a prison of fear since that day.

• Cady, omno, quo me manjas nuntempe esas ca tabuleti di Kälteen. Li esas neutila. | 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 Ido, most verbs are either transitive or intransitive. To make an intransitive verb transitive, one can add -ig- to the root; to make a transitive verb intransitive, one can add -es- to the root:

Intransitive

• La aquo bolias.

• La nivo fuzesos.

Transitive

• La koquisto boliigas la aquo.

• La suno fuzos la nivo.

However, some verbs in Ido are like English ones in that they’re transitive when they have an object, intransitive when they don’t (the unspecified object is the subject):

Intransitive

• La bulo rulis en la strado.

• la laboro komencas.

• la sercho duras.

Transitive

• La puero rulis la bulo en la strado.

• komencar sua laboro

• durar sua sercho

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

• dancar la danco interdiktata | to dance the forbidden dance

• vivar la dolca vivo | to live the good life

• parolar la parolado di la Italianos | to speak the speech of the Italians

or a specific example of the same:

• dancar la Lambada | to dance the Lambada

• parolar la Italiana | to speak Italian

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

• Hiere me lektis libro. | Yesterday I read a book.

• Hiere me lektis dum la tota dio. | Yesterday I read all day.

Numbers

The basic, “cardinal” numbers of Ido are:

• un | one

• du | two

• tri | three

• quar | four

• kin | five

• sis | six

• sep | seven

• ok | eight

• non | nine

• dek | ten

• cent | hundred

• mil |thousand

• milion | million (10⁶)

• miliard | billion (10⁹)

These words are all roots, and are used without further modification before nouns to convey quantity:

• tri saji | three wisemen

• sep nani | seven dwarves

• ok tre mikra rentiri | eight tiny reindeer

• non muzi | nine muses

One can combine the roots by dropping their endings and inserting -a- for multiplication or e (as a separate word or not, with or without hyphens) for addition to produce numbers greater than ten:

• Ci iras til dek-e-un. | These go to eleven.

• quaradek jorni, quaradek nokti | forty days, forty nights

• La Fola Okadek-e-ok | The Crazy Eighty-Eight

• Duamil-e-un : Kosmala odiseo | Two Thousand One: A Space Odyssey

• Vi mustos pagar a me ... MILION DOLLARS. Pardonez ... CENT E MILIARD DOLLARS ! | You’re going to have to pay me ... ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Sorry ... ONE HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS!

• nonacent e nonadek e nonamil e nonacent e nonadek e non boteli de biro an la muro | nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall

As in English, one need not pronounce larger numbers in all their awkward fullness, but can break them down into smaller, more manageable chunks:

• non-non-non-mil, non-non-non boteli de biro an la muro | nine ninety-nine thousand nine ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall

For numbers greater than a million, Ido uses the “long scale” of reckoning:

• miliard | billion (10⁹)

• bilion | trillion (10¹²)

• trilion | quintillion (10¹⁸)

• quadrilion | septillion (10²⁴)

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:

• jazala trio | a jazz trio

• du dek-e-dui de ovi | two dozen eggs

Ordinal Numbers

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

• Unesme vi mustas trovar ... plusa arbustaro ! | Firstly you must find ... another shrubbery!

• La triesma premio esas desengajeso. | Third prize is you’re fired.

• Nu, cadio esis dio speciala por me. Ol esis la cent-sep-nonesma dio sucedanta en qua me facis precize la sama kozo ! | 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!

The suffix -esma is written -ma when written after a numeral, but -a when attached to a Roman regnal number, though it is still pronounced -esma in both cases:

• 1me | Firstly

• 2ma | 2nd

• 179ma | 179th

• Henrikus Va (read Henrikus kinesma) | Henry V (read Henry the Fifth)

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

• « Qua dio esas ? — Esas Kristonasko, Sioro ! » | “What day is it?” “It’s Christmas Day, sir!”

• « Quantesma dio esas ? — Esas la 25ma, Sioro ! » | “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 Ido are marked by the suffix -im- or, in more complex fractions, sur between two cardinal numbers:

• dekeduimo | a twelfth part

• dek ed un duimo | ten and a half

• dek duimi | ten halves

• quaradek e tri sur cent | forty-three hundredths

• quaradek sur triacent | forty three-hundredths

• Triimo de la tero esis vorita da pudeli. | A third of the earth was devoured by poodles.

• Me ne konocas duimo de vi duime quante me volus, e me amas min kam duimo de vi duime quante 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 Ido, they are formed from the cardinal numbers by adding -opl-:

• Duopligez vua plezuro, duopligez vua amuzo ! | Double your pleasure, double your fun!

• Vivasekuro saldas triople kande on mortas dum afervoyajo. | Life insurance pays off triple if you die on a business trip.

• Quarople kin esas duadek. | Four times five is 20.

Distributive Numbers

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

• La asaltanti venis duope. | The stormtroopers came two at a time.

• La sablani marchas unope por celar sua nombro. | The sandpeople march single file to hide their numbers.

• Quantope vu vendas la bileti? | How many tickets at a time can you sell?

Arithmetic

Some common operations in arithmetic:

• Dek-e-kin plus tri esas dek-e-ok. | Fifteen plus three equals eighteen.

• Dek-e-kin minus tri esas dek-e-du. | Fifteen minus three equals twelve.

• Dek-e-kin per tri esas quaradek-e-kin. | Fifteen times three equals forty-five.

• Dek-e-kin sur tri esas kin. | Fifteen divided by three equals five.

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

• La tria radiko di duadek-e-sep esas tri. | The cube root of twenty-seven is three.

Time

There are two words for hour in Ido: horo, which indicates duration, and kloko, which indicates the hour of the day. Unlike in other languages, time in Ido is expressed only in terms of the current hour, never the coming hour, as in a quarter to three:

• Qua kloko esas ? | What hour is it?

• Cua tempo esas ? | What time is it?

• Esas un kloko. | It’s one o’clock.

• Esas dek-e-un kloki e duimo. | It’s eleven-thirty.

• Esas kin kloki kinadek-e-kin. | It’s five minutes to six.

Affixes

In order to reduce the number of words one would have to learn in order to speak the language, much of Ido’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:

Prefixes

• anti-: (technical) Opposed to; preventing; reversing or undoing; the opposite state of matter of; acting as rival to; unlike the conventional form of:

• antibakteria | antibacterial

• antigravitado | antigravity

• antimaterio | antimatter

• antikristo | antichrist

NOTE: In the role of “opposed to” and “against”, anti- is often replaced by the preposition kontre.

• arki-: Chief; principal; preeminent of its kind:

• arkianjelo | archangel

• arkiduko | archduke

• auto-: (technical) Self-; one’s own; by oneself:

• autodidakto | autodidact

• autobiografio | autobiography

• bi-: (technical) Twice; double; on both sides; having two; two together:

• bipedo | biped

• bisekar | to bisect

• bisexua | bisexual

• bo-: Relation by marriage, in-law:

• bomatro | mother-in-law

• bofratulo | brother-in-law

• des-: The opposite of. This prefix is especially handy for creating ad hoc words for which one does not know the standard form:

• desinfektar | to disinfect

• desfacila | difficult

• desavantajo | disadvantage

• dis-: Separation, dispersion:

• disdonar | to deal out

• dissemar | to disseminate

• equi-: (technical) Equal:

• equilatera | equilateral

• ecuidistanta | equidistant

• ex-: Former:

• exprezidanto | ex-president

• exspozulo | ex-husband

• ge-: Both sexes together:

• gepatri | father and mother, parents

• gesiori | Mr. and Mrs., ladies and gentlemen

• ko-: (technical) Complement of:

• korespondar | to correspond

• korelativo | correlative

• mi-: Half:

• mihoro | half an hour

• mifratulo | half-brother

• mimortinta | half-dead

• mis-: Badly, incorrectly:

• misuzer | to misuse

• miskomprenar | to misunderstand

• miskalkular | to miscalculate

• mono-: (technical) One:

• monotono | monotone

• monosilabo | monosyllable

• ne-: Not, non-:

• neposibla | impossible

• neyusta | unjust

• nevidebla | invisible

NOTE: The prefix ne implies only negation, not opposite quality:

• nebela | plain, not beautiful

• desbela | ugly

• par-: Completely and utterly:

• parlektar | to read from cover to cover

• parlernar | to learn by heart

• para-: Indicates protection against:

• parafalo | parachute

• parafango | mudflap

• parapluvo | umbrella

• pre-: Before; “great”:

• predicar | to predict

• preadolecanto | preadolescent, “tween”

• prehiere | on the day before yesterday

• preavo | great grandparent

• pseudo-: Not genuine:

• pseudocienco | pseudo-science

• pseudointelektozo | pseudo-intellectual

• quadri-: (technical) Having four:

• quadripedo | quadruped

• quadrilatera | four-sided

• retro-: Indicates action that is directed backward:

• retroirar | to return

• retroagiva | retroactive

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

• rifacar | to redo

• rilektar | to re-read

• riskribar | to rewrite

• sen-: Without, -less:

• senkapa | headless

• senarma | unarmed

• sendubite | doubtlessly

Suffixes

• -ab-: Perfect tense:

• Elvis ekirabas la konstrukturo | Elvis has left the building

• Elvis ekirabis la konstrukturo | Elvis had left the building

• Elvis ekirabos la konstrukturo | Elvis will have left the building

• -ach-: Of low quality:

• belacha | tawdry

• automobilacho | jalopy

• skribacher | to scrawl

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

• Il studadas Quenya. | He’s been studying Quenya.

• El despantalonizadis sua fratrulo. | She kept pantsing her brother.

• Ka plankeskado ankore esas populara ? | Is planking still a thing?

• -ag-: Indicates that the word expressed by the root is used as a tool:

• martelago | hammer strike

• espadagar | to wield a sword

• krucagar | to crucify

• -aj-: (after nouns and adjectives) Made of, having the quality of; (after transitive and mixed verbs) Object of an action, -ee; (after intransitive verbs) Performer of an action, -er:

• Ka folajo ? Yen Sparta !!! | Madness? This is Sparta!!!

• pueralajo | a childish act

• manjajo | food

• vidajo | a view

• rulajo | a roll (of something)

• eventajo | an event

• esajo | a being

• -al-: Relating to; concerning; depending on; appropriate to:

• hundo blindala | a seeing eye dog

• poemo Pushkinala | a poem concerning Pushkin

• krizo nationala | a national emergency

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

• Kanadano | Canadian

• Amerikana muliero | American woman

• policano | policeman

• Kristano | Christian

• -ant-: Indicates active action in progress:

• viro parolanta Ido | man speaking Ido

• Parolante Ido, il pensas Klingone. | While speaking Ido, he thinks in Klingon.

• parolanto di Ido | speaker of Ido

• -ar-: A group of things of the same type:

• foliaro | foliage

• la Britaniana navaro | the British navy

• -ari-: Indicates the person or thing indirectly affected by the verb expressed by the root:

• konfesario | confessor

• sendario | sendee (recipient)

• pagario | payee

• -at-: Indicates passive action in progress:

• muliero amorata de Milano til Minsk | a woman loved from Milan to Minsk

• Amorate, el lernis multe pri la vivo. | While being loved, she learned much about life.

• Rocela, Rocela — internationa amorato | Rochelle, Rochelle — international beloved

• -atr-: In the style of; resembling:

• filmo Tarantino-atra | a Tarantino-esque film

• bluatra | bluish

• sponjatra | spongy

• -e-: Having the color of:

• rozea | pink

• violea | violet

• zebrea | zebra-striped

• -ebl-: Able to be -ed:

• artikli parolebla | speakable items

• pekunio disponebla | disposable money

• facile lektebla | easy to read

• -ed-: -ful:

• manuedo | a handful

• glasedo | a glassful

• bokedo | a mouthful

• -eg-: Of great size, degree, intensity:

• charjegita | overloaded

• manjegero | a glutton

• hungregoza | famished

• -em-: Disposition, tendency:

• kredema | credulous

• dormema | sleepy

• parolema | talkative

• -end-: Passive obligation:

• pagenda | payable

• facendi | things to do

• fidendajo | an article of faith

• -er-: Person occupied in a customary but not professional activity; -er:

• A la vinkero la spoliuro. | To the victor go the spoils.

• La dormero mustas vekar ! | The sleeper must awaken!

• mikra-cerebra visheri dil kuli di altri | tiny-brained wipers of other people’s bottoms

• -eri-: Establishment, especially industrial:

• kafeerio | cafe

• laverio | laundry (place)

• manjerio | eatery

• -es-: Indicates quality or condition; passive action:

• amikeso | friendship

• richeso | wealth

• kaptiteso | captivity

• Videsos ke... | It will be seen that...

• Savesas. | It is known.

• -esk-: Begin to, become, come to be:

• redeskar | to turn red

• sideskar | to sit down

• manjeskar | to begin eating

• -esm-: Ordinal number:

• la sisesma senso | the sixth sense

• unesme naskinta | first born

• -estr-: Head of:

• navestro | a captain

• policestro | a chief of police

• -et-: Of small size, grade, intensity:

• varmeta | lukewarm

• fluvieto | riverlet

• beleta | somewhat pretty, cutish

• dormeter | to nap

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

• manjeyo | a dining room

• dormeyo | a dormitory

• prezidenteyo | a presidential palace

• haneyo | a chicken coop

• -i-: Domain under the authority of:

• rejio | kingdom

• dukio | duchy

• -id-: Descendant of:

• rejido | prince

• Izraelido | Israelite

• -ier-: Individual characterized by; tree or plant that bears; holder, stand:

• lanciero | a lancer

• miliardiero | a billionaire

• pomiero | an apple tree

• sigaretiero | a cigarette-holder

• kandeliero | a candlestick

• -if-: Generation, production, secretion:

• florifer | to bloom

• pafilifer | to make guns

• urinifer | to urinate

• -ig-: Cause to do, cause to be:

• saligar | to salify

• koldigar | to cool

• mortigo | a killing