The Definite Article the is in Esperanto represented by la.
Like the article in English, la does not vary with the number or gender
of the noun before which it is placed; e.g., la briko, the brick; la brikoj,
the bricks; la patro, the father; la patrinoj, the mothers.
The Indefinite Article a is not expressed in Esperanto. Thus,
"filo" is son or a son.
In Esperanto every noun in the singular ends in o. Thus: viro, a
man; la libro, the book. The plural is formed from the singular by adding
the termination -j. Thus: viroj, men; la libroj, the books.
In order to allow each nation to construct its sentences in the order
to which it is accustomed, every noun in Esperanto has two forms or
"cases," (1) the Nominative, or unchanged form, and (2) the Accusative,
which is formed from the nominative by adding the termination -n. This
is merely to distinguish between subject and object. The accusative
form is also used to indicate motion towards, etc.
All adjectives end in the nominative singular in a. They may be
placed either before or after the noun. As in the case of the noun, the
plural is formed by adding the termination -j, and the accusative is
formed by adding -n to the nominative. The adjective agrees in number
and case with the noun which it qualifies. Ex.:—
- Blua libro (or libro blua), a blue book; bluaj libroj, blue books.
- La viro legas bluan libron. The man reads a blue book.
- La viroj legas bluajn librojn. The men are reading blue books.
Thanks to the accusative case, one might say without loss of clearness:
Bluan libron legas la viro, or la viro bluan libron legas,
or bluan
libron la viro legas, etc.
There are three degrees of comparison, as in English:
The Positive, as bona, good; bela, beautiful; granda, big, great.
The Comparative is formed by placing pli (more) or malpli (less)
before the positive, thus: bona, good—pli bona, better; bela, beautiful—malpli
bela, less beautiful. The comparison may be heightened by using
multe (much), thus: multe pli (or malpli) bela.
Than is translated by ol, thus: pli (or malpli) bela ol…, more (or less)
beautiful than…
The Superlative degree is formed by using plej (most) with the
positive; as bela, beautiful—plej bela, most beautiful.
Of with a superlative is translated by the preposition el (out of). La
plej granda el ĉiuj, the greatest of all.
The more…the more, the less…the less, are translated by means of the
particles ju and des. Thus: Ju pli oni studas, des pli oni lernas, the
more one studies, the more one learns. Ju pli mi kun li parolas, des
malpli mi lin estimas, the more I speak to him, the less I esteem him.
The Cardinal Numbers may be used as nouns, by the addition of the
ending -o. Thus, unuo, a unit; trio, a trio; dekduo, a dozen; dudeko, a
score; cento, a hundred; milo, a thousand. Note that miliono is ALWAYS
used as a noun.
When a number or any other word is used as a noun of quantity, the
noun which follows it must be preceded by the quantitative preposition
da:—Dekduo da ovoj, a dozen eggs; milo da soldatoj, a thousand soldiers
(one might of course also say dek du ovoj, mil soldatoj); du metroj da
drapo, two metres of cloth; tri funtoj da sukero, three pounds of sugar.
The Ordinal Numbers are formed by adding the adjectival ending
-a to the Cardinals. In Compound Ordinal Numbers, the groups of hundreds,
tens, units, etc., are joined by hyphens, and the ending -a is added
to the unit numeral. Thus: unu, one—unua, first; tria, third; dek-unua,
eleventh; tridek-sepa, thirty-seventh; kvarcent-sesdek-dua, 462nd,
and so on. Written in figures these would be 1a, 3a, 11a, 37a, 462a.
The Ordinals are of course inflected like adjectives.
(See page 77.)
Fractionals are formed by adding the suffix -on (plus the endings o,
a, or e as required) to the Cardinal Numbers. Thus: unu duono, one-half;
tri kvaronoj, three-quarters; dek sep dek-naŭonoj, 17/19; dudek tri
kvarmil-kvincent-tridek-naŭonoj, 23/4539. Duone vera (or duonvera), half-true.
Tri-kvaronoj da funto (or trikvaronfuntoj), ¾ lb. Duono da funto
(or duonfunto), ½ lb.
Multiple Numbers are formed from the Cardinals by adding the
suffix -obl, with the requisite grammatical ending o, a, or e. Thus:
duobla, double; duoblo, a double; duoble, doubly; tridekoble, thirty-fold;
sesoble naŭ estas (or faras) kvindek kvar, six nines are fifty-four;
duoble du estas kvar, twice two are four.
Collective Numerals are formed by the addition of the suffix -op
(plus the grammatical termination required). Thus: duope, two at a
time, two together; naŭope, nine at a time; ili venadis dekope, they came
in tens; dumilopa taĉmento, a detachment two thousand strong.
Distributives are shown by the preposition po, meaning at the rate
of. Thus: li aĉetis por ĉiu infano po ses pomoj, he bought six apples for
each child; li ricevas po dek ŝilingoj por ĉiu tago, he gets ten shillings a
day; la vagonaro veturas po sesdek mejloj en ĉiu horo (or ĉiuhore), the
train travels at (the rate of) sixty miles an hour, etc.
The Personal Pronouns are, in the nominative:
Mi, I; vi, you (sing. and pl.); ni, we; li, he; ŝi, she; ĝi, it; ili, they.
The archaic English thou may be translated by ci.
The Accusative case of the personal pronouns is formed like that of
nouns and adjectives, by adding -n. Thus: Min, me; vin, you; nin, us;
lin, him; ŝin, her; ĝin, it; ilin, them.
The Reflexive Pronoun of the 3rd person is si (accusative sin),
standing for himself, herself, itself, one's-self, or themselves, as the case
may be. There is no special reflexive form for the pronouns of the 1st
and 2nd person, I, we, and you.
The Indefinite Personal Pronoun is oni (= the French on)—one,
people, they, you. Ex.: Li amas sin, he loves himself; ŝi amas sin, she
loves herself; ĝi montras sin, it shows itself; ili diras al si, they say to
themselves; oni vidas sin, one sees one's-self; mi lavas min, I wash
myself; vi laŭdas vin, you praise yourself.
By adding the adjectival ending -a to the personal pronouns, the
Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns are obtained. Thus: Mia, my,
mine; cia, thy, thine; via, your, yours; nia, our, ours; lia, his; ŝia,
her, hers; ĝia, its; sia (reflexive), his, her(s), its, their(s), one's.
Note the following use of sia. In English the sentence, "He saw his
friend with his brother," is not clear. Does it mean that he saw
his friend (1) with his friend's brother, or (2) with his own brother?
In Esperanto, the use of sia makes the meaning quite clear; (1)
would be: Li vidis sian amikon kun LIA frato, and (2) would be:
Li vidis sian amikon kun SIA frato.
The word mem, meaning -self or -selves, may be added to a personal
pronoun to give emphasis. Thus: Konu vin mem, know thyself; li iris
mem, he went himself; li mem, himself; li parolis al si mem, he spoke
to himself.
Like other adjectives, possessives agree in case and number with the
noun to which they refer. Ex.:
- lia libro, his book; liaj libroj, his books;
- ŝi havas lian, kaj li havas ŝian, she has his, and he has hers;
- liaj estas la plej bonaj libroj, his are the best books;
- mi preferas miajn, I prefer mine; li preferas siajn, he prefers his;
- ili preferas siajn, they prefer theirs.
The Demonstrative Adjective and Pronoun "that" is rendered in
Esperanto by the word tiu (acc. tiun); plural tiuj (acc. tiujn), those.
The addition (either before or after) of the particle ĉi to the singular and
plural respectively, gives this and these. Ex.:
- Tiu viro, that man. Tiu estas mia, that (one) is mine.
- Mi elektas tiun, I choose that (one).
- Mi preferas tiun ĉi (or ĉi tiujn), I prefer this (one).
- Tiuj ĉi (or ĉi tiuj) estas miaj, these are mine.
- Mi portos tiujn ĉi, I will carry these.
Kiu?—who, which? Plural, kiuj? Kio?—what? Kies?—whose?
Al kiu?—to whom? Kiun?—whom? (acc.), kiujn? (acc. plu.).
Ex.:
- Kiu estas tiu?—who is that?
- Kiun vi deziras vidi?—whom do you desire to see?
- Kiuj foriris?—which (ones) went away?
- Kiujn vi vidis?—which ones did you see?
Kiu is also used with Adjectival meaning. Thus: Kiu libro estas
via?—which book is yours? Kiun libron vi preferas?—which book do
you prefer? Kiuj domoj apartenas al vi?—which houses belong to you?
Kiujn stratojn vi konas?—which streets do you know? Kio estas tio?—what
is that? Kion li volas?—what does he want?
The English -ever is translated by ajn. For example: Kiu ajn li
estas, ne parolu al li, whoever he be, do not speak to him. Kies ajn,
whosesoever. Kiu(j)n ajn, whomever.
The Relative Pronouns are identical with the Interrogative: Kiu(j),
who, that, which, kiu(j)n, whom, that, which. Ex.:
- La libro, kiun vi legas, the book (which) you are reading.
- Tiu, kiu parolis al vi, the one who spoke to you.
- La personoj, kiujn li konas, the persons (whom) he knows.
- Tio, kion li diras, ne estas vera, what he says is not true.
- La arbo, kies supron vi vidas, the tree whose top you can see.
- iu (acc. iun), anyone, someone or other;
- ies, anyone's, someone's;
- iuj (acc. iujn), any persons, some persons or other;
- io (acc. ion), anything, something.
- ĉiu (acc. ĉiun), everyone, each;
- ĉies, everyone's, everybody's, each one's;
- ĉiuj (acc. ĉiujn), everybody, all;
- ĉio (acc. ĉion), everything, all.
- neniu (acc. neniun), no one, nobody;
- nenies, no one's, nobody's;
- nenio (acc. nenion), nothing, not anything.
Note.—Iu, ĉiu, and neniu are also used with nouns. Thus: Kiun
libron vi deziras? Which book do you desire? Iun ajn libron.
Any book. Iu homo, any man, some man or other. Ĉiu bona
patro amas siajn infanojn, every good father loves his children.
Ĉiuj liaj amikoj (or ĉiu lia amiko), all his friends, every friend of
his. Mi renkontis neniun amikon, I met no friend.
Other Pronominal Words and Expressions are:
multaj(n), many; multo(n), much; malmultaj(n), malmulte da…, a few.
Ex.: malmultaj personoj, few persons; malmulte da scio,
little knowledge.
kelkajn, some, several; kelke da…, some. Ex.: kelkaj personoj, some
persons, several persons; kelke da libroj, some (quantity of) books.
alia(n), another, other; aliaj(n), others. Ex.: ili parolis unu al alia,
they spoke to one another; ni parolis unu al la alia, we spoke to
each other; unu aŭ la alia taŭgos, either (one or the other) will do;
nek unu nek la alia konvenas, neither (one nor the other) is suitable.
ambaŭ (invariable), both. Ex.: ambaŭ venis, both came; mi konas
ambaŭ fratojn, I know both brothers; mi vidis ilin ambaŭ, I saw
both of them; mi ŝatas ambaŭ, I like both.
The Verb in Esperanto has three main Tenses—the Present, Past,
and Future. These are denoted by means of the verbal endings -as, -is,
and -os. Thus, from the root vid, see, are formed:
| Present. | Past. | Future. |
| mi vidas, I see | mi vidis, I saw | mi vidos, I shall see |
Every Esperanto verb has three Moods—the Conditional, the Imperative,
and the Infinitive, which are formed respectively by means of
the endings -us, -u, and -i. Thus:
| Conditional. | Imperative. | Infinitive. |
| mi vidus, I should see | vidu, see! | vidi, to see |
The Conditional Mood is used to express supposition; the three
Tenses, on the other hand, are used to express facts or actual happenings.
(For examples, see
"Conjunctions," page 83.)
The Imperative Mood is used to express an order, desire, wish, will,
etc. (See page 84.) Used with the personal pronouns of the 1st and 2nd
persons, this mood corresponds to the English let, used as an expression
of a wish. Thus: mi pensu, let me think; li venu morgaŭ, let him come
to-morrow; ili parolu, let them speak.
Note that let sometimes means to allow, to give leave, in which case
the verb lasi is used. Thus: let (allow) him come, lasu lin veni;
leave it there, lasu ĝin tie.
The Imperative may be used interrogatively to translate the English
shall, with an idea of wish or desire. Thus:
- What shall I give you? Kion mi donu al vi?
- What shall we do to-day? Kion ni faru hodiaŭ?
What will he do? would of course be simply Kion li faros?—for there is
here no question of desire or wish, but merely a question of future action.
The Infinitive Mood is used to express the mere idea of the verb,
without any limit of person or number, and corresponds to the English to
before the verb. Thus: kuri, to run; paroli, to speak.
Note.—In Esperanto, as is largely the case in English, the mood and
tense endings of the verb do not vary according to person or number.
For instance: mi vidas, I see, li vidas, he sees; also ni
vidis, we saw, ili vidis, they saw; vi vidos, you will see; oni vidos,
one will see; ŝi vidus, she would see, vi vidus, you would see.
There are in Esperanto six participles, three active and three passive,
corresponding to three tenses. They are formed in the Active by means
of the endings -ant, -int, and -ont, and in the Passive by means of the
endings -at, -it, -ot, with the addition of the adjectival termination -a.
Thus:
| Active. | Present. | Past. | Future. |
| | vidanta, seeing |
vidinta, having-seen |
vidonta, about-to-see |
| Passive. | | | |
| | vidata, (being) seen |
vidita, (having-been) seen |
vidota, (about-to-be) seen |
The Participles may be used either as Nouns, Adjectives, or Adverbs,
the terminations -o, -a, -e being added to the participial endings as required.
When used as nouns or adjectives, they of course take the sign
of the Plural (-j) and of the Accusative (-n) when the construction of the
sentence so requires. Ex.:
(1) Active. En la venonta jaro, in the coming year. La parolanto, the
speaker. La aŭskultantoj, the audience (lit., listeners). Mi vidis
lin skribantan, I saw him writing. Li foriris kurante, he went off
at a run. Li revenis ne vidinte sian amikon, he returned without
having seen his friend.
(2) Passive. La ekzamenato, the examinee. La mortigitoj kaj vunditoj,
the killed and wounded. Estimata sinjoro, dear (lit., esteemed)
sir. Frapote, li sin defendis, about to be struck, he defended
himself. Mi aŭdis tiun himnon kantatan, I heard that hymn sung.
The Compound Tenses are formed by means of the auxiliary verb
esti, to be. Thus, by the combination of the participles with the six
tenses and moods, we obtain thirty-six compound tenses, enabling us to
express with the utmost precision any time-relation whatsoever. We
have in all:
li estas, or estus, |
or estis, or estu, |
or estos or esti |
vidanta or vidata
vidinta or vidita
vidonta or vidota
|
The use of the participles is very easy when once one grasps the fact
that the auxiliary esti serves to denote the particular division of time, or
the particular manner, of the occurrence of the action denoted by the
participle. Ex.:
- Li estis skribanta, kiam mi vidis lin, he was writing when I saw him.
- Li estis fininta, kiam mia amiko alvenis, he had finished (lit., was
having finished) when my friend arrived.
- Mi estis tuj forironta, kiam vi aperis, I was just about to go out when
you appeared.
- Li estas nunmomente parolanta, he is speaking at this very moment.
- Li estas mortonta, he is about to die.
- Li estus jam foririnta, he would
have already departed (lit., would be already gone away).
The word by after a Passive is translated by the preposition de. Thus:
The wood was being chopped by the boy, la ligno estis hakata de la knabo.
He has been seen by all, li estas vidita de ĉiuj.
Note.—The Compound Tenses should not be used if the Simple
Tenses suffice to show the meaning clearly. Thus, I have seen him
is more neatly expressed by mi jam vidis lin than by mi estas
vidinta lin. Li jam foriris might stand for either he had gone or
he has gone, according to circumstances, and the context would
clearly show which was meant. Li parolas is generally quite right
for he is speaking. Li estas parolanta should be used only when it
is particularly intended to show that he is actually engaged in the
act of speaking.
In Esperanto, Adverbs are denoted by the ending -e, and may be
placed in any position, either before or after the verb. Thus: bela,
beautiful—bele, beautifully; vera, true—vere, truly. Li parolas saĝe, he
speaks wisely. Li rapide kuras, he runs quickly.
Adverbial Numbers are formed by adding -e to the Cardinals.
Thus: unue (1e), firstly; trie (3e), thirdly; sepe (7e), etc.
In English, one preposition often has many different meanings. In
Esperanto, on the contrary, every preposition, with the exception of the
word je, has one precise and fixed meaning.
The preposition je is the only one in Esperanto without a definite
meaning. It sometimes happens that one wishes to use a preposition of
some sort or other, but is uncertain just which preposition will precisely
express the idea. In such cases je is used. Thus: He laughed at me,
li ridis je mi; full of water, plena je akvo; six metres long, longa je ses
metroj; fear of him, timo je li, etc.
Je should not be abused. Its too frequent use is a mark of the
beginner in the language.
When there is no ambiguity to be feared, the preposition je, and even
other prepositions, are often omitted in Esperanto; and the word to which
the preposition, if expressed, would have referred is put into the accusative.
Thus, instead of saying li ridas je mi (he is laughing at me), one
might say li ridas min; similarly, du metrojn alta would stand for alta je
du metroj. Ĝi kostis je tri ŝilingoj is more usually expressed: ĝi kostis tri
ŝilingojn. Mi restis tie dum kvin horoj (I stayed there for five hours)
could be: mi restis tie kvin horojn; and so on.
Certain prepositions, viz., antaŭ, before, ĉe, at, en, in, sub, under,
sur, on, kontraŭ, against, super, over, and trans, across, are often used
to denote movement towards, whereas of themselves they only express
rest at. In order to make it quite clear whether motion or rest is intended,
use is made of the accusative. Thus: li promenis en la urbo, he
took a walk in the city; but li promenis en la urbon, he took a walk into
the city. Li kuris antaŭ mi, he ran (along) before or in front of me; but
li paŝis antaŭ min, he stepped in front of me; and so on.
Adverbs are sometimes used with prepositional force. Thus: proksime
de la domo, near the house; dekstre de la arbo, on the right of the
tree, etc.
A full list of Conjunctions will be found on
page 72. The following
constructions should be noted:
- Mi vidis, ke ŝi ploras, I saw (that) she was crying.
- Mi sciis, ke li venos, I knew that he would come.
- Mi sciis, ke li jam alvenis, I knew (that) he had already arrived.
- Li diris, ke se li estus tiel granda, kiel mi, li facile farus tion, he said that
if he were as tall as I, he would easily do that.
Note that in Esperanto the verb is put in the exact time or tense
used by the speaker. Thus: mi ne sciis, ĉu li venos, I did not know
whether he would (lit., will) come; ili ne diris, ĉu ili vin renkontis, they
did not say whether they had met you.
After verbs expressing wish, intention, will, or desire, or command,
the verb following is put in the Imperative Mood. Thus: mi ordonas, ke
li venu, I order that he come (him to come); mi tre deziris, ke li vivu, I
very much wanted him to live; ili intencis, ke ni perdu, they intended us
to lose. Here the actual expressions used were: li venu, li vivu, ili perdu.
- Se vi tiel diris, vi malprave faris, if you spoke thus you did wrongly.
- Se vi tiel dirus, vi estus malprava, if you said (were to say) thus, you
would be wrong.
- Se vi venos, vi vidos, if you (will) come, you will see.
The following are the principal Interjections:
| adiaŭ! | adieu! farewell! |
| ah! | ah! |
| antaŭen! | forward! |
| atentu! | look out! |
| bis! | encore! |
| bone! | good! |
| certe! | certainly! |
| ĉu ne? or ĉu ne vere? | is not that so? |
| ĉu vere? | is that so? |
| efektive! | indeed! |
| fi! | fie! |
| for! | away! be off! |
| ha! | ha! |
| halt! | halt! |
| he! | hey! halloo! |
| ho! | oh! |
| ho ve! | alas! |
| hontinde! | shameful! |
| jen! | there! |
| kompreneble! | naturally! of course! |
| ne! | no! |
| neeble! | impossible! |
| nu! | well! |
| rapide! | quick! |
| rapidu! | hurry up! |
In Esperanto, considerable use is made of prefixes and suffixes, every
one of which has a clear, fixed meaning. Great economy of vocabulary
is thus effected, one root-word in Esperanto sufficing, when modified by
suitable affixes, to translate many English words. Many of the affixes
are often met with as single words. In such cases the English translation
is added after the various examples of the affix in question.
bo- denotes Relationship by Marriage: patro, father, bopatro, father-in-law;
filo, son, bofilo, son-in-law.
dis- denotes Separation: ĵeti, to throw, disĵeti, to scatter, throw about;
peli, to drive along, dispeli, to dispel, fali, to fall, disfali, to fall
apart, fall to pieces.
ek- denotes a Beginning of an Action, a Momentary Action: iri, to
go, ekiri, to begin to go, to start; brili, to shine, ekbrili, to begin to
shine, to flash.
ge- denotes the Two Sexes Taken Together: patro, father, gepatroj,
father and mother, parents; frato, brother, gefratoj, brother(s) and
sister(s); Gesinjoroj B., Mr. and Mrs. B.
mal- denotes the Opposite of an Idea: bona, good, malbona, bad; ŝati,
to like, malŝati, to dislike; amiko, friend, malamiko, enemy; laŭta,
loud, mallaŭte, softly.—Malo, an opposite; male, on the contrary.
pra- is a prefix of Relationship, corresponding to the English FORE-,
GREAT-: patro, father, prapatro, forefather, ancestor; avo, grandfather;
praavo, great-grandfather; nepo, grandson, pranepo, great-grandson.
re- denotes Return and Repetition: iri, to go, reiri, to go back, or to
go again; repreni, to take back; revidi, to see again.—Ree, again.
-aĉ denotes that a word is used in a Bad Sense, with Disparagement:
domo, a house, domaĉo, a hovel; ridi, to laugh, ridaĉi, to sneer.
-ad denotes Continuation or Duration of an action: paroli, to speak,
paroladi, to make a speech; kanto, a song, kantado, singing; vojaĝo,
a voyage, vojaĝado, travelling; rido, a laugh, ridado, laughter.
-aĵ denotes some Concrete Thing characterized by the idea contained
in the root: bela, beautiful, belaĵo, a beautiful thing; nutri, to feed,
nourish, nutraĵo (or nutrantaĵo), food; ĝentila, polite, ĝentilaĵo, a
polite act, act of politeness; bovo, ox, bovaĵo, beef.—Aĵo, a thing.
-an denotes a Partisan of, a Member, an Inhabitant: Kristo, Christ,
Kristano, a Christian; eklezio, a church, ekleziano, a churchman;
Londonano, a Londoner.—Ano, a member.
-ar denotes a Collection of, a Number of: arbo, tree, arbaro, a forest;
homo, a human being, homaro, mankind; vorto, a word, vortaro, a
dictionary.—Aro, a collection, number, gathering.
-ĉj added to the first two to five letters of a word, is used to denote
Masculine Diminutives of Endearment: Johano, John, Joĉjo,
Jack; patro, father, paĉjo, papa, daddy.
-ebl denotes Possibility, and corresponds to the English suffixes -ABLE,
-IBLE: kredi, to believe, kredebla, credible; videbla, visible; al, to,
iri, to go, alirebla, accessible.
-ec denotes Abstract Ideas, Qualities and corresponds to the English
suffixes -NESS, -SHIP, etc.: feliĉa, happy, feliĉeco, happiness; alta,
high, alteco, height; reĝo, king, reĝeco, kingship.
-eg denotes Augmentation, Intensity of Degree: granda, big, great,
grandega, enormous; bela, beautiful, belega, magnificent; ŝtono, stone,
ŝtonego, rock; pafilo, a gun, pafilego, cannon.
-ej denotes a Place specially set apart for or allotted to: preĝi, to
pray, preĝejo, church; manĝi, to eat, manĝejo, refectory; kuirejo,
kitchen; enirejo, entrance; elirejo, exit.
-em denotes Propensity, Inclination, Disposition: paroli, to talk,
parolema, talkative; mensogi, to lie, mensogema, untruthful.
-er denotes an Element of, a Unit, a Grain: polvo, dust, polvero, a
grain of dust; fajrero, a spark; hajlero, hailstone; mono, money,
monero, a coin.—Ero, particle, grain, element.
-estr denotes a Chief, Leader, Head: regno, state; regnestro, head of
the state, ruler; lernejo, school, lernejestro, head-master.—Estro,
leader, chief; estraro, the authorities; estri, to act as chief.
-id denotes a Descendant, Offspring, Young of: bovo, ox, bovido, calf;
ŝafo, a sheep, ŝafido, lamb; Izraelido, Israelite; la homidoj, the sons
of man; Sro. Brown kaj la Brownidoj, Mr. Brown and the little
Browns.—Ido, a descendant, child; idaro, descendants, offspring.
-et denotes Diminution of Degree (compare -eg above): bela, beautiful,
beleta, pretty; venteto, breeze; ridi, to laugh, rideti, to smile; bona,
good, boneta, fairly good, mediocre.—Eta, tiny.
-ig denotes a Making, Rendering, Causing to Be: granda, great,
grandigi, to enlarge; venigi kuraciston, to send for (cause to come)
a doctor; halti, to stop (intr.), haltigi, to stop (tr.); tranĉigi al si la
harojn, to get one's hair cut.—Igi, to make, render.
-iĝ denotes a Becoming, Getting, Growing, Being made: hela, bright,
heliĝi, to grow or become bright; ruĝa, red, ruĝiĝi, to redden, blush;
disiĝi, to separate (intr.).—Iĝi, to become.
With transitive verbs iĝ- is used to make intransitive verbs, thus:
renversi, to overthrow, turn upside down, renversiĝi, to turn (intr.)
upside down, to get overthrown; fari, to make, fariĝi, to become;
perdiĝi, to get lost; vidiĝi, to be seen.
Used with intransitive verbs, iĝ- gives the idea of a becoming, a
Gradual Transition from one state to another: morti, to die, mortiĝi,
to become dead, to die away, to expire; sidi, to be seated, sidiĝi,
to become seated, to sit down.
Note that, since verbs in -iĝ are of necessity intransitive, their participles
should only be used in the active form. Thus: renversiĝinta,
having become overthrown, and not renversiĝita; perdiĝinta,
having become lost, not perdiĝita; and so on. One might of course
simply say renversita, overthrown, and perdita, lost, though the
meaning would in that case not be quite the same.
-il denotes an Instrument, Tool, or Means: tranĉi, to cut, tranĉilo, a
knife; filtri, to filter, filtrilo, a filter; teni, to hold, tenilo, a handle.—Ilo,
tool, instrument; ilaro, set of tools.
-ind denotes Worthiness (English -WORTHY): laŭdi, to praise, laŭdinda,
praiseworthy; vidinda, worth seeing, vidindaĵoj, things worth seeing,
sights.—Inda (je), worthy (of); indeco, worthiness.
-ing denotes the Holder of a Single Object (compare -uj below): plumo,
pen, plumingo, penholder; fingro, finger, fingringo, thimble; cigaringo,
cigar-holder.—Ingo, a socket, holder.
-in denotes Feminines: viro, a man, virino, a woman; patro, father,
patrino, mother.—Ino, a female.
-ist denotes Trade, Occupation, Profession: labori, to work, laboristo,
workman; kuraci, to treat (medically), kuracisto, doctor.
-nj added to the first two to five letters of a word, is used to form
Feminine Diminutives of Endearment (compare -ĉj above): Johanino,
Jane, Johanjo, Jenny; patrino, mother, panjo, mamma.
-uj denotes a Receptacle which contains or bears a Collection or a
Quantity of things or material (compare -ing above): mono, money,
monujo, purse; inko, ink, inkujo, inkstand.—Ujo, a utensil case, bin.
The suffix -uj is also used to denote Trees bearing certain fruits:
pomo, apple, pomujo, apple-tree; ĉerizujo, cherry-tree; rozujo, rose-bush.
The word arbo, however, is more frequently used in such
cases: pomarbo, rozarbeto, etc.
-Uj is also used to denote the Names of Countries: Anglo,
Englishman, Anglujo, England; Franco, a Frenchman, Francujo,
France. (See footnote 4, p. 40.)
-ul denotes a Being characterised by the Idea contained in the Root-word:
bela, beautiful, belulino, a beautiful woman, a beauty;
kulpo, blame, kulpulo, culprit; laŭdindulo, one worthy to be praised;
bonulo, a good fellow; bonegulo, a jolly good fellow.
-um is an Indefinite Suffix, like the word je among the prepositions,
Thus: pleni, to fill, plenumi, to fulfil (compare plenigi, to fill); kolo,
neck, kolumo, collar; aero, air, aerumi, to air (a room, clothes, etc.).
[Words containing -um should be learnt as independent roots.]
In Esperanto, any word can be combined with any other word or
words to form a compound word. Considerable use is made of prepositions
for this purpose. The requisite grammatical ending must of course
be added in each case. The student should carefully study the following
words, and also those given above, and endeavour to form words for himself.9
Ability to form words readily is absolutely necessary to fluent
speech or composition in the language. In the examples given below the
component parts of the words are separated by a small stroke ('), but
these are of course omitted in ordinary usage:
| El'iri, | to go out |
| antaŭ'ĉambro, | antechamber |
| pri'pensi, | to think over, reflect upon |
| preter'paŝi, | to pass by |
| per'labori, | to earn (gain by working) |
| per'forto, | violence |
| tra'vivi, | to live through, experience |
| supre'n'iri, | to go up, ascend |
| inter'rompi, | to interrupt |
| kun'veno, | an assembly, meeting |
| al'paroli, | to address, accost |
| inter'rilati, | to relate one with another |
| inter'rilatoj, | inter-relations |
| inter'nacia, | international |
| skrib(o)'tablo, | writing-table |
| dorm(o)'ĉambro, | bedroom |
| naz'tuko, | handkerchief |
| ter'tremo, | earthquake |
| glit'iri, | to skate |
| glit'veturilo, | a sleigh |
| pied'ir'anto, | a pedestrian |
| bru'fermi, | to slam |
| facil'mova, | agile, easy-moving |
| hom'amo, | philanthropy |
| bon'far'anto, | benefactor |
| strat'lanterno, | street-lamp |
| bot'far'isto, | bootmaker |
| sam'profesi'anoj, | members of the same profession |
| ĉio'potenca, | all-powerful |
| libr'amanto, | a book-lover |
| doktor'edzino, | doctor's wife |
| mon'akir'ilo, | a means of getting money |
| ĉio'n'faranta, | all-doing |
| alt'anima, | high-souled |
| vivi'pova, | capable of life |
| ali'landulo, | foreigner |
| ali'maniere, | in another way |
| tiu'speca, | of that kind |
| |
INDEFINITE |
Interrog. Rel. K |
Demonstrative T |
Distributive Ĉ |
Negative NEN |
| QUALITY |
IA Some (kind of) Any (kind of) |
KIA What (sort of)?
|
TIA That sort of Such (a) |
ĈIA Each kind of Every (kind of) |
NENIA No (kind of)
|
| REASON |
IAL For some reason For any reason |
KIAL For what reason? Why? |
TIAL For that reason Therefore |
ĈIAL For every reason On every account |
NENIAL For no reason On no account |
| TIME |
IAM At some time Sometimes, ever |
KIAM At what time? When? |
TIAM At that time Then |
ĈIAM At all times Always, each time |
NENIAM At no time Never |
| PLACE |
IE At any place Somewhere |
KIE At what place? Where? |
TIE In that place There |
ĈIE At each place Everywhere |
NENIE At no place Nowhere |
| MANNER |
IEL In some way anyhow |
KIEL In what way? How? Like, as |
TIEL In that way So, thus, as |
ĈIEL In every way In each way |
NENIEL In no way Nohow |
| POSSESSION |
IES Somebody's Anybody's |
KIES Whose? What person's? |
TIES That one's That person's |
ĈIES Everyone's Each one's |
NENIES Nobody's No one's |
| THING |
IO Something Anything |
KIO What (thing)?
|
TIO That (thing)
|
ĈIO All Everything |
NENIO Nothing Nought |
| QUANTITY |
IOM Some A little |
KIOM How much? What Quantity? |
TIOM So much That quantity |
ĈIOM All The whole quantity |
NENIOM None
|
| INDIVIDUALITY |
IU Anyone |
KIU What person? |
TIU That one |
ĈIU Everyone, every |
NENIU Nobody, no one |