Esperanto is an artificial language created in the 19th century by a Polish oculist named Zamenhoff and although its success as a medium of international communication has been modest until now, it is by far the most successful of all artificial languages.
The Esperanto grammar is, as might be expected, very regular and the spelling is phonetic. The words are largely borrowed from Latin and the Romance languages and to a lesser extent from the Germanic languages and various other European languages. For anyone who speaks a Romance language (e.g. French or Spanish) or English (which borrowed many words from Old French)
it is relatively easy to acquire a sizable Esperanto vocabulary in a short time.
A few Esperanto words with evidently related words in other languages are:
fi^so: fish (English), Fisch (German), vis (Dutch), fisk (Swedish)
Although the spelling of Esperanto is supposed to be phonetic there is in practice some disagreement among Esperantists about the exact sound values of the vowels. But as Esperanto has only a few, clearly distinguishable vowels, it is not very important how you pronounce them as long as they are distinguishable from each other.
Esperanto uses the Latin alphabet with a few letters missing but with a few others of its own:
A B C ^C D E F G ^G H ^H I J ^J K L M N O P R S ^S T U *U V Z
Here follows the pronunciation that I recommend (just a matter of personal taste though):
A [\Pa\L]
As "a" in French "avoir".
B [b]
As "b" in English "big".
C [ts]
As "ts" in English "hits".
^C [t\PS\L]
As "ch" in English "church".
D [d]
As "d" in English "dance".
E [\PE\L]
Approximately like "e" in English "let".
F [f]
As "f" in English "fish".
G [g]
As "g" in English "get".
^G [d\PZ\L]
As "g" in English "gin".
H [h]
As "h" in English "help".
^H [x]
Like "ch" in Scottish English "loch" or "ch" in German "acht". Many words that used to contain this letter are nowadays often spelled with a "k" (e.g. ^hirurgo = kirurgo) and pronounced accordingly. Personally though, I prefer the ^h-variants.
I [i]
As "ee" in English "meet", but shorter.
J [j]
As "y" in English "yes".
^J [\PZ\L]
As "s" in English "measure".
K [k]
As "k" in English "ski" (not aspirated as in "key").
L [l]
As "l" in English "let".
M [m]
As "m" in English "milk".
N [n]
As "n" in English "no".
O [\PO\L]
As "o" in English "more" but shorter.
P [p]
As "p" in English "spy" (not aspirated as in "pie").
R [r]
A thrilled "r" as in German "rein".
S [s]
As "s" in English "sit".
^S [\PS\L]
As "sh" in English "show".
T [t]
As "t" in English "stalk" (not aspirated as in "talk").
U [u]
As "oo" in English "pool" but shorter.
*U [w]
Almost only found in the diphthongs "a*u" (as "ow" in English "cow") and "e*u" (a combination of "e" and "*u", not found in English). As a separate letter it is pronounced as "w" in English "well", but some Esperantists may not consider words like "*uato" (Watt) valid Esperanto words and prefer "vatto" to "*uato".
V [\PW\L]
As "w" in German "welcher" or "v" in Swedish "vatten". It is like an English "v" without friction.
Z [z]
As "z" in English "zeal".
Apart from the diphthongs "a*u" and "e*u" that I mentioned earlier, Esperanto uses three other ones:
AJ [aj]
Approximately like "i" in English "like".
EJ [\PEj\L]
Approximately like "a" in English "made".
OJ [\POj\L]
Approximately like "oy" in English "boy".
UJ [uj]
Not found in English. A combination of Esperanto "u" and "j".
Occasionally double consonants are found in Esperanto in words like "posttagmezo" (=post+tag+mez+o). In these cases both consonants should be pronounced. Double consonants in roots are rare though; an example is the word "finno" (Fin) which should be pronounced differently from "fino" (end).
Two vowel letters are never pronounced as one vowel or diphthong. Each is pronounced separately (e.g. "neebla", "ruinigi", "zoologia").
Word stress is not significant in Esperanto (e.g. there are no words only differing in stress), nevertheless the rule is that the stress always falls on the penultimate syllable. This can result in words that are differently stressed from related words in other languages. Compare for instance "familio" (stress on "li") with English "family" and German "Familie".
/PERSONAL PRONOUNS/
Esperanto has the following personal pronouns:
mi (I)
vi (you, both singular and plural)
li (he)
^si (she)
^gi (it)
ni (we)
ili (they)
Another pronoun "ci" is seldom used; it is equivalent to German "du" and French "tu". Like these words it is always singular and only used between friends or when speaking to a child or someone of inferior status. However in all these cases "vi" can be used as well.
A more useful Esperanto pronoun is "oni". It corresponds to German "man" and French "on" and it refers to people in general. The English equivalent is "one" (e.g. "One cannot know what might happen") but it is more usual to use "you", "we", "they" or circumvent it (e.g. "It is impossible to know what might happen"). In Esperanto "oni" is often used to avoid such, rather more complicated sentences.
/VERBS (I)/
The conjugation of verbs in Esperanto is quite simple. The present tense is made by adding "-as" to the root, the past tense by adding "-is" and the future tense by adding "-os". Esperanto verbs are only conjugated according to tense, not according to number.
The infinitive in Esperanto ends in "-i". The infinitive is the form of the Esperanto verb that is listed in dictionaries and it is used with auxiliary verbs as in "Mi povas legi" (I can read) or "Ni ^satas legi" (We like to read). Note that in English the infinitive is sometimes preceded by the preposition "to" (usually considered a part of the infinitive form); in Esperanto only the verb itself is used.
Examples:
skribi - to write
mi skribas - I write |/ I am writing
vi skribas - you write |/ you are writing
li skribas - he writes |/ he is writing
mi skribis - I wrote |/ I was writing
vi skribis - you wrote |/ you were writing
li skribis - he wrote |/ he was writing
mi skribos - I shall write |/ I shall be writing
vi skribos - you will write |/ you will be writing
li skribos - he will write |/ he will be writing
mi povas skribi - I can write
vi povas skribi - you can write
li povas skribi - he can write
Note that these forms are also used for the progressive tense. Esperanto does have an equivalent of the English progressive tense but it is only used to emphasize the continuous nature of an action. In most cases the simple tense will do.
Usually the past tense is also used where in English the perfect tense would be used. In Esperanto the perfect tense is only used if one wishes to emphasize that an action is finished.
Vocabulary for the exercises:
esti - to be
^gi - it
ili - they
kaj - and
legi - to read (cf. "legible")
li - he
la - the
mi - I
ni - we
povi - to be able to (cf. "power")
sidi - to sit
skribi - to write (cf. "script")
stari - to stand
^si - she
tie - there, over there
tie ^ci (or ^ci tie)#00101 - here
vi - you
#00101) "^ci" is a particle that is placed before or after some words to show proximity.
Exercise 1a; translate into Esperanto:
1. I am sitting here. 2. He was standing there. 3. It stood there. 4. I shall be able to write. 5. They will be reading and writing. 6. She was sitting here and I was standing over there. 7. You and I will be standing here. 8. There we were reading. 9. It is over there. 10. You can read here.
Exercise 1b; translate into English:
1. Ni skribis. 2. Ili povas legi kaj skribi. 3. Vi sidis tie. 4. Li staros tie. 5. Mi povis sidi. 6. Tie ^ci li sidas. 7. Mi skribos. 8. ^Si staros tie. 8. Vi skribis. 9. Ili legos kaj skribos. Mi staris.
/NOUNS & ADJECTIVES (I)/
- All Esperanto nouns end in "-o" in the singular.
- All Esperanto adjectives end in "-a" in the singular.
- The adjective is usually put before the noun.
- The definite article in Esperanto is "la", there is no indefinite article. "la arbo" means "the tree" while "arbo" means "tree" or "a tree".
Examples:
granda - big
domo - (a) house
granda domo - (a) big house
la domo estas granda - the house is big
The plural is made by adding a "-j" to the singular ending. The adjective must also be used in the plural if the noun to which it belongs is in the plural.
Examples:
grandaj domoj - big houses
la domoj estas grandaj - the houses are big
Note that the adjective is also declined when used predicatively (behind the verb), as for instance in French and Swedish.
Many common adjectives are derived from others by prefixing "mal-" to them which indicates the opposite meaning of the root (granda = big, malgranda = little).
Regard the following English sentences:
Here are the beautiful house and the ugly house.
Here are the beautiful house and the ugly one.
Instead of repeating the noun "house" or substituting a placeholder ("one") you can use the Esperanto adjective as a noun in sentences like these:
Tie ^ci estas la bela domo kaj la malbela.
Vocabulary for the exercises
alta - high (cf. "altitude")
arbo - tree (cf. "arboreous")
a*u - or
a*u ... a*u - either ... or
bela - beautiful (cf. "belle")
domo - house (cf. "domestic")
floro - flower
granda - big, large
letero - letter (for mailing)
longa - long, tall
malalta - low
malbela - ugly
malgranda - little, small
mallonga - short
monto - mountain
ne - no, not
sed - but
tre - very
viro - man (i.e. a male person, cf. "virile")
Note that "ne" can either mean "no" or "not". If it means "no" it can either be placed before or after the verb.
The following two sentences essentially mean the same:
La domo ne povas esti granda.
La domo povas ne esti granda.
"ne" could even be put before "granda".
La domo povas esti ne granda.
This last sentence would also be translated as "The house cannot be big" but here the fact that the house cannot be something else then "big" would be emphasized. In general the order of the words in an Esperanto sentence is not very rigid.
Exercise 2a; translate into Esperanto:
1. The flowers are beautiful. 2. A long letter or a short one. 3. It is not a beautiful flower. 4. It is a big house or a small house; it is either big or small. 5. The big man was very ugly. 6. The mountains are high there. 7. Here are the short letter and the long one. 8. Here the mountains are low but there they are high. 9. The trees are large and beautiful. 10. The house is not big but small.
Exercise 2b; translate into English:
1. La arboj estas ne longaj sed mallongaj. 2. Monto povas esti alta a*u malalta. 3 Li estas a*u tie ^ci a*u tie. 4. La floro estis tre bela. 5. La domoj estos malgrandaj a*u belaj. 6. Li estas malgranda viro. 7. ^Si estas tre bela. 8. Ne, ^si estas malbela. 9. ^Gi ne estas longa letero. 10. ^Gi estis tre mallonga.
/NOUNS & ADJECTIVES (II)/
As said in the preceding paragraph the Esperanto nouns end in "-o" and the adjectives end in "-a" in the singular (and in "-oj" and "-aj" in the plural). This is not entirely true though; in some cases these endings are followed by the ending "-n". The "-o(j)" and "-a(j)" endings are the endings of the nominative case whilst the "-o(j)n" and "-a(j)n" endings are called the accusative case endings. Declination of words according to case is quite common in European languages (e.g. German, Russian and Finnish) and is to a certain extent also present in English where "John's" is the genitive case of "John". Another example is "me" which is the object case form of "I".
Esperanto has only two cases, namely the nominative and the accusative case. The latter is used to:
1. Indicate the object of an action (e.g. I hit THE DOG).
2. Indicate the target of a movement (e.g. Go into THE FOREST).
3. Indicate the time of an action (e.g. Be there on TUESDAY).
In all other cases the nominative is used.
In English the object of an action is usually indicated by using a fixed word order ("John hit Joe" as opposed to "Joe hit John"). Even if the object case can be used the word order generally remains the same ("him I hit" is rarely used instead of "I hit him"). Because of the freer word order in Esperanto the accusative case must be used to show the object. Consider for example the following two phrases:
He hit the dog.
The dog he hit.
In these examples you could still assume that it was the dog that was beaten in both cases, but in the next two examples it is impossible to tell which animal bit which, without relying on the word order.
The white dog bit the black dog.
The black dog bit the white dog.
In the following four Esperanto sentences it is clear which dog bit which:
La blanka hundo mordis la nigran hundon.
La nigran hundon mordis la blanka hundo.
La nigran hundon la blanka hundo mordis.
La blanka hundo la nigran hundon mordis.
In all these cases it was the white dog that bit; the only difference is the part of the statement that the speaker wishes to emphasize. In English we would use a construction like "The black dog was biten by the white dog." or "It was the black dog that the white dog bit." if we wanted to mention the object first.
The personal pronouns too are used with the accusative ending when they are the direct object of an action:
Li batis lin (I hit him).
Lin batis mi (It was him that I hit).
Min batis li (It was I that he hit).
Li batis min (He hit me).
The second function of the accusative is to indicate the target of a movement but only if the preposition does not already indicate movement towards a place! The only Esperanto prepositions that can do that are "al" (to, towards) and "^gis" (up to). In the following example the target of the
movement is in the nominative case:
^Si mar^sis al la parko (She walked to the park).
But in the next sentence the accusative must be used to show movement to the park:
^Si mar^sis en la parkon (She walked into the park).
The meaning here is quite different from:
^Si mar^sis en la parko (She walked in the park).
As shown in these examples English uses a special preposition "into" that has the same function has the combination of "en" (in) and the accusative in Esperanto.
The preposition "al" is also used to indicate the indirect object as in "I gave it to him" (mi donis ^gin al li). In English the "to" can be omitted (I gave him) but in Esperanto the ommission of "al" is not allowed. Consider the following two sentences:
Mi donis libron al li (I gave a book to him).
Mi donis al li libron (I gave him a book).
Some languages have a special case (the dative case) to indicate the indirect object (in English "him" can be considered the dative case form of "he", although it also serves as its accusative case form), however because Esperanto has no dative case and because a special word order cannot
be used to show the indirect object it is necessary to use "al".
The accusative is not only used with nouns, pronouns and adjectives but also with adverbs of place like "tie", which becomes "tien" (thither). Although it is usual in English to use "there" and "here" for the target of a movement (come here) it is a serious error in Esperanto to use "tie" and "tie ^ci" in this way; you should use "tien" and "tien ^ci" instead.
The accusative is also used if there is a movement in a figurative sense as in (mi tradukos ^gin en esperanton = I'll translate it into Esperanto). Note that in this last examples there are two words in the accusative case; it is used with "^gi" to show that it is the object of the action and with "esperanto" to show that it is the target of the movement.
The third function of the accusative in Esperanto is to show the time of an action:
Ili venos mardon (They will come on Tuesday).
Mi estis tie la trian horon (I was there at the third hour = 3 o'clock).
Vocabulary for the exercises:
al - to, towards
bati - to beat, to hit
blanka - white
^car - because
doni - to give (cf. "to donate")
esperanto - Esperanto
grimpi - to climb
hundo - dog
en - in
havi - to have
infano - child
iri - to go
juna - young
libro - book
ludi - to play
meti - place, put
mardo - Tuesday
nova - new
traduki - to translate
maljuna - old (of people and animals)
malnova - old (of things)
mar^si - to walk
mordi - to bite (cf. "mordacity")
nigra - black
parko - park
veni - to come (cf. "venture")
Exercise 3a; translate into Esperanto:
1. The children were playing in the park. 2. I cannot come on Tuesday. 3. He translated the book into Esperanto. 4. The old man sits in the park and reads books. 5. He didn't write a new book. 6. I'll write a new letter and give it to him. 7. The young man went into the park. 8. We won't come here but we'll go to park. 9. I put the old books over there. 10. He did not climb into the tree.
Exercise 3b; translate into English:
1. La floroj en la parko estas tre belaj. 2. Mi legis la novajn librojn mardon en la parko. 3. ^Si havas novan libron. 4. Vi povas sendi al li novan leteron. 5. Ili ne ludis en la granda parko sed en la malgranda. 6. Li donis la belajn blankajn florojn al ^si. 7. La juna viro batis la nigran hundon ^car ^gi mordis lin. 8. Ili ne povas legi la literojn. 9. Mi povas traduki la literon en esperanton. 10. Ni venos mardon.
/ADVERBS/
A few Esperanto adverbs end in "-a*u" or other letters but most of them end in "-e". These are the ones that can be derived from adjectives by stripping the adjectival ending "-a" and replacing it by "-e". As a matter of fact many Esperanto words can be derived from the roots by adding the proper ending; for example from the preposition "anta*u" (before, in front) can be derived the adverb "anta*ue", the adjective "antau*a" (front, previous, former) and the verb "anta*ui" (to precede).
Examples of adverbs derived from adjectives:
rapida (fast, quick) - rapide (fast, quickly)
forta (strong) - forte (strongly)
kolera (angry) - kolere (angrily)
In Esperanto adverbs are often used where we would use an adverbial expression in English:
plezure - with pleasure (from "plezuro" = "pleasure")
piede - by foot (from "piedo" = "foot")
panike - in panic (from "paniko" = "panic")
Adverbs of place can be used in the accusative case and become thus adverbs of direction:
Sometimes we have to use an adverb in Esperanto where we use an adjective in English, namely where the English adjective is connected to the subject "it" in sentences like "it is wise to go". The Esperanto "^gi" can only be used to refer to an inanimate object but in "it is time to go" it is clear that "it" refers to nothing but is only used because an English sentence must have a subject. In Esperanto this is not the case; there is no equivalent of "it" necessary and because an adjective by definition indicates a quality of a noun or pronoun (which is not present) it must be replaced by an adverb. In Esperanto the phrase "it is wise to go" would be translated as "estas sa^ge iri" in which "sa^ge" (wisely) refers to "esti".
Take care to use the correct type of word in Esperanto. In some European languages and especially in English there is not much difference in form between words from different word classes like nouns, adjectives, prepositions and adverbs but in Esperanto they are clearly recognizable by their ending. In English the word "down" can for instance be a noun (ups and downs), a preposition (down the river), an adverb of movement (go down) or an adjective (down payment). Take care not to say for example "mi iras sub" instead of "mi iras suben" for "I am going down".
Vocabulary for the exercises:
anta*u - before, in front (cf. "antecedent")
anta*ui - to precede
anta*ue - ahead, in front
bicikle - by bike
biciklo - bike
fari - to act, to do, to make
fu^gi - to flee (cf. "fugitive")
hiera*u - yesterday
hejme - at home
hejmen - home, homewards
kolere - angrily
lundo - Monday.
teatro - theatre
malanta*u - behind
malanta*ue - at the back, behind
malanta*uen - backwards
panike - in panic
piede - by foot
plezure - with pleasure
rapide - fast, quickly, rapidly
sa^ga - wise
sa^ge - wisely
sub - beneath, under (prep.)
tablo - table
vazo - vase
Exercise 4a; translate into Esperanto:
1. He fled home in panic. 2. It was not wise to go to him. 3. The dog is sitting under the table. 4. A wise man acts wisely. 5. He quickly walked backwards. 6. I was standing in front of the old house. 7. I was not standing behind but in front. 8. He angrily walked home. 9. Monday precedes Tuesday. 10. He came to me by foot because he hasn't a bike.
Exercise 4b; translate into English:
1. Sa^ga viro ne faras panike. 2. Hiera*u ni estis ne hejme. 3. Ni iris al la teatro. 4. ^Si iris al la parko bicikle sed venis hejmen piede. 5. Ni rapide iros hejmen. 6. Li metis la florojn en vazon sur la tablo. 7. Kolera viro ne povas esti sa^ga viro. 8. Mi batos lin plezure. 9. ^Si donis al mi junan hundon. 10. ^Gi estas blanka hundo.
/POSSESSIVE & REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS/
In Esperanto the possessive pronouns can be derived from the personal pronouns by adding the adjectival ending "-a" to them:
mia - my, mine
via - your, yours
lia - his
^sia - her, hers
^gia - its
nia - our, ours
ilia - their, theirs
When used predicatively, it is usual to put the article before the possessive pronoun (the book is mine = la libro estas la mia).
The Esperanto possessive pronoun is exactly declined as an ordinary adjective:
Niaj hundoj estas en la domo (Our dogs are in the houses).
Mi donis al li miajn librojn (I gave him my books).
La krajonoj estas la miaj (The pencils are mine).
In Esperanto the personal pronouns become reflexive pronouns by using them with the preposition "al" (indirect object) or adding the accusative ending "-n" (direct object):
Vi lavis vin (You were washing yourself).
Mi demandas al mi (I ask myself).
However, for "li", "^si", "^gi" and "ili" there is a special reflexive pronoun "si".
Li batis sin (He hit himself).
^Si demandas al si (She asks herself).
^Gi lavis sin (It washed itself).
Ili trovis sin (They found themselves).
Because there is a special reflexive pronoun for "li", "^si", "^gi" and "ili" it is possible to distinguish for example between "li batis lin" (he hit him) and "li batis sin" (he hit himself).
There exist a particle "mem" that corresponds to the English "-self" and it is used when you want to emphasize that the subject is doing something to himself:
Mi razis min mem (I shaved myself).
Li donos la monon al si mem (He'll give the money to himself).
Although often used with reflexive pronouns it is not used to show that the action is reflexive, as the English "-self" does!
It can also be used with nouns:
La estro mem venis (The boss came himself).
La infanoj mem estas tie ^ci (The children themselves are here).
It is also used as part of compounds like "memevidenta" (self-evident) and
"memkonscieco" (self-awareness).
The reflexive pronoun "si" can also be turned into a possessive pronoun with the meaning "his", "her", "its" or "their". It cannot be used as an alternative for "lia", "^sia", "^gia" or "ilia" though. These possessive pronouns are used when they do not refer to the subject of the sentence, as in the following example:
Li iris al la estro kaj donis lian libron al li. (He went to the boss and gave him his book).
In the English translation of this sentence it is impossible to tell whether the book belonged to the boss or to the person that gave him the book. The Esperanto sentence however shows clearly that the book belonged to the boss.
If the book was not the boss' the sentence would have been:
Li iris al la estro kaj donis sian libron al li.
Here the possessive pronoun refers to the subject "li", so "sian" is used and not "lian".
In English, verbs are often used reflexively without a reflexive pronoun, i.e. the reflexive pronoun is understood as in "I didn't shave this morning". You should not do this in Esperanto.
Vocabulary for the exercises:
bani - to bathe (intr.)
bona - good (cf. "boon")
bone - well
^cambro - room
ban^cambro - bathroom
demandi - to ask
devi - to have to (cf. "due")
estro - boss, chief
forgesi - to forget
helpi - to help
hiera*u - yesterday
hodia*u - today
lavi - to wash
krajono - pencil (cf. "crayon")
malbona - bad
mem - self
mono - money
paroli - to speak (cf. "parley")
razi - to shave (cf. "razor")
renkonti - to meet
sur - on (cf. "surface")
^sranko - cupboard
trovi - to find (cf. "treasure-trove")
Exercise 5a; translate into Esperanto:
1. He didn't give his money to them. 2. He did not help me; I did it myself. 3. I met him in her new house. 4. You must give him his books. 5. I can't give them to him because I don't have them. 6. I forgot to shave today. 7. She gave me her new pencil. 8. They are washing themselves in the bathroom. 9. We met the boss himself yesterday. 10. We ourselves met the boss yesterday.
Exercise 5b; translate into English:
1. Mi mem ne parolas esperanton bone sed mia estro parolas ^gin tre bone. 2. ^Sia ^cambro estas tre bela. 3. Vi devas doni viajn krajonojn al li. 4. Mi ne povas trovi ilin. 5. Hiera*u mi ne razis min en la ban^cambro. 6. Liaj ^cambroj ne trovas sin en la granda domo. 7. Li metis siajn librojn sur la tablon. 8. Li metis siajn librojn kaj liajn librojn en la ^srankon. 9. Ili devas lavi sin tie ^ci. 10. Lia libro estas tre bona.
/QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (I)/
Questions words are words like "who", "which" and "how" in English. In English most of these words begin with "wh" and in Esperanto the corresponding words start with "k". These are the basic question words in Esperanto:
kial (why)
kiam (when)
kie (where)
kiel (how)
kies (whose)
kio (what)
kiom (how much)
kiu (who|/which)
Like their English counterparts these words are usually placed at the start of a sentence:
Kial li estas en la urbo? (Why is he in town?)#00101
Kiam li alvenis (When did he arrive?)#00102
Kie estis la hundoj (Where are the dogs?)
Kiel oni prononcas tiun ^ci vorton? (How do you pronounce this word?)#00102
Kies biciklo staras en la ^gardeno? (Whose bicycle is standing in the garden?)
Kio estas la ru^ga a^jo? (What is the red thing?)
Kiom ^gi kostas (How much does it cost?)#00102
Kiu ^si estas? (Who is she?)
#00101) Do not leave out the definite article in Esperanto. "Kial li estas en urbo" would mean "Why is he in a town."
#00102) Note that Esperanto does not need an auxiliary verb like the English "do" in questions.
When you change the initial "k" in these question words you get a set of related words that can be used to answer questions:
tial (therefore)
tiam (then)
tie (there)
tiel (that way)
ties (that one's)
tio (that)
tiom (that much)
tiu (that one)
Unlike their English counterparts some of these words (kie, tie, kio, tio, kiu, tiu) change if they are used in the plural and|/or the accusative. The only exception in English is "who" which sometimes becomes "whom" (although this is not obligatory anymore in modern English). In Esperanto it is mandatory to show number and|/or case though:
Kien li iris (Where did he go to?)
Mi ne ^satas tion (I do not like that.)
Kion ili diris (What did they say?)
Kiujn vi vidis? (Who |{more than one person|} did you see? |/ Which ones did you see?)
Tiuj estas tre bonaj (Those are very good.)
In the first sentence it is "kien" and not "kie" because the question word refers to the target of a movement. Do not translate "where to" with "al kie"! This would be a serious error because the accusative must be used to show movement here. In fact the words "kien", "tien" and "tien ^ci" (or ^ci tien) correspond exactly to the archaic English words "whither", "thither" and "hither".
In the second and third sentences "tion" and "kion" have an accusative ending because those words are the direct objects.
In the fourth sentences "kiujn" has also a plural ending because the person asking the question assumes that the other one saw more than one person or object. If he assumed that it was only one person or object he would have used "kiun".
In the last sentence "tiuj" refers to more than one object or person, hence the ending "-j".
Note that the English words "these" and "those" cannot be tranlated by "tiuj" and "tiuj ^ci" (or "^ci tiuj) in every case. In sentences like "These are my brothers" and Those are my books" the word "tio" is used instead:
Tio ^ci estas mia frato (This is my brother) - Tio ^ci estas miaj fratoj (These are my brothers).
Tio estas mia libro (That is my book) - Tio estas miaj libroj (Those are my books).
In this respect Esperanto is more like German (Dies sind meine Br}uder), French (Ce sont mes fr{eres) and many other languages. Note that "kio" and "tio" are always singular although they can refer to more than one person or object!
"tiu" means "that one" but in most cases it is used attributively and in then it corresponds to English "that" as in "that chair", "that house" et caetera. When necessary the appropriate endings are added:
Tiu domo estas bela - That house is beautiful.
Tiuj domoj estas belaj - Those houses are beautiful.
Tiun domon mi ^satas - That house I like.
Tiujn domojn mi ^satas - Those houses I like.
"tiu" can also be used instead of "li", "^si" or "^gi" when answering "kiu" questions. For example:
Kiu faris tion (Who did that?) - Tiu! (He|/She did).
And it is also possible to use it when refering to somebody who was just mentioned or some-one you are pointing at:
- Lia patro a^cetis grandan domon (His father bought a big house.)
- Jes, tiu estas tre ri^ca. (Yes, he is very rich.)
Vocabulary for the exercises:
aeroplano - aeroplane
alveni - arrive
avo - grandfather
boato - boat
de kie - from where#00101
flava - yellow
flugi - to fly
inviti - to invite
jes - yes
Londono - London
moderna - modern
morga*u - tomorrow
naski^gtago - birthday
Novjorko - New York (New York City, the state New York is called "Novjorkio")
patro - father (cf. "paternal")
per - by, by means of, per
por - for (purpose)
reiri - to go back, to return
Romo - Rome
rozo - rose
ru^ga - red
^sati - like
^suo - shoe
tro - too (e.g. in "too big")
urbo - city, town (cf. "urbane")
#00101) The preposition is never put at the end of a sentence as is often done in English.
Exercise 6a; translate into Esperanto:
1. Where are you going to? 2. Tomorrow we shall arrive in New York. 3. How will you get there? I shall go by boat or by plane. 4. Which flowers do you like? I like the red roses. 5. Where did you come from? I came from London. 6. Whose books are these? These are mine. 7. When did your father arrive in Rome? 8. Therefore I cannot go to you. 9. Whose shoes did you put in the cupboard? 10. How did he do that? He did it#00101 that way. 11. Who (more than one person) did you invite for your birthday? 12. Who is her father?
#00101) Use "tio" instead of "^gi" to translate "it". "^Gi" can only refer to a noun.
Exercise 6b; translate into English:
1. Kiujn floroj vi a^cetis por mi? La flavajn#00101 mi a^cetis. 2. Tio estas miaj fratoj. 3. De kie ili venis kaj kien ili iris? 4. ^Sia avo lo^gas en Novjorko kaj morga*u ^si flugos tien. 5. Kiel ^si reiros al Romo? 6. Kiujn urbojn vi ^satas? Ni ^satas Romon kaj Londonon#00102. 7. Kial vi ne ^satas Novjorkon? Novjorko estas tro moderna por mia. 8. Mi ne ^satas tiujn modernajn urbojn. Tial mi ne ^satas Novjorkon. 9. Kiam via patro alvenos en tiu ^ci urbo? 10. Kiom novaj ^suoj kostas tie?
#00101) An adjective can be used without a noun in Esperanto. "la flavaj" means here "the yellow ones" and it refers to the flowers mentioned in the previous sentence.
#00102) Note that in Esperanto proper nouns are declined too; "Romo" and "Londono" both get an accusative ending.
1. Kien vi iros? 2. Morga*u ni alvenos en Novjorko. 3. Kiel vi venos tie? Per boato a*u per aeroplano? 4. Kiujn florojn vi ^satas? Mi ^satas la ru^gajn rozojn. 5. De kie vi venis? Mi venis de Londono. 6. Kies libroj estas tiuj ^ci? Tiuj ^ci estas la miaj. 7. Kiam via patro alvenis en Romo? 8. Tial mi ne povas iri al vi. 9. Kies ^suoj vi metis en la ^srankon? 10. Kiel li faris tion? Li faris tion tiel. 11. Kiujn vi invitis por via naski^gtago? 12. Kiu estas ^sia patro?
/QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (II)/
None of the questions mentioned in the previous paragraph can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no". Such questions also require a question word at the beginning of the sentence and this question word is "^cu". For instance:
^Cu li estas la patro de tiuj infanoj? (Are you the father of those children?)
^Cu la urbo estas moderna? (Is the town modern?)
Kiun vi a^cetis? ^Cu la ru^ga a*u la flava? (Which one did you buy? The red one or the yellow one?)
^Cu vi ^satas Novjorkon? (Do you like New York?)
Placing "^cu" at the start of a sentence turns it into a question. Note that is not enough to say it with a rising intonation as sometimes done in English (e.g.: "You are going away?"); the sentence must start with a question word!
"^Cu" has another function too; it is the Esperanto word for "whether". For example:
Mi ne scias ^cu li venos (I do not know whether he will come.)
^Cu li venos hodia*u a*u morga*u, mi ne volas ricevi lin. (Whether he will come today or tomorrow, I do not want to see him).
In the first example "whether" could be replaced by "if". In Esperanto there are two different words for "if". The first one is "^cu" which must be used in cases where it corresponds to "whether". The second word is "se" which can only be used before a condition:
Se li venos mi iros (If he comes I shall go.)
Mi a^cetos la a*uton se la prezo estas bona (I shall buy the car if the price is right.)
Using "se" where "^cu" should be used is a serious error!
We have already met the adverb "ne" which is used to form the negative in which case it corresponds to English "not". However, "ne" is also used in the sense of English "no":
^Cu vi estis tie? Ne, mi estis ^ci tie (Where you there? No, I was here.)
Take care with questions with "ne" in them such as:
^Cu vi ne ^satas lin? (Don't you like him?)
A Westerner would probably answer this question with "ne" if he indeed did not like the person about whom the question was asked:
Ne, mi ne ^satas lin. (No, I don't like him.)
But somebody from a non-Western culture might very well answer with:
Jes, mi ne ^satas lin. (Yes, I don't like him.)
So, if the answer would be a simple "jes" or "ne" you would still know nothing! Therefore it would be wise to avoid such negative questions unless you are certain that the person you are taking with uses the same convention as yourself.
Vocabulary for the exercises:
banano - banana
blua - blue
certe - certainly, for certain, surely
E*uropo - Europe
forgesi - to forget
ke - that#00101 (as in: It is clear that ...)
koni - to know (to be acquainted with)
Nordameriko - North America
onklo - uncle
piro - pear
pomo - apple
preferi - to prefer
resti - to stay
scii - to know (to have knowledge of)
^steli - to steal
vidi - to sea (cf. "video")
voli - to want (cf. "volunteer")
#00101) "Ke" is a conjunction; it can only be used to connect a subordinate clause to a main clause and it must not be confused with "tio" which is also translated with "that" in English (cf. German "da#00128|/das" and French "que|/ce".)
Exercise 7a; translate into Esperanto:
1. Did you know that he wanted to come? No, I did not know it. 2. We shall see whether he stays here or not. 3. Did you forget to buy apples? Yes, I did. 4. Have you got#00101 an apple for me? 5. Did you buy apples, pears and bananas? No, I forgot to do it. 6. Which flowers do you want to have? The blue ones or the red ones? 7. Do you like bananas? Yes, I like them but I prefer apples. 8. For whom did you buy those pears? 9. Will you go to my brother tomorrow? 10. Do you know if he will come?
#00101) "Got" is not translated here.
Exercise 7b; translate into English:
1. ^Cu vi konas mian onklon? Ne, mi ne konas lin. 2. Kiam ili reiri al siaj vila^go? 3. ^Cu la infanoj ludas en la ^gardeno de siaj onklo? 4. ^Cu vi scias ke London kaj Romo estas urboj en E*uropo? Jes, kaj mi anka*u scias ke Novjorko estas urbo en Nordameriko. 5. ^Cu vi vidis ke li ^stelis la monon? Ne, mi ne vidis tion. 6. ^Cu oni scias certe ke li ^stelis la monon?
/WORD BUILDING (I)/
The methods to create words out of roots by combining them with affixes or by combining different roots are in Esperanto similar to the methods used in English. The only difference is that in Esperanto word building is more regular.
In Esperanto every prefix or suffix has a fairly precise meaning:
bo- (cf. French "beau-")
This prefix indicates relationship by marriage (e.g.: "patro" = "father", "bopatro" = "father-in-law", "frato" = "brother", "bofrato" = "brother-in-law").
dis- (English "dis")
This prefix indicates separation or distribution (e.g.: "rompi" = "to break", "disrompi" = "to break apart", "fali" = "to fall", "disfali" = "to fall apart").
ek-
This prefix indications that an action just started or is momentarily (e.g.: "ridi" = "to "laugh", "ekridi" = "to start laughing", "timi" = "to fear", "ektimi" = "to startle").
eks-
This prefix means "former" (e.g.: "Jugoslavujo" = "Yugoslavia", "eks-Jugoslavujo" = "former Yogoslavia, "studento" = "student", "eksstudento" = "ex-student").
fi-
This prefix is used to indicate that something or some-one has a bad quality (e.g.: "viro" = "man", "fiviro" = "villain", "bestoj" = "animals", "fibestoj" = "vermin").
ge-
This prefix is mostly used to form for plural nouns that indicate both male and female persons (e.g.: "patro" = "father", "gepatroj" = "parents", "frato" = "brother", "gefratoj" = "siblings").
mal-
This prefix is used to indicate the opposite of that which the root expresses (e.g. "varma" = "warm", "malvarma" = "cold", "ami" = to love", "malami" = "to hate").
mis- (English: mis-)
This prefix indicates that something is done in a wrong or bad way (e.g.: "uzo" = "use", "misuzo" = "abuse").
pra- (English: prae-)
This prefix indicates remoteness in time (i.e. age) or relationship (e.g. "historia" = "historic", "prahistoria" = "praehistoric").
re- (English: re-)
This prefix shows repetition (e.g. "iri" = "to go", "reiri" = "to go back", "veni" = "to come", "reveni" = "to come back").
Many Esperanto words can also be used as prefixes. For example:
anta*u (before)+ vidi (to see) = anta*uvidi (to foresee).
sen (without) + espero (hope) = senespero (despondency)
ne (no, not) + pacienca (patient) = nepacienca (impatient)
al (to) + doni (to give) = aldoni (to add)
/KEY TO THE EXERCISES/
Exercise 1a
1. Mi sidas ^ci tie. 2. Li staris tie. 3. ^Gi staris tie. 4. Mi povos skribi. 5. Ili legos kaj skribos. 6. ^Si sidis tie ^ci kaj mi staris tie. 7. Vi kaj mi staros tie. 8. Tie ni legis. 9. ^Gi estas tie. 10. Vi povas legi ^ci tie.
Exercise 1b
1. We were writing. 2. They can read and write. 3. You were sitting there. 4. You will be standing there. 5. I could sit. 6. Here he was sitting. 7. I shall be writing. 8. She will be standing there. 9. They will be reading and writing. 10. I was standing.
Exercise 2a
1. La floroj estas belaj. 2. Longa letero a*u mallonga. 3. ^Gi estas ne bela floro (a*u: ^Gi ne estas bela floro). 4. ^Gi estas granda domo a*u malgranda domo; ^gi estas a*u granda a*u malgranda. 5. La granda viro estis tre malbela. 6. La montoj estas altaj tie. 7. ^Ci tie estas la mallonga letero kaj la longa. 8. ^Ci tie la montoj estas altaj sed tie ili estas malaltaj. 9. La arboj estas grandaj kaj belaj. 10. La domo ne estas granda sed malgranda.
Exercise 2b
1. The trees are not tall but short. 2. A mountain can be high or low. 3. He is either here or there. 4. The flower was very beautiful. 5. The houses will be small but beautiful. 6. He is a little man. 7. She is very beautiful. 8. No, she is ugly. 9. It wasn't a long letter. 10. It was a very short one.
Exercise 3a
1. La infanoj ludas en la parko. 2. Mi ne povas veni mardon. 3. Li tradukis la libron en esperanton. 4. La maljuna viro sidas en la parko kaj legas librojn. 5. Li ne skribis novan libron. 6. Mi skribos novan leteron kaj donos ^gin al li. 7. La juna viro iris en la parkon mardon. 8. Ni ne venos tien ^ci sed ni iros al la parko. 9. Mi metis la malnovajn librojn tien. 10. Li ne grimpis en la arbon.
Exercise 3b
1. The flowers in the park are very beautiful. 2. I read the new books in the park on Tuesday. 3. She has a new book. 4. You can send him a new letter. 5. They did not play in the big park but in the small one. 6. He gave the beautiful flowers to her. 7. The young man hit the back dog because it
had bitten him. 8. They can't read the letters. 9. I can translate the letter into Esperanto. 10. We shall come on Tuesday.
Exercise 4a
1. Li fu^gis hejmen panike. 2. Ne estis sa^ge iri al li. 3. La hundo sidas sub la tablo. 4. Sa^ga viro faras sa^ge. 5. Li rapide mar^sis malanta*uen. 6. Mi staris anta*u la malnova domo. 7. Mi ne staris malanta*ue sed anta*ue. 8. Li kolere mar^sis hejmen. 9. La lundo anta*uas la mardon. 10. Li venis al mi piede ^car li ne havas biciklon.
Exercise 4b
1. A wise man doesn't act in panic. 2. Yesterday we were not at home. 3. We went to the theatre. 4. She went to the park by bike but came home by foot. 5. We'll quickly go home. 6. He put the flowers in a vase on the table. 7. An angry man cannot be a wise man. 8. I'll hit him with pleasure. 9. She gave me a young dog. 10. It is a white dog.
Exercise 5a
1. Li ne donis sian monon al ili. 2. Li ne helpis min; mi mem faris ^gin. 3. Mi renkontis lin en ^sia nova domo. 4. Vi devas doni al li liajn librojn. 5. Mi ne povas doni ilin al li ^car mi ne havas ilin. 6. Mi forgesis razi min hodia*u. 7. ^Si donis al mi sian novan krajonon. 8. Ili lavas sin en la ban^cambro. 9. Ni renkontis la estron mem hiera*u. 10. Ni mem renkontis la estron hiera*u.
Exercise 5b
1. I don't speak Esperanto well myself but my boss speaks it very well. 2. Her room is very beautiful. 3. You must give your pencils to him. 4. I can't find them. 5. Yesterday I didn't shave in the bathroom. 6. His rooms are not (are not to be found) in the big house. 7. He put his books on the table. 8. He put his (own) books and his (someone else's) books in the cupboard. 9.
They must wash themselves here. 10. His book is very good.
Exercise 6a
1. Kien vi iros? 2. Morga*u ni alvenos en Novjorko. 3. Kiel vi venos tie? Mi iros per boato a*u per aeroplano. 4. Kiujn florojn vi ^satas? Mi ^satas la ru^gajn rozojn. 5. De kie vi venis? Mi venis de Londono. 6. Kies libroj estas tiuj ^ci? Tiuj ^ci estas la miaj. 7. Kiam via patro alvenis en Romo? 8. Tial mi ne povas iri al vi. 9. Kies ^suoj vi metis en la ^srankon? 10. Kiel li faris tion? Li faris tion tiel. 11. Kiujn vi invitis por via naski^gtago? 12. Kiu estas ^sia patro?
Exercise 6b
1. Which flowers did you buy for me? The yellow ones I bought. 2. Those are my brothers. 3. From where did they come and where did they go to? 4. Her grandfather lives in New York and tomorrow she will fly thither. 5. How will she return to Rome? 6. Which cities do you like? We like Rome and London. 7. Why don't you like New York? New York is too modern for me. 8. I do not like those modern cities. Therefore I do not like New York. 9. When will your father arrive in this town? 10. How much are shoes here?
Exercise 7a
1. ^Cu vi sciis ke li volis veni? Ne, mi ne sciis tion. 2. Ni vidos ^cu li restos tie ^ci a*u ne. 3. ^Cu vi forgesas a^ceti pomojn? 4. ^Cu vi havas pomon por mi? 5. ^Cu vi a^cetis pomojn, pirojn kaj bananoj? Ne, mi forgesis fari tion. 6. Kiujn florojn vi volas havi? La bluajn a*u la ru^gajn? 7. ^Cu vi ^satas bananojn? Jes, mi ^satas ilin sed mi preferas pomojn. 8. Por kiu vi a^cetis tiujn pirojn? 9. ^Cu vi iros al mia frato morga*u? 10. ^Cu vi scias ^cu li venos?
Exercise 7b
1. Do you know my uncle? No, I do not know him. 2. When will they go back to their village? 3. Are the children playing in the garden of their uncle? 4. Do you know that London and Rome are cities in Europe? Yes, and I know also that New York is a city in North Amerika. 5. Did you see that he stole the money? No, I did not see it. 6. Does one now for certain that he stole the money? (Is it certain that he stole the money?)
