Esperanto Tips

Copied from Duolingo and duome.eu (https://duome.eu/tips/en/eo)

1. Introducing Yourself
2. Common Phrases
3. The Weather
4. Plurals
5. Everyday Life
6. Accusative
7. Possessives
8. Languages 1
9. Colors
10. Food 1
11. Countries and Nationalities
12. Animals 1
13. Food 2
14. Clothing
15. Questions
16. Verbs Present
17. Family
18. Objects
19. Home 1
20. Verbs: Past & Future
21. Numbers
22. Dates
23. Occupations
24. Imperative and Volitive
25. Adjectives
26. Directions
27. Affixes 1
28. Shopping
29. Time
30. Home 2
31. Internet
32. Adverbs
33. Arts
34. Feelings
35. Places
36. People
37. The Body
38. Verbs: -ig/-iĝ
39. Abstract verbs
40. Health 1
41. Travel
42. Affixes 2
43. Expressions
44. Sports 1
45. Affixes 3
46. Ideas
47. Voyages
48. Participles 1
49. Communication
50. Abstract Objects
51. Health 2
52. Passive Participles
53. Animals 2
54. Politics
55. Spiritual
56. Science
57. Let's Flirt
58. Word Building
59. Let's Chat

Introducing Yourself updated 2022-07-04 ^

Tips and Notes

As you learn Esperanto with this course, you are welcome to check the Tips and Notes for each Skill. They can help to answer any questions you may have.

Some simple Esperanto rules

• Each letter has a unique and separate sound. For example: longa is pronounced "lon-ga". Both k and n are pronounced in knabo.

• The emphasis in every word is always on the next-to-last syllable. For example: all 2-syllable words have the emphasis on the first syllable, as in viro, and all 3-syllable words have the emphasis on the middle syllable, as in knabino.

• All action words (verbs) always end in -as, when talking about what is happening now. Examples: mi laboras (I work/I am working); mi estas (I am); vi dormas (you sleep/you are sleeping).

• All words for a thing (or a person, an animal, a place, etc), end in -o. For example: libro (a book), viro (a man), hundo (a dog), Aŭstralio (Australia).

• "The" is la in Esperanto. For example: la viro = the man.

• "A" and "an" are not used in Esperanto. For example: viro = a man.

• -in means female: viro = man, virino = woman; knabo = boy, knabino = girl; aktoro = actor, aktorino = actress.
  

Esperanto alphabet

The Esperanto alphabet has 28 letters. They include all the letters of the English alphabet, except for Q, W, X and Y. A few letters have accent marks.

If you are spelling an Esperanto word out loud, the name of each consonant is the sound that letter makes, followed by -o: B = bo, S = so etc. The name of each vowel is the sound that letter makes.

Here are approximate English equivalents for each vowel

The letters C and J

Here are five of the accented letters

Esperanto keyboard

To obtain an Esperanto keyboard that will allow you to easily type these special characters, please refer to our forum by following the link below:

Esperanto keyboards: all systems go!

What if I don't want to install a keyboard just for this course?

Duolingo recognizes the x-system, an alternative method of entering the accented Esperanto characters. To use the x-system, simply type the letter that requires the accent followed by an x:

Example: type sxangxo to spell ŝanĝo

Note that Duolingo will not convert accented characters entered via the x-system in the answer immediately when typed, but will recognize them when they are submitted for checking.

Common Phrases updated 2021-02-15 ^

Many expressions end in -n.

In Esperanto, greetings, thanks, congratulations and other similar expressions usually end in -n. The simple reason for this will be covered in a future skill (Accusative) that explains the -n word ending.

Question Words

Kiu? means "which person or thing?". When used in relation to a person, it usually translates to "who?".

Kiel? means "in what manner?", "how?".

Esperanto Names

People who speak Esperanto generally use their own names, but sometimes choose a name that is easier to pronounce in Esperanto, or an Esperanto nickname. Names for men in Esperanto generally end in -o, and nicknames in -ĉjo. A man named David could decide to use David, Davido, or the nickname Daĉjo. For a woman, Esperanto names can end in -o or -a, and nicknames end in -njo. A woman named Susan could use Susan, Suzano, Suzana, or the nickname Sunjo.

The Weather updated 2021-02-15 ^

No "it"

Note that the word "it" is not translated in the following expressions:

Pluvas. = (It) is raining.
Neĝas. = (It) is snowing.
Estas varma tago. = (It) is a warm day.

Ĉu

Ĉu introduces a yes/no question. In contrast to English, it is not necessary to invert the subject and verb:

Questions in Esperanto must always be introduced by a question word such as ĉu, kiu (which), kiel (how) and other words that you will learn later. You cannot make a question simply by inverting the word order, or by adding a question mark:

Expressions with Ĉu

Ĉu? = Really?
Ĉu ne? = Isn't it?
Vi laboras, ĉu ne? = You are working, aren't you?

Adjectives

Adjectives are words like happy, good, or big, which modify a noun. Remember that a noun always ends in -o in Esperanto. Adjectives, on the other hand, end in -a:
varma = hot/warm, malvarma = cold
bona = good, malbona = bad

In Esperanto, the adjective may be placed either before or after the noun, with no change in meaning. "Bona tago" and "tago bona" both mean "a good day" and both are correct. In practice, most people prefer "bona tago", with the adjective before the noun.

Affixes

mal- is a prefix that means "the opposite of". Please note that mal- by itself does not mean bad (as it does in some other languages):

varma = warm/hot; malvarma = cold
bela = beautiful; malbela = ugly
helpi = to help; malhelpi = to hinder
lumo = light; mallumo = darkness
bona = good; malbona = bad

Plurals updated 2021-02-15 ^

Plurals

In English, when there is more than one of something, we usually add -s to form the plural (more than one), for example dogs, houses, etc. But not always! There are some exceptions, like children, men, mice. In Esperanto, there are no exceptions. You always add -j to form the plural:

In Esperanto the -j ending is also added to descriptive words (adjectives), such as bela (beautiful), and granda (big, large):

La viroj estas belaj.
The men are handsome.

La grandaj hundoj.
The big dogs.

La viro kaj la virino estas belaj.
(because belaj refers to both la viro and la virino)
The man and the woman are beautiful.

Note that "la" stays the same in front of plural nouns, and no endings are ever added to "la".

Pronunciation

-oj is pronounced like the English oy, and the pronunciation of -aj is like the English eye.

Numbers

Unlike adjectives and nouns, the cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) do not take any endings:

Ni estas du virinoj. We are two women.

Affixes

-ej is a suffix used to indicate a place:

kafo = coffee; kafejo = café (a place where you drink coffee, and other drinks.)
laboras = works; laborejo = workplace
loĝas = lives/inhabits; loĝejo = apartment (a place you inhabit)

Jen

Jen means "here is" or "here are" like the following:

Jen la hundo. = Here is the dog.
Jen la hundoj. = Here are the dogs.

Although less common, jen may be followed by estas, for example:

Jen estas la hundo. = Here is the dog.
Jen estas la hundoj. = Here are the dogs.

Everyday Life updated 2021-02-15 ^

Estas

Estas means am, is, or are. It is the present tense of the verb esti, to be. It is used in sentences like La nokto estas varma. (The night is hot.) or Adamo estas viro. (Adam is a man.) to assign a property or identity to someone or something.

It can also be used to state the existence of someone or something: Estas viro en la parko. (There is a man in the park.), or Estas nokto. (It is night.) From these examples we can see that when it is the first word in a sentence, Estas means "There is" or "It is":

Note: Do NOT say "Ĝi estas varma nokto". Ĝi (it) is not needed in this sentence.

Adverbs

Adverbs (usually -ly words in English) modify verbs and adjectives. In Esperanto they usually end in -e. Examples:
rapide = quickly, malrapide = slowly, bone = well

Accusative updated 2021-02-15 ^

The accusative ending: -n

Take a look at this English sentence: "The woman kisses the little boy." How do you know who is kissing, and who is being kissed? In English, you know by the word order. The woman comes before the verb, so she is doing the kissing (or to use the grammatical term, she is the subject of the sentence). The little boy comes after the verb, so he's the one being kissed (and he is the grammatical object of the sentence).
In Esperanto, you can tell who is the subject and who is the object of the sentence by the endings. The subject of the sentence, i.e. the one who is doing the kissing, ends in -o . The object of the sentence, the one who is being kissed, has -n added after the -o . This means that you can always tell who or what is the subject, and who or what is the object, even if the sentence is switched around:

La virino kisas la malgrandan knabon.
The woman kisses the little boy.

La malgrandan knabon kisas la virino.
The woman kisses the little boy.
(Look for the -n ! This still means "The woman kisses the little boy", even though the word order has been changed.)

Note that the adjective (in this case malgranda) also takes the -n ending, the same as the noun it refers to: malgrandan knabon .

These sentences mean the same thing, and are all equally correct, though the word order alters the emphasis slightly. They all mean: "The woman kisses the small boy.":
La virino kisas la malgrandan knabon.
La malgrandan knabon kisas la virino.
Kisas la virino la malgrandan knabon.
Kisas la malgrandan knabon la virino.
La virino la malgrandan knabon kisas.
La malgrandan knabon la virino kisas.

The -n ending in Esperanto is called the accusative. Be aware that the accusative ending -n is never used with the verb estas: Li estas knabo. (He is a boy.)

Accusative and Plural

If a word already ends in -j, the -n is added after it.

Mi manĝas bonajn kukojn.
I am eating good cakes.
Mi vidas la belajn virinojn.
I see the beautiful women.

Pronouns

Pronouns also get the -n ending. Note how regularly Esperanto pronouns change as compared to their English counterparts:

Why many expressions end in -n

When you use an expression like “Thanks” in English, you are actually shortening a full statement. As you have just learned, -n indicates the object of the sentence as you can see in the examples below:

Dankon = Mi donas al vi dankon.
Thanks = I give you thanks. ("thanks" is the object of the sentence).

Saluton! = Mi donas al vi saluton.
Hi!/Hello!/Greetings! = I give you greetings. ("greetings" is the object)

Feliĉan novan jaron! = Mi deziras al vi feliĉan novan jaron! Happy new year! = I wish you a happy new year! ("happy new year" is the object)

Prepositions

The noun following a preposition normally takes a simple -o ending (-oj in the plural). Other endings will be explained later. For example:

La virino estas en la kafejo.
The woman is in the café.

Ni iras al la parko.
We go to the park.

Possessives updated 2021-02-15 ^

Possessive pronouns

Possessive personal pronouns (also known as possessive adjectives) are words like "my" and "your" in English. Unlike in English, these words are completely regular in Esperanto. Just add -a to the end of a pronoun to turn it into its possessive form.

Like other words ending in -a the possessives also take the -j (plural) and -n (accusative) ending when required.

Jen miaj gepatroj. Here are my parents.

Viaj ursoj trinkas mian bieron.
Your bears are drinking my beer.

De

If you want to express that something belongs to someone, the key word is de. It corresponds to the English word "of", but it is also used when English would put 's on a word instead.

Jen mapo de la universitato.
Here is a map of the university.

Vi trinkas la bieron de mia patro.
You are drinking my father's beer. (the beer of my father)

Li estas la avo de Sofia.
He is Sofia's grandfather. (the grandfather of Sofia)

Kio, tio

Kio = what? or what thing?.
Tio = that or that thing.

Kio and tio never take the ending -j (plural), but do take the ending -n (accusative) if they refer to a direct object.

Kio estas tio?
What is that?

Kion vi manĝas?
What are you eating?

Ni manĝas tion.
We are eating that.

Names and Addresses

The following two ways (with kio or kiu) of asking for someone's name or address are equally correct:

Kio estas via [nomo/adreso]?
What is your [name/address]?
Kiu estas via [nomo/adreso]?
Which is your [name/address]?

Amiko, Amikino

Traditionally, amiko was used only for a male friend, and amikino for a female friend, and this usage is still common, so we are teaching it here. Recently, however, many Esperanto speakers use the same form amiko for a male or female friend.

Also, note that amiko and amikino are not equivalent to the English "boyfriend" and "girlfriend". To describe a romantic relationship, we use the terms koramiko and koramikino ("heart-friend").

Languages 1 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Language names

To name a language in Esperanto, the full expression is "la angla lingvo", "la franca lingvo" (the English language, the French language). However, people usually drop the word "lingvo" and just say "la angla" (English), "la franca" (French):

La itala estas bela lingvo.
Italian is a beautiful language.

Mi parolas la hispanan.
I speak Spanish.

Don't try this with Esperanto though! In theory you could say "la Esperanta lingvo", but in practice this form is never used. The language has always been known as Esperanto right from the start:

Oni

Oni is equivalent to "one" in English. It is used frequently in Esperanto, more often than the pronoun "one" is used in English. It is used to make general statements, as follows:

Oni diras, ke la angla estas malfacila lingvo.
One says that English is a difficult language.
People say that English is a difficult language.

Oni parolas Esperanton en la domo.
One speaks Esperanto in the house.
Esperanto is spoken in the house.

Ke

Subordinate clauses are often introduced by ke ("that"): Li diras, ke vi parolas Esperanton. In English, It is possible to leave out "that", and say "He says you speak Esperanto", instead of "He says that you speak Esperanto." However, in Esperanto ke must always be included. Note also that there is always a comma before ke, though the English translation may not have one.

Nek ... nek ...

Nek means both "neither" and "nor":

Mi parolas nek la francan nek la anglan.
I speak neither French nor English.

Li parolas nek Esperanton, nek la anglan.
He speaks neither Esperanto nor English.

Nek ni nek ili loĝas en Aŭstralio.
Neither we nor they live in Australia.

Colors updated 2021-02-15 ^

Ankaŭ

Ankaŭ (also / too) is placed immediately before the word it refers to. It is never placed at the end of the phrase, as is common in English.

• Ankaŭ mi ludas multe = I play a lot, too. (Interpretation: Others play a lot, and I, too, play a lot.)
• Mi ankaŭ ludas multe = I play a lot, too. (There are other things that I do a lot, and I also play a lot.)

Esperanta

The adjective form of Esperanto is Esperanta. This can either be capitalized or not based on the preference of the author. Any word can be turned into an adjective by changing the ending to -a.

Food 1 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Infinitive

The ending -i indicates the infinitive, for example ami (to love), trinki (to drink), kuiri (to cook). This is the neutral form found in a dictionary. It is often used to complement the verbs povas (can), volas (want), devas (must), and ŝatas (like). For example:

• Mi volas danci. = I want to dance.
• Mi ŝatas manĝi. = I like to eat.
• Ĉu vi povas fari tion? = Can you do that?

Note that in English, the word "to" is not used after the words "can" and "must", but this is an oddity of English, not Esperanto!

Nek ... nek ...

Nek means both "neither" and "nor". For example:

Nek la fromaĝo nek la pomo estas flava.
Neither the cheese nor the apple is yellow.

• Mi ŝatas nek la fromaĝon nek la pomon.*
  I like neither the cheese nor the apple.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

matenmanĝo = breakfast, the morning meal
tagmanĝo = lunch, the midday meal
vespermanĝo = dinner/supper, the evening meal.

Kun, Kune, Kune kun

kun = with
kune = together
kune kun = together with

Pli and ol

Pli ol means "more than". Pli and ol express a comparison:

Lia pomo estas pli granda ol mia pomo.
His apple is bigger than my apple.
Li kuiras pli bone ol mi.
He cooks better than I (do).
Ĉu Sofia estas pli bela ol ŝi?
Is Sofia prettier than she (is)?

Kiel

Kiel means "as" in the following kinds of sentences. Remember to add the accusative -n when kiel comes between two words that both function as direct objects:
Ni manĝas fragojn kiel deserton.
We eat strawberries as (a) dessert.

Pro and Ĉar

Pro and ĉar are similar, but are NOT interchangeable. Ĉar means because, while pro means because of, "due to", or "on account of":

Mi manĝas la fragojn, ĉar ili estas bongustaj.
I am eating the strawberries because they are tasty.

Pro mia granda apetito, mi manĝas du picojn.
Because of my big appetite, I am eating two pizzas.

Ĉar la vetero estas malbona, ni ne povas iri al restoracio. Because the weather is bad, we can't go to a restaurant.

Pro la malbona vetero, ni ne povas iri al restoracio.
Because of the bad weather, we cannot go to the restaurant.

Countries and Nationalities updated 2021-02-15 ^

Country names and nationalities

Esperanto has a two-part system for naming countries and their inhabitants. This two-part system developed early in the history of Esperanto, and was based on the idea of a division of the world into "Old World" and "New World". The assumption was that the "Old World" countries took their names from the people who lived there. In contrast, "New World" countries consisted mainly of immigrants and their descendants, so their inhabitants were named after the countries they lived in.

So, for some "Old World" countries, mainly in Europe and Asia, the Esperanto root form gives the name of the inhabitant, and the name of the country is formed from it. For other "New World" countries,mainly in the Americas, Africa and Oceania, the Esperanto root form gives the name of the country, and the name of the inhabitant is formed from it.

Group 1 (mainly "New World")

The first group takes the name of the country as the root form (e.g. Brazil-o, Kanad-o) and an inhabitant of that country is formed by adding -an (member) in front of the ending -o. For example:

Brazilanoj loĝas en Brazilo.
Brazilians live in Brazil.

Kanadanoj loĝas en Kanado.
Canadians live in Canada.

Group 2 (mainly "Old World")

The second group takes the name of the inhabitant as the root form (e.g. ital-o, german-o) and its country name is formed by adding -uj in front of the ending -o. For example:

Italoj loĝas en Italujo.
Italians live in Italy.

Germanoj loĝas en Germanujo.
Germans live in Germany.

Many people prefer to use the ending -io for Group 2 names rather than the traditional ending -ujo. This is how we teach country names here on Duolingo:

About the Americas

Usono refers to the USA, while Ameriko refers to the entire American continent; so usonano is a US citizen, while amerikano is someone from North, Central, or South America.

More accented letters

The following table shows the rest of the accented letters, which are also called ĉapelitaj literoj (literally, "letters with hats").

Note: ĥ is pronounced as a strongly aspirated "h", like the "ch" in the Scottish word "loch" (not pronounced "lock"), while ŭ is normally only used after a and e, in the combinations aŭ and eŭ.

Animals 1 updated 2021-02-15 ^

The suffix -id (offspring)

-id is a suffix that refers to the young of an animal, or more rarely, of a plant.

kato (cat) + -id = katido (kitten)
hundo (dog) + -id = hundido (puppy)

Duo

Duo is the name given by Duolingo to its mascot, the green owl. It is not the word for owl in Esperanto. The Esperanto word for owl is strigo.

The suffix -in (female)

When it comes to animals, the root form of the animal (i.e. bovo) is gender neutral. Therefore the word bovo does not specify whether the animal is a bull or a cow. A bovino is specifically a cow. To make this unambiguously male, you need to add vir- in front of it, thus virbovo is a bull.

Food 2 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Kiom

Kiom means "how much" or "how many."

How much do you eat?
Kiom vi manĝas?

How much do you love me?
Kiom vi amas min?

How much is in the cup?
Kiom estas en la taso?

Kiom da

When you ask "how much" or "how many" of a specific thing or things, the word "of" cannot be omitted as it is in English:

How much (of) bread do you eat?
Kiom da pano vi manĝas?

How many (of) apples do you eat?
Kiom da pomoj vi manĝas?

How much (of) tea is in the cup?
Kiom da teo estas en la taso?

Kiom aĝas

Kiom is used with age, since age is a quantity (of years).

How old are you?
Kiom vi aĝas?
(Literally: How much you are-age?)
Mi aĝas 30 jarojn. OR Mi estas 30-jaraĝa.

Kiom da jaroj vi havas?
(Literally "How many years do you have?")
Mi havas 30 jarojn.*
.

Meat Dishes

To talk about meat dishes, add -aĵ to the name of the animal that the dish is made from. For example, to talk about "pork" (meat from a pig), you use the word for pig (porko) and add the suffix -aĵ : porkaĵo. To say "I am eating pork", you would say Mi manĝas porkaĵon. The same sentence without -aĵ , Mi manĝas porkon would mean "I am eating a pig."

Prepositions

So far we have learned several prepositions, including sur, por, sen, de, da and kun. Note that there is no accusative -n for nouns after prepositions except in specific instances, which will be introduced later.

Mi aĉetas viandon por mia hundo.
Mi ŝatas kafon kun sukero.
Mi iras sen vi.

Subject or object after "ol"

Ol (than), is a conjunction (a connecting word like "and") that functions as a comparison word. Either a subject or an object can follow it, just as in English:

Ni amas ŝin pli ol ilin.
We love her more than [we love] them.
(The object ilin follows ol.)

Li amas la hundon pli ol ili amas ĝin.
He loves the dog more than they love it.
(The subject ili follows ol.)

Kun and Kune

Correlatives

You may have noticed that all the question words start with ki-, except for ĉu. The letter or letters after ki- in the question word, i.e. the ending, indicates what kind of question it is.

In this module we introduce the group of words ending in -om which relate to quantity.

All of these words in both tables are part of a group in Esperanto called "correlatives".

Uses of da and de after the -iom group of correlatives.

Kiom, tiom, iom, and ĉiom are followed by da, when they refer to quantities that are indefinite:

Kiom da akvo vi trinkas?
How much water are you drinking?

Li manĝas iom da kuko.
He eats some cake.

When referring to a specific item or quantity that is preceded by la, we use de:

Mi manĝas iom de la granda kuko.
I am eating some of the big cake.

Kiom de la sandviĉo li manĝas?
How much of the sandwich is he eating?

Note: Mi havas neniom. = I have none.

Clothing updated 2021-02-15 ^

Pantalono

Note that the word pantalono, which means "pants" (US) or "trousers" (UK) is singular in Esperanto. Thus pantalonoj refers to multiple pairs of pants.

Ŝtrumpo, ŝtrumpeto

The suffix -et means "small", so a sock is a small stocking (ŝtrumpeto)!

Mojosa

Mojosa (cool) is the most popular slang term in Esperanto. It originates from modern-jun-stila (modern-young-stylish). Reading out the first letter of each word gives Mo-Jo-So, which becomes mojoso (coolness). The adjective form is mojosa.

Questions updated 2021-02-15 ^

Ĉu

As covered in Weather, Ĉu is used to introduce a question. For example:

• Ĉu vi volas danci? = Do you want to dance?
• Ĉu vi amas ŝin aŭ min? = Do you love her or me?

In the middle of a sentence, ĉu means "whether". For example:

Ŝi demandas min, ĉu mi volas danci.
She asks me whether I want to dance.
(or: She asks me if I want to dance.)

Ŝi volas scii, ĉu mi parolas Esperanton.
She wants to know whether I speak Esperanto.
(or: She wants to know if I speak Esperanto.)

Note that in English we often use the word "if" interchangeably with "whether", as in the examples above, but in Esperanto this is not correct. We can never use the word "se" (if) in place of the word ĉu.

.

Correlatives ending in -u

The correlatives ending in -u (kiu, tiu, etc.) usually come before a noun. Notice how they take -j and -n endings just like adjectives. For example:

Kiun libron vi legas?
Which book are you reading?

Mi volas legi tiujn librojn.
I want to read those books.

They appear without a noun only if the context makes what is being talked about clear. For example:

Jen kelkaj bonaj libroj. Kiun [libron] vi volas legi?
Here are some good books. Which [book] would you like to read?

Without other information, assume that kiu and tiu (and any other correlative ending in -u) refer to a person. For example:

Kiu venas? = Who is coming?

Kio estas tio? Tio estas libro.
What is that? That is a book.

Kiu estas via libro? Mia libro estas tiu.
Which is your book? My book is that one.

Kion vi volas? Mi volas tion.
What do you want? I want that.

Kiun vi volas? Mi volas tiun.
Which do you want? I want that one.

Kiujn vi volas? Mi volas tiujn.
Which ones do you want? I want those.

Kio or Kiu?

Should it be Kio estas via nomo? OR Kiu estas via nomo? Both forms are correct, though with different shades of meaning. With Kiu the question actually means "Which is your name?" (that is, which one out of an imagined list of names is yours?) With Kio the question simply means "What is your name?". The same consideration applies to similar questions, such as Kio/Kiu estas via adreso? and Kio/Kiu estas la dato?

Ĉi

Ĉi expresses close proximity when used immediately before or after ti- words. For example:

Note: Since ĉi can go before or after ti- words, these are also valid: tie ĉi, tiu ĉi, tio ĉi.

Kien? Tien

Adding -n to kie or tie shows movement towards a place. For example:

Kie vi estas? Mi estas ĉi tie.
Where are you? I am here.

Kien vi iras? Mi iras tien.
To where are you going? I am going to there.

Note that the "to" is usually dropped in English, so this would be translated as "Where are you going? I am going there." Due to this lack of distinction in English, many English speakers have trouble remembering to add -n to tie and kie when talking about movement towards a place.

Kiam

Kiam means "when".

Verbs Present updated 2021-02-15 ^

Verb Types

Transitive verbs

Transitive verbs may take a direct object. For example:

Mi trinkas sukon. = I drink juice.
Ŝi legas libron. = She reads a book.

Sometimes, although the verb is transitive, the direct object is not expressed, so we may say Mi trinkas or Ŝi legas, without naming the thing that the person is drinking or reading.

Intransitive verbs

Intransitive verbs never take a direct object. For example:

Mi sidas. = I am sitting. La knabino kuras. = The girl is running.

Differences between Esperanto and English

Please note that the rules concerning verbs and objects are stricter in Esperanto than in English.

In English, we know a lot of verbs that can be used both with and without a direct object. In English we can say "He closes the door" and "The door closes", using the same verb, although the meaning is different. In the first example, someone performs the action of closing the door, while in the second, the door becomes closed. In Esperanto, there are two words for this:

Li fermas la pordon. = He closes the door.
La pordo fermiĝas = The door closes.

In the same way, Esperanto distinguishes between komenci (to start to do something) and komenciĝi (to start happening):

La instruisto komencas la lecionon =The teacher starts the lesson.
La leciono komenciĝas. = The lesson is starting.

To use grammatical terms, fermi and komenci are transitive (take a direct object), while fermiĝi and komenciĝi are intransitive (cannot take a direct object).

Atendi

Atendi can mean "to wait," "to wait for" or "to expect." For example:

Mi atendas. = I wait.
Mi atendas buson. = I wait for a bus.
Mi atendas profiton. = I am expecting a profit.

Note: Kion vi atendas? can mean either "What are you expecting?" or "What are you waiting for?" depending on the context.

Tiel... kiel

The combination tiel...kiel means as...as:

Ĉu vi kantas tiel bone kiel ŝi?
Do you sing as well as she (does)?

Ŝi estas tiel bela, kiel mia fratino.
She is as pretty as my sister.

Family updated 2021-02-15 ^

Ge-

Most words relating to the family are male by default. The suffix -in (female) and the prefix ge- (both genders) can be added to change the meaning. For example:

The prefix pra- means long ago, in the distant past :

Note also: prahistorio = prehistory
prahomo = ancient man

Amik(in)o, Koramik(in)o

Note that amiko and amikino are not equivalent to the English "boyfriend" and "girlfriend". To describe a romantic relationship, we use the terms koramiko and koramikino ("heart-friend").

Sia

The possessive pronoun sia means his own, her own, its own or their own. It always refers back to the subject.

Li vidas sian hundon.
He sees his [own] dog.

Li vidas lian hundon.
He sees his [someone else's] dog.

Ili nun estas en sia hejmo. They are now in their [own] home.

Ili nun estas en ilia hejmo. They are now in their [their friends'] home.

Note that sia is not used when the subject of the concerned clause is mi, ni, or vi. In these cases use its standard possessive pronoun:

Vi havas vian hundon.
You have your [own] dog.

Kiel

Kiel means "as" in the following kinds of sentences. Remember to add the accusative -n when kiel comes between two words that both function as direct objects:

Ŝi traktas lin kiel fraton.
She treats him like a brother.

Li amas sian nevinon kiel filinon.
He loves his niece like a daughter.

Kiom aĝas

How old are you?
Kiom vi aĝas?
(Literally: How much you are-age?)

Kiom is used with age, since age is a quantity (of years).

Note: An alternative way to ask someone's age is Kiom da jaroj vi havas? (Literally "How many years do you have?") .

Objects updated 2021-02-15 ^

Per

Per means “by means of”, although the English translation may use “by” or “with”. Use this when mentioning tools or methods of transportation. For example:

• per martelo – with a hammer
• per tranĉilo – with a knife
• per buso, per aŭto, per trajno, per ŝipo – by bus, by car, by train, by ship

Note that per is a preposition and so the following noun does not take the –n ending.

More examples:

Mi tranĉas la panon per tranĉilo.
I am cutting the bread with a knife.

Mi vojaĝis al Berlino per trajno.
I traveled to Berlin by train.

Peco da... Peco de...

The word peco (piece) can be used with either da or de, creating slightly different meanings. With da we are emphasizing a quantity. With de we are emphasizing a quality:

Tio estas granda peco da pano.
That is a big piece of bread.
(Answers the question : How much bread?)

Ĉu tio estas peco de pano aŭ peco de kuko?
Is that a piece of bread or a piece of cake?
(What kind of piece of food is that?)

Home 1 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Prepositions

The most literal sense of a preposition is generally the correct word to use in Esperanto. Thus, one rides "in the train," not "on the train." For example:

• antaŭ can mean "in front of" or "before", depending on the context. In conjunction with time it can mean "ago".

• kontraŭ means "against", but also "at the cost/price of"; and can be used in the context of taking a medicine in order to treat an illness ("against" an illness).

In general, nouns following a preposition do not take the -n ending.

Ĉe

Ĉe is a versatile word that means "at", in the sense of at someone's home, or very close to something:

• Ŝi sidas ĉe la tablo. She is sitting at the table.
  

• Ili loĝas ĉe mi. They live at my house. They live with me.

The directional -n

In addition to its use for the direct object, the -n ending is also used to show direction:

• Ŝi saltas sur la tablo. = She jumps (up and down) on the table.
• Ŝi saltas sur la tablon. = She jumps onto the table (from another location).

Pro vs por

• Pro = because of, on account of
• Por = for

Mi parolas Esperanton pro vi.
I speak Esperanto because of you.

La donaco estas por vi.
The gift is for you.

Krom

Krom can mean either "except (for)" or "in addition to" depending on the context. For example:

Mi ŝatas ĉion, krom araneoj.
I like everything except spiders.

Krom araneoj, ŝi ankaŭ amas abelojn.
In addition to spiders, she also loves bees.

Manko de

A lack of...
Manko de...

A lack of something is not considered a quantity, so one says manko de and never manko da.
For example:
A lack of money
Manko de mono

Verŝi and ŝuti

Verŝi means to pour a liquid such as water or oil, while ŝuti means to pour a non-liquid such as sand or sugar.

Tero and tero

Tero is the word for the planet Earth. We omit the article la when we speak of it in that context:
Tero moviĝas ĉirkaŭ la suno.
(The) Earth moves around the sun.

La Tero is the term for the Earth we live on:
Kie ni vivos, kiam la Tero estos tro varma?
Where will we live, when the Earth is too hot?

For earth or soil that plants grow in, we use tero without capitalization:
En la tero kreskas plantoj.
Plants grow in the earth.

Verbs: Past & Future updated 2021-02-15 ^

Verbs: Past & Future

The following endings change the tense of a verb:

-is = past
-os = future

There are no exceptions to this rule!

Note: In English, sometimes part of a sentence is expressed in the present tense, even though the event actually takes place in the future. In Esperanto, both parts of the sentence are in the future tense, since they happen then. For example:

Kion vi faros, kiam vi estos gepatroj?
What will you do when you are parents?

Ni iros al la drinkejo ĉi-vespere.
We are going to the bar tonight.

.

Post kiam/Antaŭ ol

The preposition post means "after" and is usually followed by a noun:

post la matenmanĝo
after breakfast

post la oka horo
after eight o'clock

However, if you want to use post with a verb phrase, you have to use post kiam:

Post kiam ni matenmanĝis...
After we [had] had breakfast...

Post kiam mi laboris, mi dormis.
After I [had] worked, I slept.

In the same way, antaŭ ("before" or "in front of") is usually followed by a noun, while antaŭ ol (before) needs to be used before verbs or verb phrases.

Ŝi staras antaŭ la pordo.
She is standing in front of the door.

Sofia alvenis antaŭ la manĝo.
Sofia arrived before the meal.

Ni manĝis antaŭ ol li alvenis.
We ate before he arrived.

Numbers updated 2021-02-15 ^

The past tense -is ending.

For the past tense, use -is:
La arbo falas.
The tree is falling.
La arbo falis.
The tree fell.

Cardinal/Ordinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers such as one, two and three never take any endings in Esperanto.

Ordinal numbers such as first, second and third end in -a and are adjectives, so they must agree with the nouns they describe: la unua tago (the first day); la unuaj tagoj (the first days).

Writing out numbers

Du mil okdek kvar
Two thousand eighty-four (2084)

Kvincent sesdek tri mil
Five hundred sixty-three thousand (563 000)

A million and beyond

Nombro vs Numero

Esperanto distinguishes between nombro and numero although both are translated as “number” in English.

Nombro

Nombro is a number that signifies an amount or is used to express a mathematical relationship. For example:

la nombro de personoj
the number of people

4 estas pli granda nombro ol 3.
4 is a larger number than 3.

Numero

Numero is a number used for labelling items in a series:

la numero de la domo
the house number

telefonnumero
phone number

la lasta numero de la gazeto
the last number [edition] of the newspaper.

Dates updated 2021-02-15 ^

Special conventions to express time

The -n ending refers to a specific occasion, while the -e ending usually describes a recurring event. However, not all Esperanto speakers make this distinction. Some people use the -e ending both for specific and recurring events, so dimanĉe may mean "on (a specific) Sunday" as well "on Sundays".

• Mi alvenos sabaton.
  I will arrive (on) Saturday.
  

• Ni venos la dek-kvinan de oktobro.
  We will come (on) the 15th of October.

• La renkontiĝo okazas sabate.
  The meeting happens on Saturdays / every Saturday.
  

• La renkontiĝo okazos sabate.
  The meeting will take place on Saturdays.
  The meeting will take place on Saturday (this Saturday).
  

The -n ending is also used to express duration:

• Mi restis unu horon (dum unu horo).
  I stayed for one hour.

• Li vojaĝos la tutan tagon (dum la tuta tago).
  He will travel all day (the whole day).

Spelling Conventions for Months and Days of the Week

Upper Case or Lower Case?
Months can either start with a lower case or capital letter: januaro, februaro; Januaro, Februaro. In this course, we have chosen to present the lowercase form.
Days of the week are always in lower case: lundo, mardo.

The 24-hour clock

In many countries, a 24-hour clock is often used. In that system, all times after 12 noon are formed by adding 12 to the clock time, so "am" and "pm" are not needed:

How to write longer ordinal numbers

For multi-word ordinal numbers, use hyphens between all the words in the number: ducent-okdek-sepa. We do this because the adjective ending -a relates to the entire number (287), not just to the 7 at the end.

La du-mil-okdek-kvara tago
The two thousand eighty-fourth day

It is also possible to write this as a single word la dumilokdekkvara tago but the hyphens make it easier to read.

Komenci, komenciĝi: what is the difference?

Komenci means to start or begin something, and takes a direct object with an -n ending:

• Mi komencas la manĝon.
  I am starting/beginning the meal.

Komenciĝi includes the -iĝ affix and means to begin or start on its own. It does not take a direct object:

• La manĝo komenciĝas.
  The meal is starting/beginning.

A more detailed explanation can be found in the notes for the module Verbs Present. You will learn more about the -iĝ affix in a module dedicated to both the -iĝ and the -ig affix.

Occupations updated 2021-02-15 ^

Gender markers related to professions:

As mentioned in the Family lesson notes, nouns not relating to family have no base gender:

aktoro : a male or female actor
dentisto : a male or female dentist

In these cases, you may choose to explicitly make a noun feminine by adding -in :

aktorino = a female actor
dentistino = a female dentist

Be aware that in some Esperanto settings, when you use a term like aktoro or dancisto, people may assume that you are talking about a man. In this course, we will not routinely present the feminine form of professions. However your responses using the feminine form when appropriate will be accepted as correct.

Studento and Lernanto

Studento - a student enrolled in a college or university.

Lernanto - a learner, or anyone who is learning; a school pupil.

Fariĝi

Fariĝi means "to become."

Ŝia filo fariĝis kuracisto.
Her son became a doctor.

Note that ŝia filo is the subject of the sentence, so of course it does not take the accusative -n ending. But why does kuracisto also not take the -n ending? Remember that the accusative -n is used when the subject is in some way acting on the object of the sentence. But in this sentence, the son is not acting on a doctor, he is becoming a doctor himself.

We will learn more about the -iĝ affix in later lessons.

Ŝajnas, ke ...

Ŝajnas, ke ... means "It seems, that ..."

Imperative and Volitive updated 2021-02-15 ^

Imperative: the -u ending.

The -u ending is used when ordering / inviting someone else to do something -- or when telling or suggesting to ourselves what to do!

Imperative + Infinitive

An imperative may be followed by an infinitive:

Bonvolu manĝi!
Please eat!

(NOT: Bonvolu manĝu. Do not use two imperatives one after the other in that way).

Questions with -u

In questions, the -u ending can be translated as "shall" or "should":

Ĉu ni iru?
Shall we go?
Should we go?

Ĉu mi legu tiun libron?
Shall I read that book?
Should I read that book?

The -u ending in subordinate phrases

We also use the -u ending in subordinate phrases (clauses) starting with ke, when the verb in the preceding, main part of the sentence expresses a want, desire, demand or preference:

Informo and Informoj

In English the word "information" is always singular, but in Esperanto you will often find it in the plural.

Adjectives updated 2021-02-15 ^

Adjectives

An adjective takes the -a ending and has to agree in number with the noun it modifies:

• bona homo = a good person
• bonaj homoj = good people
• Homoj estas bonaj. = People are good.

An adjective that modifies an object also takes the -n (direct object) ending:

Mi manĝas belajn kukojn. = I eat beautiful cakes.

In summary, an adjective's ending must match the ending of the noun it modifies.

Word Order

Word order in Esperanto can be flexible. Adjectives usually go before the noun, but they may sometimes be placed after the noun for special emphasis. Both of the following sentences are correct:
Ŝi estas bona instruisto.
Ŝi estas instruisto bona.
She is a good teacher.

Adjectives into verbs

In Esperanto, many (but not all) adjectives can be transformed into verbs, and are often used that way in conversations and in written texts. Here are a few of the adjectives that are frequently used in their verb forms:

Mi estas preta. = Mi pretas. = I am ready.
Li estas malsana. = Li malsanas. = He is sick.
Ŝi estas feliĉa. = Ŝi feliĉas. = She is happy.
Ni estas fieraj. = Ni fieras. = We are proud.
Ili estas lacaj. = Ili lacas. = They are tired.

Mal-

The prefix mal- simply means “opposite”. It does not mean “bad” as in some romance languages.

granda = big, large
malgranda = small, little
fermi = to close
malfermi = to open

Paired conjunctions:

Correlatives with -ia

Correlatives ending in -ia refer to a kind, sort, or type of something. They are adjectives and take the -j and -n endings where needed:

Kiajn librojn vi ŝatas legi?
What kinds of books do you like to read?

Directions updated 2021-02-15 ^

The -n ending and quantities, prices, distances, measurements, duration.

Besides being used to indicate a direct object, the accusative ending -n is used to indicate quantities, measurements, prices, distances, duration etc.:

Li pezas cent tri kilogramojn.
He weighs 103 kg.

Ĉu vi povas kuri kvindek kilometrojn?
Can you run 50 km?

Ili marŝis dudek kilometrojn.
They walked twenty kilometers.

La monto estas mil metrojn alta.
The mountain is 1000 m. high.

La ŝtofo estas du metrojn longa.
The fabric is two meters long.

La fadeno estas dudek centimetrojn.
The thread is 20 cm. long.

Ŝi restis ĉe ni ses semajnojn.
She stayed with us (for) six weeks.

La libro kostas naŭ dolarojn.
The book costs nine dollars.

La domo kostas tricent mil eŭrojn.
The house costs three hundred thousand euros.

La muzeo estas du kilometrojn for de mia hejmo. The museum is 2 km. away from my home.

Sometimes instead of the accusative you can use a preposition such as dum (while) or je (indefinite meaning). After these prepositions the accusative is not needed:

Ŝi restis ĉe ni dum ses semajnoj. She stayed with us for (during) six weeks. La monto estas alta je mil metroj.
The mountain is 1000 meters high. La muzeo estas for de mia hejmo je du kilometroj.
The museum is 2 km. away from my home.

Weights and Measures

English speakers are used to using non-metric weights and measures such as pounds and miles, but for speakers of other languages these quantities may be highly mysterious. For this reason, when speaking in Esperanto to non-English speakers it is best to use the metric system. The words for pounds, ounces, miles etc. do exist in Esperanto, but we do not teach them in this course. For the record, they are as follows, with approximate metric equivalents:

The words for “gallon”, “pint” and “yard” are barely used or known in Esperanto. A yard is almost the same as a meter, so use the word metro instead, and for liquid measurements use litro (liter).

Affixes 1 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Affixes

One of the greatest advantages of Esperanto is its flexible system of word particles that can be attached either in front of a word (prefixes) or at the end of a word (suffixes). There are 10 prefixes and 31 suffixes, which can be used to modify any word, as long as the result makes sense. When you finish the Affixes 3 module, you will know all of them! In this lesson, you'll review one prefix (mal-) and learn many suffixes:

See how these affixes affect the word varma:

Affixes as roots

Note that even though affixes in Esperanto are usually attached to a root word, they can also be used as roots themselves, for example:

Shopping updated 2021-02-15 ^

Vendejo and butiko

Vendejo is a more general term than butiko as it can mean any place where anything is sold, including a wholesale warehouse. Butiko refers to a retail store. However they are often used interchangeably when referring to retail locations.

Time updated 2021-02-15 ^

Post kiam/Antaŭ ol

The preposition post means "after" and is usually followed by a noun:

post la matenmanĝo
after breakfast

post la oka horo
after eight o'clock

However, if you want to use post with a verb phrase, you have to use post kiam:

Post kiam ni matenmanĝis...
After we [had] had breakfast...

Post kiam mi laboris, mi dormis.
After I [had] worked, I slept.

In the same way, antaŭ ol needs to be used before verbs.

Ni manĝis, antaŭ ol li alvenis.
We ate before he arrived.

Fractions

Fractions are made by adding the suffix -on to the base number. Fractions can be nouns (-o) or adjectives (-a) just like any other word in Esperanto. For example:

duona tago / duontago
a half day

Komenci, komenciĝi: what is the difference?

Komenci means to start or begin something, and takes a direct object with an -n ending:

• Mi komencas la manĝon. = I am starting/beginning the meal.

Komenciĝi includes the -iĝ affix and means to begin or start on its own. It does not take a direct object:

• La manĝo komenciĝas. = The meal is starting/beginning.

A more detailed explanation can be found in the notes for the module Verbs Present. You will learn more about the -iĝ affix in a module dedicated to both the -iĝ and the -ig affix.

Correlatives (tabelvortoj)

All the question words we have learned so far start with ki-, which has the general meaning of "what":

Similar words starting with ti- (general meaning of "that") are related to the question words:

And words starting with ĉi- (general meaning of "all") are also related:

All of these words (and more that we will learn as the course progresses) are part of a group of words in Esperanto called Correlatives (Eo: korelativoj). In Esperanto they are also called tabelvortoj because they can easily be arranged in one big table / chart.

In this module we learn iam (at any time, sometimes, ever) and neniam (at no time, never) to round out the words ending with -am that relate to time.

Finally, here's an overview of all the correlatives that you have learned so far:

Home 2 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Compound Words

Combining two words to make a new word is very common in Esperanto. The vowel ending of the first word may be dropped, or it may be retained if that makes the word easier to pronounce:

Also note that a hyphen may be added:

Esperanto + klubo = Esperantoklubo or Esperanto-klubo.

Purigi

Pur-ig-i means to clean (to make something clean), and comes from the adjective pura (clean). We will learn more about the affix -ig in future modules.

Manĝilaro

This is an example of a word with two affixes, and illustrates how easy and straightforward it is to build words in Esperanto:

Manĝ + -il + -aro =manĝilaro
Eat + tool + group = silverware

Loĝi and Vivi

English speakers usually use the verb “to live” for both meanings. However you should aim to make the distinction and use loĝi and vivi correctly in Esperanto, so that you will be reliably understood.

Mem

Mem means [my,your,his,her]-self, or [our, them]-selves.
It is used for emphasis:

Internet updated 2021-02-15 ^

The Conditional

Use the verb ending -us to talk about non-real, imagined situations, or to make polite requests.

Non-real situations

Non-real situations are the topic of "if...then" sentences, like this one:

• Se mi estus sana, mi laborus.
  If I were healthy, I would work.

Notice that Esperanto, unlike English, uses the -us form in both parts of the sentence - since both parts are non-real.

We also talk about non-real situations when we express our wish for something to be different from what/how it actually is:

• Se li nur estus iom pli bela!
  If only he were a bit more handsome!

The -us ending does not carry any temporal information. Thus, it is possible to use the -us ending for events in the past as well. When doing so, context usually indicates that we are talking about the past:

• Se Zamenhof scius la ĉinan, Esperanto estus malsama.
  If Zamenhof had known Chinese, Esperanto would be different.
• Se vi dirus tion al mi jam hieraŭ, mi ne farus la eraron.
  If you had told me this already yesterday, I would not have made the mistake.

Polite requests

The -us form can also be used to express polite requests.

• Ĉu vi volus iri al la kinejo kun mi?
  Would you like to go to the movies with me?
  
• Mi ŝatus iom pli da sukero.
  I would like a little more sugar.
  

Review of -n for direction

Remember to use the -n ending when talking about a movement towards a certain place. For example

• Metu la dosierojn en dosierujon!
  Put the files into a folder!

Retpoŝto vs. retmesaĝo

Retpoŝto means email in general; the service that allows you to send and receive electronic messages. A message sent by retpoŝto (email) is called retmesaĝo (an email).

Adverbs updated 2021-02-15 ^

Adverbs : the -e ending

Adverbs typically end in -e. An adverb describes or modifies a verb. We have already seen several examples of adverbs:

Adverbs can modify adjectives

Tio estas vere bela : That is truly beautiful.

Adverb after Estas

After estas, when there is no subject of the sentence, use an adverb, not an adjective.

Arts updated 2021-02-15 ^

Color Names

Some colors have their own names: blua (blue), verda (green), bruna (brown). Others are based on the colors of specific fruit or flowers, and require the suffix -kolora :

• oranĝo (orange, the fruit) -> oranĝkolora (orange, the color)
• rozo (rose, the flower) -> rozkolora (pink, the color).

In everyday use, these longer color names are often shortened: oranĝa, roza, viola.

Poezio, Poemo

Poetry has been a very important part of the Esperanto literary tradition from the beginning. The following terms are the most commonly used:

Some Esperanto speakers use poemo to refer mainly to longer poems; those speakers use poeziaĵo or versaĵo to describe shorter poems.

Feelings updated 2021-02-15 ^

Tiel...kiel

Tiel...kiel is a way of expressing a comparison:

Reflexive verb: senti

Please note that senti [to feel] in Esperanto is reflexive. For example:

• Mi sentas min feliĉa. = I feel happy.
• Kia vi sentas vin? = How do you feel?

Places updated 2021-02-15 ^

The -n ending for direction

The -n ending is used to show direction, when describing movement toward something or some place. However, it is not used after the prepositions ĝis, al or el, as they already show direction:

Eniri, eliri

Eniri and eliri are good examples of a common way to build new verbs in Esperanto: combine a preposition with an existing verb:

Ajn

Ajn means any or ever, and may be combined with various ki- and i- correlatives, usually for emphasis:

Troviĝi

Troviĝi means to be found or located. It comes from the verb trovi, to find. Because it contains the -iĝ affix, it is intransitive and does not take an object:

Ilia domo troviĝas en bela kvartalo.
Their house is located in a beautiful neighborhood.

Correlatives with -ie and -ien

Here is a chart which lists all the correlatives ending in -ie and -ien:

People updated 2021-02-15 ^

Correlatives with -u

-u words relate to a particular person or thing.

Correlatives with -es

-es words relate to possessing something.

Ties does not have a one word translation in English and means "that person's" or " that one's". It can be used to clarify a sentence that might be ambiguous in English. "He went to a restaurant with his cousin and his wife." Whose wife was it, the cousin's or his own?

• Li iris al la restoracio kun sia kuzo kaj sia edzino = He went to the restaurant with his cousin and his own wife.
• Li iris al la restoracio kun sia kuzo kaj ties edzino. = He went to the restaurant with his cousin and his cousin's wife.

Correlatives (tabelvortoj) summary:

In English, many question words begin with wh-: what, where, why, who, which, when. In Esperanto, question words of this type always begin with ki-.

Similar words starting with ti- (general meaning of "that") are related to the question words:

Similar words starting with i- (general meaning of some) are related too:

And similar words starting with ĉi- (general meaning of "all") are also related:

And words starting with neni- (general meaning of "none") are also related:

All of these words are part of a group of words in Esperanto called Correlatives (Eo: korelativoj). In Esperanto they are also called tabelvortoj because they can easily be arranged in one big table / chart.

The Body updated 2020-09-04 ^

Haroj/Hararo

The word haro means a single hair. Both haroj (hairs) and hararo (a group of hairs) can be used to describe the hair on one's head.

Verbs: -ig/-iĝ updated 2021-02-15 ^

-ig and -iĝ

The -ig and -iĝ suffixes express a change of state. -ig means to cause a change, while -iĝ means to experience a change, or change from one state to another:

The above example show how the -ig and -iĝ suffixes can be used with adjectives. They can also be used with verbs:

As you can see in the examples above, verbs ending in -ig always require an object, while those ending in -iĝ never do. In grammatical terns, the -ig verbs are transitive, while the -iĝ verbs are intransitive.

Many verbs in English can be both transitive and intransitive, but this is not possible in Esperanto, in which verbs are normally either transitive or intransitive, but not both. In English, we can say "The girl closed the window" and "The window closed" using the same verb, even thought the meaning is slightly different: in the first sentence the girl is acting on the window, while in the second the window became closed by itself. Examples of English words that can be both transitive and intransitive include "to open", "to close", "to start", "to finish", "to change" and "to move". These verbs in Esperanto-- malfermi, fermi, komenci, fini, ŝangi, movi--are all transitive, and to make them intransitive you must add the suffix -iĝ:

Here are some example sentences using words from the two charts above:

It is also possible to add the -iĝ ending to intransitive verbs like sidi (to sit, be sitting) and kuŝi (to lie, be lying down). In this setting the addition of -iĝ indicates a change of position to achieve a new state:

• Li sidiĝis sur la sofo.
  He sat down on the sofa. (He "became sitting" on the sofa.)
  
• La hundo kuŝiĝis sur la planko.
  The dog lay down on the floor. (The dog "became lying" on the floor.)

.

Abstract verbs updated 2021-02-15 ^

Flexible word types

In Esperanto, just changing the word ending can turn it into a different part of speech, for instance from a verb into a noun or adjective, or from an adjective to a verb. For example:

alveni (to arrive) --> la alveno (the arrival)
ekzisti (to exist) -- > la ekzisto (the existence)
pensi (to think) --> la penso (the thought)
pluvi (to rain) --> pluva (rainy)
bela (beautiful) --> belas (is/are beautiful)
laca (tired) --> lacas (is/are tired)
hundo (a dog) -- > hunda (canine)

Pezi and Pesi

Pezi means to be of a certain weight: Ŝi pezas 60 kilogramojn.
She weighs 60 kilograms.

Pesi means to weigh something else: Ŝi pesis la fiŝon.
She weighed the fish.

To weigh (pesi) something, of course you need a pesilo (scale)!

Health 1 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Kiel eble plej

Kiel eble plej..... followed by an adverb is an expression similar to the English expression "as .... as possible." For example:

Dolori al iu....

In Esperanto, we use dolori al to say that a particular part of the body hurts a person. Because the person who is hurting is specified (dolori al mi, dolori al ŝi), a possessive marker is optional for the body part:
Doloras al mi la kapo. OR "La kapo doloras al mi. OR Doloras min la kapo. OR La kapo doloras min.
My head hurts. (Head is the subject)
La brako doloras al ŝi. OR La brako doloras ŝin.
Her arm hurts. (Arm is the subject).
It is also possible to say Mia kapo doloras. (My head hurts.) or Ŝia brako doloras. (Her arm hurts) as we do in English. In these cases the al mi or min is left out but understood.

-n can take the place of certain prepositions

La can take the place of possessive pronouns

When talking about relatives, parts of one's body, a piece of one's clothing, an intimate possession, etc, la can take the place of a possessive pronoun; this usage is understood in the appropriate context—for example:

• La bebo imitas la gefratojn.
  The baby imitates [his/her/its] siblings.
• Ŝi vizitos la patrinon dimanĉe.
  She will visit her mother on Sunday.
• Mi perdis la koltukon.
  I lost my scarf.
  
• Mi finfine trovis la okulvitrojn.
  I finally found my glasses.
• La kapo doloras al mi.
  My head hurts.
• Lavu la manojn!
  Wash your hands!

Kontraŭ

Here we learn another use for the word kontraŭ, previously taught in its primary meaning of "against" or "opposite". In a medical setting, kontraŭ can mean "for" as in "for the purpose of treating or curing":
Mi prenis medikamenton kontraŭ febro.
I took a medication for fever.

Correlatives with -ial

-ial words refer to causation.

kialo

Kialo means "reason", and comes from the correlative kial, why.

Ekzerci sin: the reflexive form

In English, we use special pronouns, the so-called reflexive pronouns, if the object of a phrase refers to the same person(s) as the subject.

• I see you (you is a regular pronoun)
• You see yourself (yourself is a reflexive pronoun - it is used here because the person being seen is the same as the person who is seeing.)

Esperanto doesn't have reflexive pronouns for I/me, you or we/us.

Esperanto only has one reflexive pronoun, si, used for he/him, she/her, and they/them.

Ŝi vidas sin ("She sees herself"; the person who is being seen is the same as the person who is seeing.) -Ŝi vidas ŝin ("She sees her"; the person being seen is not the same as the person who is seeing.)

Si is gender-neutral and works for both singular and plural.

Travel updated 2021-02-15 ^

Ju (mal)pli...des (mal)pli

This is an expression equivalent to "the more... the more" or "the less...the less" in English. Ju always comes before des :

• Ju pli da mono, des pli da zorgo. (The more money, the more worry.)
• Ju pli frue, des pli bone. (The earlier, the better.)
• Ju malpli mi laboras, des malpli mi volas labori. (The less I work, the less I want to work.)
• Ju pli li atentas, des malpli li komprenas. (The more he pays attention, the less he understands.)
• Ju malpli da vortoj, des pli bone. (The fewer words, the better.)

Correlatives with -iel

-iel words refer to "how" or "in what way".

Tiel...kiel

When paired, tiel and kiel can mean as...as:

Vi estas tiel inteligenta kiel ŝi.
You are as intelligent as she (is).

Tiel alone can also be used for emphasis, as "so":

Kial vi estas tiel kolera?
Why are you so angry?

Congratulations!

You have now learned all of the correlatives! Here is a complete chart:

Veturi and Vojaĝi

Vojaĝi means to travel, and is a general term. Veturi is more specific, and means to travel by any means of transportation other than your own feet:

• Kiam vi vojaĝos al Ĉinio? = When will you travel to China?
• Ni preferas veturi al Berlino per aŭto. = We prefer to travel to Berlin by car.
  

Note: Veturilo means vehicle. Any mobile machine that transports people or cargo is a veturilo, for example: aviadilo (aircraft), motorciklo (motorcycle), aŭto (car).

-n after trans and transiri

Trans means "across, on the far side." When movement is involved, don't forget to add -n to the noun. Compare these two examples:

• Mia domo troviĝas trans la strato.
  My house is located across the street.
  
• La infano kuras trans la straton.
  The child is running across the street (to the other side of the street).
  

Transiri means "to go across":
Kial la koko transiris la vojon?
Why did the chicken cross the road?

Barato

The traditional name for India in Esperanto is Hindujo/Hindio. However, current usage favors the name Barato, which is the Esperanto translation of "Bharat", one of the official names of the country. You will find all three forms of the country's name in Esperanto texts.

Vendejo and butiko

Vendejo is a more general term than butiko as it can mean any place where anything is sold, including a wholesale warehouse. Butiko refers to a retail store. However they are often used interchangeably when referring to retail locations.

Pasporta Servo

Pasporta Servo is a hospitality network founded in 1966 and published by the Tutmonda Esperantista Junulara Organizo (TEJO). Free lodging is offered by over a thousand hosts in over 90 countries. Some Esperanto speakers use this network to travel cheaply while others use it to meet interesting people from around the world by hosting them in their own home. In 2009, this service made its transition online and can be found at www.pasportaservo.org.

Affixes 2 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Now let's add more affixes to the mix to multiply your vocabulary even further! You can add an affix to any Esperanto word as long as the result makes sense.

Expressions updated 2021-02-15 ^

Ĝis

Note that the word for bye in Esperanto is ĝis. This is short for ĝis la revido (goodbye), which literally means until the re-seeing. So, ĝis actually means until, but by itself means bye.

Sports 1 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Iri, Marŝi, Paŝi , and more

Iri means "to go"; it can be used whether the person is walking or using a vehicle. If you want to specifically emphasize that someone is walking, you can say piediri (literally, to go by foot). However, piediri is somewhat less common than "to walk" in English, as people tend to use the more general iri or something more specific, such as marŝi (to march), paŝi (to step), or promeni (to go for a walk).

Review of the Correlatives

Affixes 3 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Congratulations! After completing this lesson, you'll know all of Esperanto's 10 prefixes and 31 suffixes! With a little practice, you'll be able to combine these affixes into words with ease, giving you the ability to express yourself with amazing versatility and flexibility.

Ideas updated 2021-02-15 ^

Suffix -eco

English uses various suffixes to create abstract nouns which in Esperanto end in -eco:

• boneco - goodness
• patrineco - motherhood
• libereco - freedom
• amikeco - friendship
• egaleco - equality
• riĉeco - wealth
  

La before some abstract nouns

The definite article la is often used before abstract nouns:

• la amo - not one specific person's love for another, but love in the abstract sense
• la kulturo - not one specific culture, but culture in the general or abstract sense
• la espero - not my hope to receive a gift tomorrow, but the idea of hope in the abstract

Dependas de...

To depend on... is translated in Esperanto as dependi de (io) aŭ (iu).

Voyages updated 2021-02-15 ^

Barato

The traditional name for India in Esperanto is Hindujo/Hindio. However, current usage favors the name Barato, which is the Esperanto translation of "Bharat", one of the official names of the country. You will find all three forms of the country's name in Esperanto texts.

Pasporta Servo

Pasporta Servo is a hospitality network founded in 1966 and published by the Tutmonda Esperantista Junulara Organizo (TEJO). Free lodging is offered by over a thousand hosts in over 90 countries. Some Esperanto speakers use this network to travel cheaply while others use it to meet interesting people from around the world by hosting them in their own home. In 2009, this service made its transition online and can be found at www.pasportaservo.org.

Participles 1 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Participles

Participles are used to create complex verb forms, to express ideas such as "I will have read" or "The wine has been drunk". Participles are formed from verbs. There are two categories of participles: active and passive. Each category has present, future and past tenses.

Notice that the vowels "i", "a" and "o" are the same ones used for past, present and future verb endings.

In this skill we focus on the active participles.

Active participles

The present active participle is used for the English -ing ending: doing, seeing, believing, etc. Unlike English, though, the active participle in Esperanto also has past and future variants:

For example:

Participles are like adjectives

Participles end in -a like adjectives. In fact, they are used in the same way as adjectives, which means that they agree in number and case with the noun that they belong to:

• Mi estas skribanta. = I am (in the process of) writing.
• Ni estas skribantaj. = We are (in the process of) writing.
• Mi vidis kurantan viron. = I saw a man (in the process of) running / I saw a running man

More about active participles

Participles can be combined with past, present and future tenses of esti :

Examples with an active participle:
Li estas leganta la libron
He is (in the process of) reading the book.
Li estos leginta la libron.
(literally: He will be having read the book)
He will have read the book.
Li estas leginta la libron.
(literally: He is having read the book.)
He has read (has finished reading) the book.
Li estis leginta la libron.
(literally: He was having read the book)
He had read the book.

[Note: the "literal" translations above are presented as an aid to understanding and using participles; they are not colloquial English and are not acceptable translations of Esperanto sentences in this course].

Active participles + -o ending

An o-ending on a participle generally signifies a person:
la leganto - the reader
la skribanto - the writer
la gvidonto - the future guide

Devintus, Povintus

devintus = estus devinta = should have povintus = estus povinta = could have

Communication updated 2021-02-15 ^

Ĵurnalo, Revuo, Gazeto, etc

Abstract Objects updated 2021-02-15 ^

Use of adverb after infinitive or infinitive phrase

Lasi la hundon en la aŭto estas kruele. (NOT kruela)
To leave the dog in the car is cruel.

Lerni lingvon povas esti facile. (NOT facila) Learning a language can be easy.

inkluzive de, rilate al

Mi ŝatas manĝi fruktojn, inkluzive de oranĝoj.
I like to eat fruits, including oranges.

Kion vi opinias rilate al mi?
What is your opinion about me?

Health 2 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Rompi and rompiĝi, okupi and okupiĝi

We have already encountered the intransitive -iĝ affix when learning fariĝi, komenciĝi, and a variety of other verbs. Similarly, rompi means to break something, while rompiĝi means to become or get broken. And okupi means to occupy something, while okupiĝi means to become occupied.

Trinki and Drinki

Trinki means to drink any kind of liquid, including water, milk, coffee, wine or beer:

Mi preferas trinki akvon.
I prefer to drink water.

Ŝi ŝatas trinki glason da vino vespere. She likes to drink a glass of wine in the evening.

Drinki means to drink an alcohol-containing beverage to excess:

Li drinkis tro da biero, kaj malsaniĝis.
He drank too much beer, and got sick.*

Passive Participles updated 2021-02-15 ^

Participles

Participles are used to create complex verb forms, to express ideas such as "I will have read" or "The wine has been drunk". Participles are formed from verbs. There are two categories of participles: active and passive. Each category has present, future and past tenses.

Notice that the vowels "i", "a" and "o" are the same ones used for past, present and future verb endings.

In this skill we focus on the passive participles.

Passive participles

Let's look at these two English sentences:

The owl ate the mouse.
The mouse was eaten by the owl.

They both say the same thing, but in the second sentence the mouse becomes the focus of interest, and also the subject of the verb, instead of the owl. To use the correct grammatical terms, the first sentence has an active verb, "ate", and the second verb has a passive verb "was eaten".

Here are examples of the use of passive participles:

Participles are like adjectives

Participles end in -a like adjectives. In fact, they are used in the same way as adjectives, which means that they agree in number and case with the noun that they belong to:
La libro estas legita. = The book (literally: is having been read) has been read.
La libroj estas legitaj. = The books (literally: are having been read) have been read.
Mi trovis du rompitajn poŝtelefonojn. = I found two mobile phones (literally: having been broken) that had been broken / I found two broken mobile phones.

More about participles

Participles can be combined with past, present and future tenses of esti:

Examples with a passive participle:
La libro estos legita.
(literally: The book will be having been read.)
The book will have been read.
La libro estas legita.
(literally: The book is having been read.)
The book has been read.
La libro estis legita.
(literally: The book was having been read.)
The book had been read.

[Note: the "literal" translations above are presented as an aid to understanding and using participles; they are not colloquial English and are not acceptable translations of Esperanto sentences in this course].

Participles + -o ending

An o-ending on a participle generally signifies a person: la elektito - the one who got elected
la konato - the one who is known, the acquaintance

Animals 2 updated 2021-02-15 ^

Duo

Duo is the name given by Duolingo to its mascot, the green owl. It is not the word for owl in Esperanto. The Esperanto word for owl is strigo.

Tiel... kiel

The combination tiel...kiel means as...as:

Ĉu vi kantas tiel bone kiel ŝi?
Do you sing as well as she (does)?

Ŝi estas tiel bela, kiel mia fratino.
She is as pretty as my sister.

Ju (mal)pli...des (mal)pli

This is an expression equivalent to "the more... the more" or "the less...the less" in English. Ju always comes before des :

• Ju pli da mono, des pli da zorgo. (The more money, the more worry.)
• Ju pli frue, des pli bone. (The earlier, the better.)
• Ju malpli mi laboras, des malpli mi volas labori. (The less I work, the less I want to work.)
• Ju pli li atentas, des malpli li komprenas. (The more he pays attention, the less he understands.)
• Ju malpli da vortoj, des pli bone. (The fewer words, the better.)

Kiel eble plej

Kiel eble plej..... followed by an adverb is an expression similar to the English expression "as .... as possible." For example:

Politics updated 2021-02-15 ^

The suffix -ism

The Esperanto suffix -ism- can be used to denote a world view, religion, ideology or system, similarly to the suffix "-ism" in English. It can be attached

1. either to a word that describes the worldview or system, as in naciismo (nationalism) and komunismo" (communism), derived from nacio (nation) and komuna (common, as in common ownership),

2. or to the name of the founder of that worldview or religion, as in budhismo (Buddhism) and marksismo (Marxism),

3. or to a word that denotes an adherent of that worldview or religion, as in kristanismo (Christianity), hinduismo (Hinduism), judismo (Judaism) and veganismo (veganism), which are derived from kristano (a Christian), hinduo (a Hindu), judo (a Jew) and vegano (a vegan).

More about the -ism and -ist affixes

If you are interested in exploring this topic in more detail, read on.

In 1. above, the adherent of that worldview is usually named by replacing the suffix -ism- by -ist-. So naciisto and komunisto mean a nationalist and a communist. However, as -ist- also denotes a profession, this can in some cases cause confusion, as in the word kapitalisto (a capitalist), which is usually used for a person in control of capital rather than for an adherent of capitalism. To clearly name an adherent in such a case, one can add the suffix -an- after -ism. So kapitalismano is a clear word for an adherent of capitalism, which should not be confused with a capitalist in the sense of a person in control of capital.

In 2. above, the adherent of that world view can be named by replacing -ism- by either -ist- or -an- (-ist- is generally prefered for adherents of a non-religious worldview named after a person, and -an- for adherents of a religion named after a person): So marksisto means "a Marxist", while a Buddhist can be called either budhano or budhisto (the first one is a little bit more common).

The word islamo (Islam) is the name of the religion, and the word of its adherents is formed using the suffix -an-: islamano (a Muslim). If you add the suffix -ism- to islamo, the resulting word islamismo is usually understood as a political ideology based on Islam, like the word "Islamism" in English.

Note that the word kristanismo just like budhismo derives from the title of the founder, but in the case of kristanismo, the name of the religion is based on the word kristano for an adherent of the religion (which in turn derives from the title Kristo (Christ) of the founder), whereas in the case of budhismo it is directly derived from the title Budho (Buddha) of the founder.

Spiritual updated 2021-02-15 ^

The suffix -ism and religions

The Esperanto suffix -ism- can be used to denote a world view, religion, ideology or political system, similarly to the suffix "-ism" in English.

The suffix -an- is used to indicate the follower of a religion. However, this does not apply to judo (a Jew) and hinduo (a Hindu), since judismo and hiduismo are derived from the term for their followers, rather than the other way around.

Note that the word islamo (Islam) is the name of the religion, and the word for its followers is formed using the suffix -an-: islamano (a Muslim). If you add the suffix -ism- to islamo, the resulting word islamismo is usually understood as a political ideology based on Islam, like the word "Islamism" in English. Its followers are called islamistoj (islamists)

Science updated 2021-02-15 ^

Po

There is no exact equivalent of the word po in English, which means approximately "at the rate of". It is used to indicate that a certain amount has been given to each of several recipients, or given at regular intervals over a certain period of time. Po introduces the amount that is given each time or to each recipient, not the total amount to be distributed. The word po will always be followed by some expression of quantity. In English translations of sentences with po, you will often find the word "each":

Mi donis al la infanoj po du pomoj.
I gave two apples to each child.
I gave each child two apples.

La amikoj trinkis po du glasoj da vino.
The friends each drank two glasses of wine.
The friends drank two glasses of wine each.

Po can also be used for prices.
La pomoj kostas po du dolaroj.
The apples cost two dollars each.

Note that po always refers to the quantity being distributed, and NOT to the number of people or the period of time among whom or which they are distributed.

La tri virinoj kantis po kvar kantoj.
The three women sang four songs each.
(i.e. each woman sang four songs, and a total of 3 x 4=12 songs were sung.)

La kvar pomoj kostas po du dolaroj.
The four apples cost two dollars each.
(i.e. each apple costs two dollars, for a total cost of 4 x 2= 8 dollars.)

Po is a preposition, and so is not followed by an accusative, the same as al, de or da. However, these days many people treat po as an adverb and add the accusative ending where appropriate. Both ways are considered acceptable:

Mi donis al la infanoj po du pomojn.
Mi donis al la infanoj po du pomoj.
I gave the children two apples each.
I gave each child two apples.

Ili trinkas po unu glason.
They drink one glass each.

Let's Flirt updated 2021-02-15 ^

Esperanto is a flexible language

The great thing about Esperanto is that it’s so flexible. Nouns can become verbs, verbs can become adjectives, and so on. In this way you can create new words to elegantly express a concept which might require an entire phrase in English. As you have already seen, the adverb ending -e is particularly productive in Esperanto. Here are some examples:

Here are some examples with different parts of speech: adjectives can be turned into verbs, verbs into adjectives, nouns into verbs and adjectives, to name just a few of the possibilities.

Word Building updated 2022-07-04 ^

Formation of compound words

The two or more parts of a compound word may be connected with a hyphen, if desired; they are usually written as a single word.

Word formation in Esperanto by combination:

Noun + Verb
voĉo + doni → “voĉdoni” (“to vote”, not “to give voice”)
piedo + iri → “piediri” (“to walk”, “to go by foot”)
kapo + jesi → “kapjesi” (“to consent by nodding the head”)
scii + volo → “scivolo” (“curiosity about something”) → “scivola” (“curious”)

Adjective + Noun
bona + koro → “bonkoro” (not used) → “bonkora” (“good-hearted”, “kind”)
bona + deziro → “bondeziro” (“a wish for someone’s happiness”)
rapida + vagonaro → “rapidvagonaro” (“high-speed train”)
nova + jaro → “novjaro” (“New Year”)

Noun + Noun
domo + pordo → “dompordo” (“door of house”, “entry”)
vino + botelo → “vinbotelo” (“wine bottle”)
floro + poto → “florpoto” (“flowerpot”)
poŝto + marko → “poŝtmarko” (“stamp”)

Note that combining an adjective with a noun or a verb with a noun yields a word with a new meaning. Combining a noun with a noun yields a word that describes the relationship between the two nouns.

Congratulations!

You've reached the final skill of Duolingo's Esperanto course! For ideas on how to continue using the language after finishing this course, please see:
Finished the Esperanto tree, now what?

Let's Chat updated 2021-02-15 ^

Adjectives into verbs

In Esperanto, many (but not all) adjectives can be transformed into verbs, and are often used that way in conversations and in written texts. Here are a few of the adjectives that are frequently used in their verb forms:

Mi estas preta. = Mi pretas. = I am ready.
Li estas malsana. = Li malsanas. = He is sick.
Ŝi estas feliĉa. = Ŝi feliĉas. = She is happy.
Ni estas fieraj. = Ni fieras. = We are proud.
Ili estas lacaj. = Ili lacas. = They are tired.
Mi estas certa = Mi certas = I am sure.

In this skill we introduce additional words that fit this pattern and that are frequently used in conversation.