An Elementary Esperanto Primer

Daniel M. Albro
la 10a de januaro, 1993

ENHAVOJ

Enhavoj
1 La Familio
1.1 Pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.1 Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.2 Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.3 Accent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.4 More Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.5 The Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.6 Ekzerco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2 Gramatiko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.1 Suksoj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.2 Preksoj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.3 Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.4 The Conjugation of Verbs in the Present
1.2.5 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.6 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.7 Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.8 Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.9 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2.10 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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5
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10
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2 La Familio Frogmorton
2.1 Personal Pronouns . . . . . .
2.2 The Possessive . . . . . . . .
2.3 More Suxes . . . . . . . . .
2.4 Pejorative Axes . . . . . . .
2.5 Tenses other than the present
2.6 Non-armation questions . .
2.7 The Accusative . . . . . . . .
2.7.1 Exercises . . . . . . .

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3 La Mondo
3.1 Prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.1 Indirect Objects . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2 Various and Sundry Uses for the Accusative
3.2.1 Elliptical Usage . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.2 Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.3 Motion towards . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.4 Motion from . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3 Transitive and Intransitive Verbs . . . . . .
3.3.1 Transitivization . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.2 Intransitivization . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4 Suxes of Place, and Geography . . . . . .
3.4.1 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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LISTO DE TABELOJ

4 Mostly Verbs
4.1 The Innitive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.1 Examples of the use of auxiliary verbs
4.1.2 The innitive with prepositions . . . .
4.1.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2 Relative Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2.1 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3 More correlatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.1 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4 Participles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4.1 Participles as nouns and adverbs . . .
4.4.2 Compound Tenses . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5 Indirect speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.6 Indirect commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.6.1 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.7 The Reexive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.7.1 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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23
24
24
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28
28
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5 Esperanto: The Final Chapter, Part I

5.1 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2 The Subjunctive . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3 The comparitive and the superlative .
5.4 ajn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.5 Indeterminate subjects . . . . . . . . .
5.6 Still more suxes . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.7 And a prex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.7.1 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . .

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31
31
32
32
33
33
33
33
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A Key to Exercises

35

B Tables

39

Listo de Tabeloj
B.1
B.2
B.3
B.4

Phonetical Analysis of Consonants in Esperanto . . . . . . . . . .

Correlative Pronouns, from The Esperanto Teacher . . . . . . . .
Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The prepositions. A few others may be formed by the addition of

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39
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41
42

Introduction
As the reader of this book has most likely already decided to take a course using it, it is not truly necessary
here to extol its virtues or the virtues of taking this language over any other, but I shall for traditions
sake do so nonetheless. This textbook is one of approximately three or four easily available for Englishspeaking students of Esperanto, and it makes no pretense of being the best. In fact, I would recommend
David Richardsons Esperanto: Learning and Using the International Language as being the best Esperanto
textbook available for the English speaker. However, this textbook has at least one advantage over that one,
and that is the fact that to all intents and purposes it is free...
The next question is why one should take Esperanto and not some other language. My response to that
would be that one should take Esperanto and some other language(s), but that is not feasible for everyone.
The question thus remainswhy Esperanto. To answer it, let us look for a moment at the history and
character of the language.

The History and Character of Esperanto

Esperanto was created initially by Dr. L. L. Zamenhof, a Polish oculist from Bialistok, and published by
him in Warsaw in 1887. It was intended to become the second language of the world such that communications
might be improved. In order to do this, it had to be politically neutral and easy to learntwo good reasons
to learn it now. As a politically neutral language, Esperanto can be useful to the English speaker who
wishes to avoid the current backlash against English that is prevalent in many countries. When two people
from dierent linguistic backgrounds use Esperanto to communicate, neither will have the disadvantage of
speaking the others native language, and they will thus be able to converse more as equals. The second
reason of the two is perhaps the stronger, and has many side-benets. Esperanto is easy to learn since the
pronunciation and spelling are consistent, the grammatical rules have no exceptions and are in addition quite
simple, and the vocabulary is comprised of the most international words available.
Because the pronunciation is simple and consistent with the spelling, it is possible to learn Esperanto
with an extremely small fraction of the resources required to learn many other languages such as English, for
which the development of a good pronunciation is nearly impossible for people of many backgrounds. The
sounds of Esperanto are in general much more phonetically simple than those of English, and thus much
more easily learned by foreigners.
The grammatical rules of Esperanto are simple enough (they historically t into about sixteen rules) that
the grammar can be essentially learned in a few weeks of study, or for some, as little time as a few hours.
The vocabulary, then, will be the aspect of Esperanto which will take the longest time to master, but
there are nice simplications here, too. Because the rules of word-formation are regular in Esperanto, many
words which require separate roots in ethnic languages can be expressed by adding axes to one root in
Esperanto, e.g. patro (father) vs. patrino (mother) and bona (good) vs. malbona (bad).
Thus, one needs to learn about half as many roots in Esperanto as one would to achieve an equivalent
level of uency in an ethnic language. In addition to this, Esperanto words are selected in general on the
basis of internationality. This means that if some word exists in many languages, it is probably the same
in Esperanto. Thus, most people already know a large percentage of the vocabulary, and learning new
3

LISTO DE TABELOJ

Esperanto vocabulary will probably help in learning the vocabulary of other languages.
In general, educational studies have shown that people can learn to speak Esperanto at a given level of
prociency about six to ten times faster than for an equivalent level of prociency in some other language,
e.g. English.

How to Use This Book

This book has been organized into three distinct parts. The rst consists of Lessons One through Five,
and teaches the essentials of Esperanto grammar in a rapid, albeit somewhat summary fashion. The next
part is a somewhat more relaxed nine lessons which are intended to improve the Esperanto learned in the
rst ve, and nally there is a section containing appendices to be used as references while learning the
language, or afterward when using it. Thus, the book presents a two-level course with appendices.
One thing should be noted about the treatment which you will nd in this bookI have a slight tendency
to use obscure linguistic terms when such will serve my own laziness. It is my opinion that the reader, as a
student of language, should become accustomed to the use of a dictionary, and therefore I am leaving them
in (and for the aforementioned reason that I am lazy...)

Acknowledgements
This book is based primarily on the following sources (in order of decreasing inuence): J. Cresswell and
J. Hartleys Teach Yourself Esperanto, J. C. Wells dictionary, Neal McBurnetts La plej oftaj morfemoj de
parolata Esperanto (based on Z. Tisljars Frekvencmorfemaro de Parolata Esperanto), and M. Stuttards The
Esperanto Teacher . My thanks to Jens Karlsson for some of the exercises and several useful suggestions,
and to members of the M.I.T. Societo por Esperanto and of the classes for which this book was intended for
their corrections and general editorial comments. Any errors are of course mine, except for those which are
due to the International Anti-Esperantan Conspiracy.

Leciono 1

La Familio
1.1

Pronunciation

The rst thing the student must learn about any spoken language is its pronunciation. This is in fact the
most dicult aspect of many languages, but, as in many other respects, Esperanto is quite simple in this
regard. There are twenty-eight phonemes, each represented by a single letter, and six diphthongs represented
by two letters. Every word is pronounced exactly as it is spelled; the language lacks what is perhaps the
most awed feature of English: an inconsistent orthography.

1.1.1

Consonants

The consonants which are exactly the same in Esperanto as in English are b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, s,
t, v, and z, with the caveat that s is always voiceless. That is, s is always pronounced as in Spam rather
than Osmond.
R is pronounced with a trill, as in Scottish English, Spanish, or Italian. This will perhaps need to be
practiced, but if it is a sound of which you are incapable, an ordinary retroex r will do.
The rest of the consonants are: c, which is pronounced somewhat like the ts in Tsar or the z in
pizza;
c, which is pronounced as the ch in church; g, which is always pronounced hard as in golly,
as opposed to
g, which is pronounced soft as in gee;
h, which is pronounced as the ch in Bach,
chutzpah, or loch; j, which is pronounced as the consonantal y in year; , which is pronounced as
the z in azure or the second g in garage1 ;
s, which is pronounced as the sh in shogun; and u
,
which is pronounced as the w in water, although it is never used initially2 .

1.1.2

Vowels

The vowels of Esperanto are fairly simple, which makes them quite easy for those who are used to simple
vowels (e.g., Spanish speakers, Italian speakers, et al.), but unfortunately a bit dicult for those who are
accustomed to complex vowel systems like that of English. Esperanto has only ve monophthongal vowel
sounds: a, e, i, o, and u. These are pronounced as in the international phonetic alphabet:
a somewhat shorter than the a in father
e somewhat like the e in get, there
o somewhat like the o in note
i somewhat like the i in machine
u as in moose
1 Some

pronunciations
in some neologisms

2 except

LECIONO 1. LA FAMILIO

Notes on vowel pronunciation

These vowels should be pure, unlike their equivalents in English. The English o in note is really a
diphthong it has a sort of w at the end. Practice saying it without this w, perhaps replacing it with
a slight h sound. Most of these vowels are a bit less drawn out than in English. Thus, i is sort of a mix
between machine and pin, and e is like air without the following y-glide (say air slowly, and you will hear
an e followed by an ee.) U never has a preceding y sound, as in cute.
In addition to the monophthongs, there are six common diphthongs:
aj like l ike
ej like air
oj like boy
uj like gooey, latin huic
a
u like H ouse
e
u like an e, then a u
. . . Rare. As in Latin, Portugese, and Ancient Greek.

1.1.3

Accent

The accent always falls on the penultthe second to last syllable. Thus:
esperanto, Jo
cjo, rivero, jam

1.1.4

More Notes

1. When two words come together such that the rst ends in a vowel and the second begins with a vowel,
they should be separated with a glottal stop: la alia /la ? alia/.
2. Make sure not to pronounce Esperanto words as if they are English:
pale, false, ne, pure
3. There are no double consonants in Esperanto. If you see two consonants together, pronounce both of
them:
mallonga, sennacia

1.1.5

The Alphabet

To name a letter of the alphabet, say the sound of the letter if it is a vowel, or follow the sound with an
o if it is a consonant. Thus, the alphabet is:
a, bo, co, co, do, e, fo, go,
go, ho,
ho, i, jo, o, ko, lo, mo, no, o, po, ro, so, so, to, vo, u, u
o, zo

1.1.6

Ekzerco

Pronounce the following words3 :

3 From

The Esperanto Teacher , Mason Stuttard, 1989:LIBROSERVO de A.E.A., Australia

1.2. GRAMATIKO

a afabla, agrabla, barata, anasa, frata, patra, klara, palata

e bela, letere, necese, legende, serene, vereme, beleta, estas
i imiti, insisti, inviti, dividi, skribi, ili, era, aviado
o honoro, kolombo, rozo, popolo, odoro, leono, bono, kohero
u suno, rulu, insultu, sur, murmuru, uas, surtuto, brulu
aj ajn, fajro, rajto, ajlo, tajloro, rajdi, fajli, ricaj
ej trejni, vejno, hejmo, plej, kuirejo, lernejo
oj sojlo, kojno, knaboj, konkoj, gargojlo, fojno
uj Anglujo, tuja, tiuj, rozujo, monujo
a
u la
ubo, la
uro, fra
ulino, ka
uzo, a
udi, a
uskulti
e
u E
uropo, ne
uralgio, ne
utrala, re
umatismo, E
ukarista
c laca, facila, cedi, cento, oco, ciro, colo, unco

c ce, cambro, rica, laco, lunco, pasteco, kapuco

g longa, lango, ligi, grati, gento, gruo, granda
g larga,

gentila,
gardeno,
gis, re
gimo, giro
h haro, himno, histo, heredi, hardi, herbo, hurli
h eho, monaho,

himero
j jaro, Rejno, jes, juna, sinjoro, justa, jen
aluza, eti, dolcao, urnalo, ongli, us
s sata, ses, sidi, sono, suverena, salti, sendi

s satas, selo, sildo, groso, stupo, svitas

1.2

Gramatiko

Now that we have the orthography down, let us move on to the actual grammar of Esperanto. In
Esperanto, as in English, there are eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,
conjunctions, interjections, and pronouns. First, we shall discuss nouns, or more properly substantives.
Esperanto nouns end in o, thus:
man patro father
rivero
river birdo bird viro
eel
besto animal muro wall kusenveturilo hovercraft angilo
Plural nouns add -j to the end of the noun. Thus, viro means man, and viroj means men.

1.2.1

Sufiksoj

Suxes are added to nouns just before the nal o, and are used much more regularly than in English,
with the result that the student of Esperanto must learn a much smaller set of words in order to express
ideas. For example, the sux -in- causes a noun to become explicitly female. Thus,
patro
father patrino
mother
frato
brother fratino
sister
knabo
boy knabino
girl
viro
man virino
woman

1.2.2

Prefiksoj

As in English, Esperanto prexes are placed before the root. For example, the Esperanto prex gecauses a word to be of indeterminate gender, and is almost always used in the plural:
patro
father patrino
mother gepatroj
parents
frato
brother fratino
sister gefratoj
siblings
sinjoro
Mr. sinjorino
Mrs. gesinjoroj
Mr. and Mrs.
Gentleman
Lady
Ladies and Gentlemen

LECIONO 1. LA FAMILIO

1.2.3

Articles

One note is necessary here: whereas English has both an indenite article (a/an) and a denite article
(the), Esperanto has only la, a denite article. Thus a man would be translated as viro, and the man
would be translated as la viro.

1.2.4

The Conjugation of Verbs in the Present Tense

To conjugate a verb in the present tense, add -as to the root. This is independent of person or number.
Rocjo estas = Bob is

1.2.5

Vocabulary

homo
infano
persono
sinjoro
amiko
knabo
viro
edzo
familio
frato
simsalabimo
patro
pacjo
panjo
fra
ulo
fra
ulino
hundo
kato
rivero

1.2.6

human being
child
person
Mr., gentleman
friend
boy
man
husband
family
brother
a magic word...
father
Daddy
Mommy
bachelor
Miss
dog
cat
river

estas
la
kaj
anka
u
a
u
sidas
ludas
kuiras
ploras
ridas
jen
Rocjo
Vilhelmino
Maria
Petro
solvo
tradukas
Simsalabimo
do

is, am, are

the
and
also, too
or
sits, is sitting
plays, is playing
cooks, is cooking
cries, is crying
laughs, is laughing
behold, lo (lat. ecce)
Bob
Wilhelmina
Mary
Peter
answer, solution
translates
(The cats name)
so (I did that, so he...)

Exercises

1. Translate into English:

(a) Jen la familio Frogmorton
(b) Rocjo, a
u Roberto, estas la patro, kaj Vilhelmino estas la patrino.
(c) Rocjo estas Sinjoro Frogmorton, kaj Vilhelmino estas Sinjorino Frogmorton.
(d) Maria estas Fra
ulino Frogmorton, kaj Petro estas Fra
ulo Frogmorton, a
u Sinjoro Frogmorton.
(e) La hundo estas Barfo, kaj la kato Simsalabimo4 .
(f) Maria ploras, kaj Petro ridas.
(g) Petro kaj Maria sidas kaj ludas, kaj Roberto tradukas.
2. Translate into Esperanto:
(a) Bob and Wilhelmina are also husband and wife.
4 This is, astoundingly enough, apparently one of the 700 most frequently used morphemes in spoken Esperanto, and therefore
by the philosophy under which this book is being written it had to be included. However, it didnt fit into any of the books
themes, so now its the cats name.

1.2. GRAMATIKO
(b) Mary and Peter are children, but Mary is a girl and Peter is a boy.

(c) Bob, Wilhelmina, Mary, and Peter are human beings and peopleBob and Peter are men, and
Wilhelmina and Mary are women.
(d) Mary and Peter are brother and sister, but not friends.
(e) The answer is 42.
(f) Wilhelmina is cooking.

1.2.7

Adjectives

Adjectives in Esperanto all end in -a:

bona good stulta
stupid rica
plena
full
gentila polite granda

rich
large

Plural adjectives also add -j to the end, and are used whenever a plural noun is being modied:
bona viro bonaj viroj viroj bonaj
plena kusenveturilo a full hovercraft
grandaj eraroj
big goofs
MALThe prex mal- causes the word to which it is attached to mean the opposite of what it would otherwise
mean:
bona
good malbona
bad
granda large malgranda small

1.2.8

Questions

English uses several rather odd syntactic maneuvers in order to form questions, including inversion, the
creation of helping verbs for the purpose of inversion, and the use of question words; Esperanto uses only
question words, thus leaving its word order fairly intact. In this lesson, we shall conne ourselves to the
types of questions which employ inversion in Englishthat is, yes or no questions. In Esperanto, a special
question wordcuis employed to create this sort of question:
La hundo estas mortinta.
The dog is dead.
la hundo estas mortinta? Is the dog dead?
Cu
vi
Thus the classic foreign-language question, Do you speak Language, translates in Esperanto as Cu
5
parolas Language? . This sort of question may be answered by jes or ne.
vi parolas Esperanton? Ne, mi parolas la anglan.
Cu
Ne also doubles as the English not, non-, and un-. Thus:
La hundo ne ludas
The dog isnt playing
La birdo ne ugas
The bird isnt ying/doesnt y
Ne, mi ne parolas la anglan No, I dont speak English
neforgesebla
unforgettable
nemovigita
unmoved
5 More

on this later

10

LECIONO 1. LA FAMILIO

1.2.9

Vocabulary

ne
cu
ke
jes
bona
car
scias
iras
scivolas
esperanto
parolas
vera
nova
tre
granda
simpla
rica
forgesas

1.2.10

not, no, non

Question Particle
that
yes
good
because
knows
goes
wonders
Esperanto
speaks
real
new
very
large
simple
rich
forgets

pensas
lingvo
bela
juna
tro
mankas
konsentas
tradukas
vorto
piediras
hejma
alta
ugas
Superviro
stulta
opinias
plena

thinks
language
beautiful
young
too (as is too many)
is missing
agrees
translates
word
walks
at home
high, tall
ies
Superman
stupid, dumb
thinks (opines)
full

Exercises

1. Translate from Esperanto to English

(a) Vilhelmino estas tre bela, sed ne tre juna.
(b) La familio parolas Esperanton.
(c) Esperanto estas simpla lingvo, kaj la Frogmortonoj opinias, ke Esperanto estas bela.
(d) La kato estas nova, sed maljuna.
(e) Barfo anka
u estas stulta.
(f) Petro opinias, ke Maria estas stulta, sed Maria ne konsentas.
(g) Rocjo ne estas sola, car li estas edzo.
(h) Petro kaj Maria pensas, ke Vilhelmino estas Panjo kaj Roberto estas Pacjo. Petro kaj Maria
estas pravaj.
(i) La patro ne starasla patro estas tro alta.
(j) Superviro ugas, sed Rocjo ne ugasli piediras.
2. Translate from English to Esperanto
(a) Mary and Peter are young.
(b) Children are young.
(c) Esperanto is a simple language, because the words are smart [the opposite of stupid].
(d) Is the dog new?
(e) No, Barfo is old. [not in age]
(f) The dog is large, but the cat is small.
(g) Does Barf know that Simsalabim is a cat?
(h) Yes, but Barf doesnt know that Barf is a dog.
(i) Robert wonders if Robert is a real man, but Wilhelmina knows.

Leciono 2

La Familio Frogmorton
2.1

Personal Pronouns

The personal
mi I
vi
you
li
he
si
she
gi
it

pronouns of Esperanto are much like those of English:

ni we
vi you
ili they

These are used essentially in the same manner as nouns. E.g., mi estas = I am, etc.

2.2

The Possessive

There are three types of possessives in English: my cat, Bobs cat, and the cat of Bob. In
Esperanto, only the rst and last of these types are used. The rst is the possessive pronoun, and is much
simpler in Esperanto than in English, being the personal pronoun made into an adjective by the addition of
-a. As an Esperanto adjective, the possessive pronoun must agree with the noun it modiesmia kato,
but miaj katoj . The second type of possessive is handled by means of de:
my aunts pen la plumo de mia onklino
the dogs dish la plado de la hundo

2.3

More Suxes

There are several suxes in Esperanto which convert words from adjective to noun, noun to verb, etc.
Some of these are:
-ul- a person with the quality of: bonulo = a good person
-ec- -ness: boneco = goodness
-ad- -tion, -ing: parolado = speaking, movado = motion
-a- makes concrete: mangas = eats, mangao = food

2.4

Pejorative Axes

There are three axes which make an otherwise ordinary word into an insult. These are: -a
c, which
means essentially contemptible, abhominable; fu
s-, which means bungling; and -, which means
morally impure.
11

12

LECIONO 2. LA FAMILIO FROGMORTON

aculo
virinaco
gazetaco

2.5

frowzy person
hag
bad magazine

fusulo
fusviro
fusgazeto

clutz
oaf
misprinted magazine

ulo
virino
gazeto

scoundrel
slut
smutty magazine

Tenses other than the present

These are simple. To form the past tense, use -is instead of -as. To form the future tense, use -os.
The imperative (e.g., Get out!) is formed by adding -u. Thus:
movu
movis
movas
movos

2.6

move!
moved
moves
will move

Non-armation questions

all begin with ki- and will be introduced slowly throughout this
The question-words other than Cu
book, along with their friends, the other correlatives. Some of them are: kiam (when), kiu (who), and
kio (what). These are used essentially as in English:
Kiam vi iros?
Kiu vi estas?
Kio gi estas?

When will you go?

Who are you?
What is it?

Vocabulary
kiu
kio
kiel

2.7

who (what person, one)

what (what thing)
how (what manner)

kial
kiam

why (what reason)

when (what time)

The Accusative

Unlike English, which distinguishes the subject of a sentence from its direct object only by word order,
Esperanto changes the word itself a bit such that a direct object may be placed almost arbitrarily in a
sentence (although word order in Esperanto tends to be pretty similar to that in English normally). That
is, Esperanto adds an -n to the end of nouns and adjectives that are in the accusative, or direct object,
case. Thus:
Mi parolas Esperanton.
I speak Esperanto.
amas min.
Si
She loves me.
La kato batis la hundon.
The cat hit the dog.
La hundon batis la kato.
The cat hit the dog.
La bonaj katoj batis la malbonajn hundojn. The good cats hit the bad dogs.
Mi vidis la belan bildon.
I saw the beautiful picture.

13

2.7. THE ACCUSATIVE

Vocabulary
mortas
movas
movadas
krajono
hazarda
blua
verda
batas
batacas
cevalo
safo
domo
bildo
tablo
cambro
salono
lito
planko
trinkas
oni
vidas

2.7.1

dies
moves
moves continually
pencil
random
blue
green
hits
hits foully
horse
sheep
house
picture
table
room
drawing-room
bed
oor
to drink
one, you
comes

porko
porkao
saltas
saltadas
birdo
onklo
plumo
alia
aliulo
pomo
vino
ovo
salo
malsata
banano
teo
so
batalas
koloro
amas
venkas

pig
pork
jumps
jumps up and down
bird
uncle
pen
other
another (person)
apple
wine
egg
salt
hungry
banana
tea
sh
ghts
color
loves
conquers

mangas
mangao
ava
aveco
kantas
kantacas
havas
sperta
spertulo
telero
botelo
korbo
plado
kulero
pokalo
aparato
miksi
masino
lo
venas
trafas

Exercises

1. Translate from Esperanto to English.

estas kato.
(a) Simsalabimo mangadas birdojn. Gi
mangas hundman
(b) Barfo ne mangas birdojn. Gi
gaon.
(c) Superviro bataladas niajn malamikojn, sed Lekso Lutor batalas lin.
(d) Kiu batas Superviron?
(e) Kiujn batis Superviro?
miksadas la teon, sed la safo ne trinkas gin.
(f) Si
havas botelon de vino, sed aliulo trinkas gin.
(g) Si
2. Translate from English to Esperanto.
(a) What is it? It is a blue bird.
(b) Is your pork good?
(c) It is good, but I am full (not plena!).
(d) Why does he have a pencil, but not a pen?
(e) Bobs sister is his childrens aunt.
(f) Peter and Maria also have an uncle.
(g) He is the brother of their father.
(h) How did they move their big dog?
(i) They didnt move it. It jumped.

eats
food
yellow
yellowness
sings
murders (a song)
has
expert
an expert
plate
bottle
basket
dish
spoon
cup, goblet
apparatus
to mix
machine
son
comes
hits

14

LECIONO 2. LA FAMILIO FROGMORTON

Leciono 3

La Mondo
3.1

Prepositions

One of the most dicult aspects of Esperanto is its prepositionsnot because they are more dicult
in Esperanto than in any other given language, but because they are not, and probably could not be, any
simpler than those found in other languages. The student of Esperanto, as of any foreign language with
prepositions, must be very careful with their use, as prepositions are used dierently in every language. It
is anyones guess whether this book will succeed in using Esperanto prepositions correctly, in fact...
At any rate, prepositions in Esperanto are utilized in approximately the same manner as in English:
La kato estas sur la tablo
The cat is on the table
La hundo staras sub la tablo
The dog is standing under the table
Mi lo
gas en puto
I live in a well
La kusenveturilo estas plena de angiloj The hovercraft is full of eels.
Note that these prepositions govern the nominative (that is, the subject case) rather than the accusative
(that is, the object case) as in English. There are some cases where the object of a preposition will have an
-n ending, but these are special cases which will be discussed in the section which is coming up.
Vocabulary
en
ce
ekster
trans
dum

3.1.1

in
at, chez
outside of
across
during, while

inter
sur
sub
al
tra

between, among
on
under
to
through

Indirect Objects

In English there exist sentences such as He gave me the ball. In these sentences, me, or whatever, is
known as the indirect object. In Esperanto, this function is lled by al :
Li donis al mi la bildon. He gave me the picture.

3.2

Various and Sundry Uses for the Accusative

There are several instances in which the accusative case is used in Esperanto where there does not seem
to be, and indeed often there is not, a direct object present. Some of these will be discussed here1 .
1 Most

of the information in this section was taken from Teach Yourself Esperanto, J. Cresswell and J. Hartley, 1987:Great

15

16

LECIONO 3. LA MONDO

3.2.1

Elliptical Usage

The student of Esperanto will often come across instances of the accusative where it would seem more
natural to nd a simple noun. These are sometimes explained by supposing that there is an assumed sentence
for which the accusative phrase is a completion. For example, the standard way of saying Good morning
in Esperanto is bonan matenon. This is explained by hypothesizing that the original sentence was I wish
you a good morning, or the like. Thus:
Saluton
Hello
Bonan vesperon Good Evening
Bonan nokton
Good Night
Bonvenon
Welcome
Dankon (por)
Thanks (for)
Kion vi batis? La hundon.

Vocabulary
ha
ho
nu
saluton
dankon

3.2.2

ah
oh
well
hello
thanks

tago
vespero
mateno
nokto
dankas

day
evening
morning
night
thanks

Time

Another use for the accusative is in expressions of time, but to well explain these, we shall rst need to
make a small excursion and discuss enumeration in Esperanto, as well as adverbs.

Numbers
The numbers of Esperanto are as follows:
1 unu
6 six
7 sep
2 du
3 tri
8 ok
4 kvar
9 na
u
10 dek
5 kvin
100 cent 1000 mil
From these, all numbers below one million (American) can be formed in a very logical fashion similar to that
employed by Chinese. Esperanto uses each word for each place, i.e. each digit, in a given number. Thus,
11
12
13

dek unu
dek du
dek tri
..
.

19

dek na
u

99
100
101

na
udek na
u
cent
cent unu

112
120

cent dek du
cent dudek

Britain; Houghton and Stoddard, Ltd.

3.2. VARIOUS AND SUNDRY USES FOR THE ACCUSATIVE

20
21

dudek
dudek unu
..
.

29
30
40

dudek na
u
tridek
kvardek
..
.

90
239,185

200
234
1971
1020
1066
1865

17

ducent
ducent tridek kvar
mil
mil
mil
mil

na
ucent sepdek unu
dudek
sesdek ses
okcent sesdek kvin

2001 dumil unu

na
udek
1992 mil na
ucent na
udek du
ducent tridek na
u mil cent okdek kvin

Adverbs
Adverbs in Esperanto are quite simpleeither nd a ready-made one like morga
u (tomorrow) (most
of this sort end in a
u) or add -e to the root of an adjective (this is comparable to -ly in English, although
may be used much more extensively). Thus,
bona good
bone well
bela beautiful
bele beautifully
unua rst
unue rstly
rapida fast
rapide quickly
Notice that ordinal numbers (rst, second, etc.) are formed by the addition of -a to numbers in exactly
the same fashion as the creation of possessive pronouns from personal pronouns. The third type of numbers,
once, twice, etc., are formed by adding foje to numbers: unufoje = once, dufoje = twice, etc. Fojo
refers to an occasion when something happens.
Vocabulary
hodia
u
hiera
u
morga
u
kutime

today
yesterday
tomorrow
usually

fojo
frue
nun
kvaza
u

time, occurance
early
now
as if (not an adv.)

Now that that is out of the way, we can discuss the measurement of time. First, dates: if one wished to
say I shall arrive on Monday, one would say Mi alvenos lundon. One would rst, however, need to know
the days of the week:
lundo Monday
mardo Tuesday
merkredo Wednesday
a
udo Thursday
vendredo Friday
sabato Saturday
dimanco Sunday
As an extra, well throw in the months of the year as well:
januaro
februaro
marto
aprilo
majo
junio

January
February
March
April
May
June

julio
a
ugusto
septembro
oktobro
novembro
decembro

July
August
September
October
November
December

18

LECIONO 3. LA MONDO

To ask the time, one should say:

Kioma horo estas?
To answer this, one says:
Estas la dua (horo) It is two oclock
This only works if the time is an even hour, however. Some other cases are as follows:
2:10
7:15
3:30
4:45
12:50

La
La
La
La
La

dua (kaj) dek (minutoj)

sepa (kaj) dek kvin (or ...kaj kvarono)
tria (kaj) tridek (or ...kaj duono)
kvara (kaj) kvardek kvin
dek-dua (kaj) kvindek

Now here begins the magic of the accusative: to say at three thirty, one would say la trian kaj duono. This
is actually short for je la tria kaj duono, but the accusative can be used to substitute for the preposition je,
which is a rather odd preposition which is used whenever no other preposition conveys the meaning intended.
Thus:
Mi alvenos la okan kaj kvarono. I shall arrive at 8:15.
As mentioned before, on Monday is translated as lundon. On Mondays, is however expressed by
lunde:
Mi iris lundon, sed kutime mi iras a
ude. I went on Monday, but I usually go on Thursdays.
Dates are expressed by some variant of Sabaton la trian de februaro (with the appropriate information lled
in, of course...). I awaited her for three months would be translated as Tri monatojn mi atendis sin, or
the like.
Vocabulary
jaro
tempo
komencas
minuto
momento
horo
semajno

3.2.3

year
time
begins
minute
moment
hour
week

okazas
je
nas
tuj
atendas
numero
monato

occurs, happens
indenite preposition
stops (something)
immediately
awaits
number
month

Motion towards

With prepositions
The accusative is also used to indicate motion towards some destination. Just as the accusative was
shown to replace je above, it here replaces the preposition al (to). Thus,
Mi iras al Novjorko I am going to New York
Mi iras Novjorkon
I am going to New York
The accusative is also used with prepositional phrases if there is motion which would not otherwise be
indicated:
La
La
La
La

hundo saltas sur la tablon

hundo saltas sur la tablo
birdo ugas trans la riveron
birdo ugas trans la rivero

The
The
The
The

dog jumps on to the table

dog is jumping while on the table
bird ies to the other side of the river
bird ies on the other side of the river

3.3. TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS

19

But notice that the accusative is not used with prepositions which already show motion:
Mi iros al la urbo.
Mi iris g
is la marbordo.

I shall go to the town.

I went up to the seashore.

With adverbs
If an adverb species a place, motion towards that place is indicated by the addition of -n after the nal
e of the adverb:
La homo restis hejme.
The person stayed at home.
La homo venis hejmen. The person came home.
Such an adverb is normally employed to express the English ending -ward(s).:
norden
orienten
suden
okcidenten

northwards
eastwards
southwards
westwards

anta
uen
malanta
uen
supren
malsupren

forwards
backwards
upwards
downwards

An -n can also be placed after kie, tie, etc. in order to express to where (whither) and to there
(thither):
Kien vi iras?
Mi iras tien.

Where are you going?

I am going there.

Vocabulary
tie
trovas
restas
lasas
vojagas
veturas
vojo

3.2.4

there
nds
stays, remains
leaves
travels
travels by vehicle
way, path

kie
for
lo
gas
proksima
kuras
nagas

where
away
lives, dwells
near
runs
swims

Motion from

Motion away from some place is not described by means of the accusative, but rather by means of the
preposition de:
Li saltis de sur la se
go
He jumped out of the chair
La hundo kuris de sub la viro The dog ran out from under the man
There is a special preposition el for de en:
La edzo kuris el la domo
La viro saltis el la aeroplano

3.3

The husband ran out of the house

The man jumped out of the airplane

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Some verbs take direct objects, and others do not. The former are known as transitive, and the latter
intransitive. In Esperanto, any given verb starts out as one or the other, and may be transformed into the
other by means of -ig- or -i
g-.

20

LECIONO 3. LA MONDO

3.3.1

Transitivization

The sux -ig- essentially means to cause to [whatever]. Thus, it may be used to transform an intransitive verb into a transitive2 :
morti
to die
mortigi
to kill
timi
to fear
timigi
to frighten
iri
to go
irigi
to propel
miri
to be amazed
mirigi
to astonish
fali
to fall
faligi
to fell
droni
to be drowning dronigi
to drown (some one)
boli
to be boiling
boligi
to boil (something)
bruli
to be burning
bruligi
to burn (something)
ruga
red
rugigi
to redden
nigra
black
nigrigi
to blacken
bona
good
bonigi
to cause to be good, to better
granda large
grandigi to enlarge

3.3.2

Intransitivization

The sux -i
g- preforms the opposite function of -ig-: it transforms transitive verbs into intransitive, and
can be approximately translated as to become [whatever].:
ni
to nish (something) nigi
to come to an end
naski
to bear, give birth to naskigi
to be born
nomi
to name
nomigi
to be named
ruga
red
rugi
gi
to blush
edzo
husband
edzi
gi
to get married (become a husband)
edzino wife
edzini
gi to get married (become a wife)

3.4

Suxes of Place, and Geography

The sux -ej- signies place. This can be

kuiri
to cook
kuirejo
dormi
to sleep
dormejo
infano
child
infanejo
a
utomobilo car
a
utomobilejo
hundo
dog
hundejo
trinki
to drink
trinkejo
lerni
to learn
lernejo
necesa
necessary necesejo

more eectively shown by example than by explanation:

kitchen
bedroom
nursery
garage
kennel
bar
school
bathroom

The sux -uj- signies a container for something. Thus, a monujo is a wallet, an inkujo is an inkwell,
and a karbujo is a coal-skuttle. This sux was also originally used to signify a country in which a certain
race dwells:
anglo
dano
svedo

an Englishman
a Dane
a Swede

anglujo
danujo
svedujo

England
Denmark
Sweden

Less homogeneously populated countries were signied either by a simple name or the sux -i-:
2 The

addition of -i produces the infinitival form of a verb

21

3.4. SUFFIXES OF PLACE, AND GEOGRAPHY

Algerio
hoslovakio
Ce
A
ustralio
Usono
Kanado

Algeria
Czechoslovakia
Australia
The U.S.A.
Canada

In addition, some countries are named by -lando:

Irlando
Finnlando
Islando

Ireland
Finland
Iceland

Thus, there are essentially three (or two) types of country names. The rst type of country is named after
its inhabitants, so naming an inhabitant of such a country is as simple as removing the -uj- ending. For the
other types of country, one adds -an- to the name of the country:
irlandano
usonano
islandano
a
ustraliano

an
an
an
an

Irishman
American
Icelander
Australian

There has been a movement for greater standardization of these names within the Esperanto community,
with the result that those names which formerly used an -ujo ending now normally take an -io ending:
Anglio, Svedio, etc.
Vocabulary
lando
Jugoslavio
loko
franko
urbo
sviso
E
uropo
Nederlando
Irano
adreso
dano
italo
strato
Afriko
Ameriko
svedo
Bulgario
kilomapo
Usono
nivelo
tereno
viziti
faras

land
Yugoslavia
place, location
a franc
town
a Swiss
Europe
Holland
Iran
address
a Dane
an Italian
a street
Africa
America (continent)
a Swede
Bulgaria
kiloa map
The U.S.
level
terrain
to visit
makes

germano
lago
mondo
kampo
nacio
ekskurso
japano
Finlando
regiono
a
utobuso
franco
Parizo
sipo
akvo
Skandinavio
anglo
centro
metro
maro
monto
ruso
cino
multaj

a German
lake
world
a eld
nation
a trip
a Japanese
Finland
region
bus
a Frenchman
Paris
a ship
water
Scandinavia
an Englishman
a center
meter
a sea
a mountain
a Russian
a Chinese person
many

22

LECIONO 3. LA MONDO

3.4.1

Exercises

Translate into English:

1. La Frogmortonoj lo
gas en Esperantio, sed ili faris vojagon al E
uropo.
2. Esperantio ne estas vera lando.
3. Ili vizitis multajn landojn, kaj vidis multajn belajn urbojn.
4. Kien ili iris? Ili iris al Francio.
5. Kie ili restis en Francio? Ili restis en Parizo.

Leciono 4

Mostly Verbs
Vocabulary
pri
farti
preni
nomo
a
udi
libro
funkcii
a
go
kara
legi
tusi
krom
gvidi
kvankam
super
lui
tuta
nur
vivi
kelkaj
tamen
interesi
preska
u
sati
ja
vendi
agi
kreski
kapabla
kapti
sendi
provi
utila
membro
pluraj

about
to fare
to take
name
to hear
book
to function
age
dear
to read
to touch
besides
to guide
although
beyond
to rent
whole
only
to live
some
however
to interest
almost
to like
indeed
to sell
to act
to grow
capable
to catch
to send
to try
useful
member
several

por
ebla
anta
u
anta
u
skribi
rapida
mezo
sen
atenti
dormi
supre
naskigi
atingi
ofte
informo
se
doni
afero
ec
suca
ricevi
sama
porti
pro
pupo
helpi
aperi
elekti
maniero
mano
da
uri
a
uskulti
formi
ideo
celo

for
possible
before
in front
to write
quick
middle
without
to await
to sleep
above
to be born
to attain
often
information
if
to give
thing
even
enough
to receive
same
to carry
because of
doll
to help
to appear
to choose
manner
hand
to last
to listen
to form
idea
goal

kun
post
kompreni
gis
aceti
facila
dankon
deziri
stari
nepre
diskuti
rompi
anstata
u
interpreti
kompleta
konscii
ankora
u
jam
certa
la
u
per
koni
propono
grava
memori
ekzisti
montri
sukcesi
almena
u
serci
fermi
zorgi
klara
kontra
u
skatolo
23

with
after
to understand
until, up to
to buy
easy
thanks
to want
to stand
w/o fail
to discuss
to break
instead of
to interpret
complete
to be aware of
still
already
certain
according to
by means of
to be familiar with
proposal
weighty
to remember
to exist
to show
to succeed
at least
to look for
to close
to care for
clear
against
box

24

LECIONO 4. MOSTLY VERBS

sperta
pura
rakonto

4.1

expert
clean
story

cefa
perdi
uzi

main
to lose
to use

akcepti
placi
prezidi

to accept
to please
to preside

The Innitive

The innitival form of a verb, expressed in English as, e.g. to be, may be formed in Esperanto by the
addition of -i at the end of the root. Esperanto does not use a preposition, as English does: to be would
be translated by esti rather than al esti or some other such monstrosity.
The innitive comes into use mainly when naming verbs and employing auxiliary verbs, but also when
expressing concepts which would be expressed by a preposition plus the -ing form of an English verb.
The rst use mentioned above requires no elucidation, but for the second we shall provide a few examples,
after presenting some necessary vocabulary:
Vocabulary
povi
bezoni
deziri
decidi
peni

4.1.1

to
to
to
to
to

be able to, can

need (to)
want (something)
decide
try

devi
rajti
voli
klopodi

have to, must

be allowed to, may
want (to)
take steps to, endeavor

Examples of the use of auxiliary verbs

Mi povas piediri
La hundoj devis atendi la knabojn
La knabo ne rajtis mangi la kukon
La knabo ne rajtas fumi
Mi volas mangi multajn kukojn

4.1.2

to
to
to
to

I can walk
The dogs had to await the boys
The boy was not allowed to eat the cake
The boy is not allowed to smoke
I want to eat many cakes

The infinitive with prepositions

The innitive may be used with only three prepositions: anstata

u, krom, and por. For example:
Anstata
u iri hejmen, mi iris en la trinkejon.
Instead of going home, I went into the bar.
Krom bati Lekson Lutor Superviro volis vidi Luizon Lane.
Besides hitting Lex Luthor Superman wanted to see Lois Lane.
Mi iris por aceti porkaon.
I went (in order) to buy pork.
Note that por plus an innitive is used to express the idea of in order to. The word por must be included
in such expressions, no matter tempting it may be to omit it.

4.1.3

Exercises

1. Translate into English

(a) Mi trinkos lakton (milk), kaj mi povos kreski!
(b) Superviro klopodis trovi la domon de Lekso Lutor.
(c) Krom esti stulta, vi anka
u estas tre malbela.

25

4.2. RELATIVE PRONOUNS

2. Translate into Esperanto
(a) I can sing if I want to.
(b) I must demand that you close the box.

4.2

Relative Pronouns

In Esperanto, relative pronouns (The dog, who chased the cat, is sick) are relatively simple, a trait
about which the reader is probably tired of hearing. In English, the word who is used, with its variations;
Esperanto uses kiu in a similar fashion. As with adjectives, it is important that the relative pronoun agree
in person and number with the noun it governs:
Superviro, kiu ofte ugas, anka
u povas piediri.
Superman, who often flies, can also walk.
La knaboj, kiuj falis sur la se
gon, estis malpuraj.
The boys, who fell onto the chair, were dirty.
La hundoj, kiujn la a
utomobilo tras, estos mortintaj.
The dogs, which the car hit, will be dead.
La knabinon, kiu staras sur la strato, a
udas mi
I hear the girl who is standing on the street.

4.2.1

Exercises

Translate into Esperanto:

1. Billy Jean is she who thinks the child is my son.
2. You are the dirty rat (rato) who killed my brother.
3. Those are the dirty rats my brother killed.

4.3

More correlatives

In addition to all the ki- words which have been presented heretofore, there exist corresponding words
beginning with ti-, i-, neni-, and
ci-. Some examples:
Vocabulary
tio
tiu
tie
nenio
neniu
nenie

that (thing)
that (one)
there
nothing
no one
nowhere

io
iu
ie
cio
ciu
cie

something
someone
somewhere
everything
everyone
everywhere

By the use of the word ci , one may express proximity: ci tio means this (thing), ci tiu means this
(one), and ci tie means here. The ci may be placed before or after the ti- word.

26

LECIONO 4. MOSTLY VERBS

4.3.1

Exercises

Translate into Esperanto:

1. That is the place (loko) where I live.
2. Those are the birds that ew somewhere yesterday.
3. Something is wrong (malbona) with you.

4.4

Participles

Since verbs have been maintaining the appearance of relative simplicity up to this point, it now becomes
appropriate to shatter this illusion, although not too badly. In addition to the simple tenses (-as, -is, and
-os), Esperanto boasts an extremely exible system of participles, which by virtue of its logical nature is
sometimes confusing to English speakers.
Here is the system:
Non-participial Active Passive
-as
-ant
-at
-is
-int
-it
-os
-ont
-ot
Now, here is an example with the verb atingi (to attain.):
atingas
atingis
atingos

attains
attained
will attain

atinganta
atinginta
atingonta

attaining
having attained
about to attain

atingata
atingita
atingota

being attained
attained
about to be attained

Examples:
La hundo mortis
la mortinta hundo
La hundo mortas
la mortanta hundo
La hundo mortos
la mortonta hundo
La mortontoj vin salutas
Mi rompas la pladon
la rompata plado
Mi rompis la pladon
la rompita plado
Mi rompos la pladon
la rompota plado

4.4.1

The dog died

the dead dog
The dog is dying
the dying dog
The dog will die
the dog, who is about to die
Morituri te salutant
I am breaking the bowl
the bowl that is being broken
I broke the bowl
the broken bowl
I shall break the bowl
the bowl that is about to be broken

Participles as nouns and adverbs

Participles are not conned to adjectival form in Esperanto. Here are some examples of nominal and
adverbial participles:

27

4.4. PARTICIPLES
esperas
esperanto
gvidas
gvidanto
parolas
parolanto
parolis
parolinto
parolos
parolonto
amas
amato

hopes
one who hopes
guides
a guide (amateur)
speaks
a speaker
spoke
he who has just spoken
will speak
he who is about to speak
loves
a loved one

Dezirante paroli al li, mi batis lin sur la kapo.

Wishing to speak to him, I hit him on the head.
Skribinte la libron, mi vendis
gin.
After writing the book, I sold it.
Venkonte Azion, Aleksandro venkis Grekion.
Just before conquering Asia Alexander conquered Greece.

4.4.2

Compound Tenses

Rather surprisingly, compound tenses are perhaps the least common use for the participles. Esperanto
stylists tend to see them as inelegant and use whatever tricks they need in order to avoid them. However,
the Esperantist should know them nonetheless.
As has been the case throughout this chapter, I shall resort to endless examples in lieu of any explanation:
estas manganta It is eating
Gi
estas manginta It has eaten
Gi
estas mangonta It is about to eat
Gi
estas mangata
Gi
It is eaten
estas mangita
Gi
It has been eaten
estas mangota
Gi
It is about to be eaten
estis manganta It was eating
Gi
estis manginta
Gi
It had been eating
estis mangonta It had been about to eat
Gi
estis mangata
Gi
It was being eaten

Gi estis mangita
It was eaten
estis mangota
Gi
It was about to be eaten
estos manganta It will be eating
Gi
estos manginta It will have eaten
Gi
estos mangonta It will be about to eat
Gi
estos mangata
Gi
It will be being eaten
estos mangita
Gi
It will be eaten
estos mangota
Gi
It will be about to be eaten
Note that estas -int corresponds to our present perfect, estis -int corresponds to our past perfect, and estos
-int corresponds to our future perfect.

28

LECIONO 4. MOSTLY VERBS

4.4.3

Exercises

Translate into Esperanto:

1. Billy Jean is not my lover; she is just (nur ) a girl who says that I am the one.
2. The dog shall have been dead in the room for three weeks when we eat it.

4.5

Indirect speech

Indirect speech is very logical in Esperanto, which renders it a bit dicult for English speakers. That is,
it uses logical tenses, as opposed to the semi-archaic pseudo-subjunctives of English. The trick to becoming
familiar with the Esperanto method of relating indirect speech is to use the same tense that direct speech
would:
Li diris, Mi acetos bananon He said, I shall buy a banana
Li diris, ke li acetos bananon
He said that he would buy a banana
Li diris, Mi acetas bananon He said, I am buying a banana
Li diris, ke li acetas bananon
He said that he was buying a banana
Li diris, Mi acetis bananon He said, I bought a banana
Li diris, ke li acetis bananon
He said that he had bought a banana

4.6

Indirect commands

In indirect speech Esperanto uses the imperative after verbs such as want, wish, order, advise, tell, etc.
where English uses the innitive:
Mi volas ke vi iru al Kanado
I want you to go to Canada
Mi volas ke li ugu
I want him to y
Mi diris ke Superviro prenu tri saltojn kaj ugu I told Superman to take three jumps and y
Mi ordonis ke li iru hejmen
I ordered him to go home
Vocabulary
Good verbs
inviti
rimarki
preferi
diri
postuli

4.6.1

for indirect speech and indirect commands:

to invite
respondi to respond rekomendi
imagi
to imagine supozi
to notice
to prefer
protesti
to protest
decidi
to say
senti
to sense
kredi
to demand sajni
to seem

to
to
to
to

recommend
suppose
decide
believe

Exercises

Translate into Esperanto:

1. I thought I told you to go to school! (This ones tricky...)
2. I asked the dog to sit.
3. The Lord (Sinjoro) told Mary to bear a son.

4.7

The Reexive

The reexive is used when a subject refers back to itself in sentences such as I hid myself and He
rented his (own) car. In Esperanto, the rst and second person reexive pronouns are the same as the
personal pronouns, and the third person reexive pronoun is si. Si can only be used in the object position,

29

4.7. THE REFLEXIVE

never as a subject; thus, it is always either preceded
examples of the reexive:
Mi donis al mi la bildon
Ni devas suprenigi nin
Vi zorgas nur por vin
Mi havis mian kukon, kaj anka
u mangis gin
Li perdis sian edzinon en la cambro
Li perdis lian edzinon
zorgis por si
Si
estis sola, en cambro nur kun si
Si
batalis kontra
Gi
u si
Ili lavis sin

by a preposition, or suxed with the -n ending. Some

I gave myself the picture
We must raise ourselves up
You care only for yourself
I had my cake and ate it, too
He lost his (own) wife in the room
He lost his (someone elses) wife
She took care of herself
She was alone, in a room only with herself
It fought against itself
They washed themselves

Note that this is not the same as the English emphatic use of the reexive pronoun in I myself shot him,
or He bought the car himself. In Esperanto, this sort of thing is covered by the word mem:
Mi mem estas samideano
I myself am a member-of-the-same-idea (an Esperantist)
Homo saga portas cion sian kun si mem
Homo sapiens omnia sua secum fert
Tion ordonis la re
go mem
The king himself ordered that

4.7.1

Exercises

Translate into Esperanto:

1. He himself lives in Ireland.
2. Nixon wrote many books about himself.
3. She almost liked him herself.
4. I gave myself a picture of an eel.

30

LECIONO 4. MOSTLY VERBS

Leciono 5

Esperanto: The Final Chapter, Part I

5.1

Vocabulary

Sort this out as you can1 ...

fakto
sorci
to bewitch
plu
further
gusta

rigardi
temo
subject
verki
to compose parto
problemo problem
diversa
mono
meti
to put
kosti
to cost
san
gi
lasta
nal
ordinara
estro
leader
teatro
teruro
kulturo
culture
raporto
report
sekvi
scienco
science
situacio
grupo
group
longa
amaso
serio
series
kontakti
to contact
papero
beda
uri
publika
public
sloso
lock
eti
plani
to plan
relativo
pasi
to pass
ordo
sanco
chance
anko
kontroli
preciza
precise
okupi
to occupy
trajno
sistemo
system
carma
bazo
basis
ociala
libera
free
prepari
regulo
rule
marsi
voco
voice
siri
bileto
ticket
dini
pendi
kazo
case
populara popular
produkto
volvi
to wind
marko
1 it.

fact
correct
to look at
part
varied
money
to change
ordinary
theater
terror
to follow
situation
long
pile, heap
paper
to regret
to throw
relative
order
side
to check
train
charming
ocial
to prepare
to march
to tear
to dene
to hang (it.)
product
mark

stands for intransitive, and tr. for transitive

31

labori
ekzemple
pagi
eventualo
teni
kovri
rilati
generala
prezenti
diablo
pardoni
forta
punkto
aran
gi
programo
prelegi
konkreta
korespondi
speciala
lavi
normala
prezo
aparta
levi
konstanta
reklamo
senco
gratuli
perfekta
rekta
konservi

to work
for example
to pay
eventuality
to hold
to cover
to relate to
general
to introduce
devil
to pardon
strong
point
to arrange
program
to lecture
concrete
to correspond
special
to wash
normal
price
separate
to lift
constant
advertisement
sense (mng.)
to congratulate
perfect
direct
to conserve

32

LECIONO 5. ESPERANTO: THE FINAL CHAPTER, PART I

tasko
vesto
vasta
evolui
freneza
stato
ponto
precipa
speco
tajpi
vetero
felica
karto
konsilo
tabulo
nuda
oferti
premi
sireno
tuko
gojo
amuzi
dividi
krii

5.2

task
garment
vast
to develop
crazy
condition
bridge
main
kind, sort
to type
weather
happy
card
advice
board
bare
to oer
to press
siren
cloth
joy
to amuse
to divide
to shout

tranci
geni

ekzemplero
fako
kasi
kruela
strukturo
principo
suki
varma
cetera
giceto
koncepto
lanci
listo
minimumo
pago
profesio
skii
valora
absoluta
bendo
donaco
konkurso

to cut
to disturb
copy
subject
to hide
cruel
structure
principle
to suck
warm
remaining
box-oce
concept
to launch
list
minimum
page (bk.)
profession
to ski
valuable
absolute
tape
gift
contest

cirka
u
aspekti
biblioteko
profesoro
koncerni
konsisti el
periodo
simila
teksto
trakti
debato
inteligenta
kompliki
lerta
letero
litero
paso
renkonti
specifa
stelo
amplekso
anonco
instrui
kompetenta

around
to look, seem
library
professor
to concern
to consist of
period
similar
text
to deal with
debate
intelligent
to complicate
clever
letter (post)
letter (alph.)
step
to meet
specic
star
extent
announcement
to teach
competent

The Subjunctive

Even with all the verbiage concerning verbs, we still have one other type: the subjunctive. These end in
-us, and are used to express unreal conditions, polite enquiry, and wishful thinking:
Se mi estos rica, mi havos monon.
If I will be rich, I shall have money.
Se mi estus rica, mi havus monon.
If I were rich, I would have money.
Se ili estus alportintaj armilojn, ili povus esti gajnintaj la batalon.
If they had brought weapons, they might have won the battle.
Se mi nur estus rica!
If only I were rich!
Se la ulo nur ne estus manginta mian katon!
If only the villain had not eaten my cat!
vi povus alporti al mi la kapon de Johano Baptista?
Cu
Could you bring me the head of John the Baptist?
vi donus al mi la salon, mi petas.
Cu
Would you please pass the salt.

5.3

The comparitive and the superlative

In English, one may use either -er or more, depending on circumstances, in order to form the
comparitive. Esperanto utilizes the latter option, using the word pli . The superlative is formed by means of

33

5.4. AJN
the word plej (most), and equality is denoted by the use of tiel . . . kiel :
Mi estas pli bela ol li.
I am more handsome than he.
Li estas pli stulta ol hundo.
He is dumber than a dog.
Li estas la plej stulta ulo en la mondo. Hes the dumbest guy in the world.
Li estas tiel stulta kiel hundo.
Hes as dumb as a dog.

5.4

ajn

Ajn is used with correlatives in order to generalize them: with ki- correlatives it translates as ever (whoever, whatever, etc.), and with i- correlatives, it changes the meaning from something, etc., to
anything, etc:
Kiu ajn lo
gus ci tie estas stulta. Whoever would live here is dumb.
ie ajn krom Bostono
anywhere but Boston

5.5

Indeterminate subjects

Many sentences in English begin with it is..., as in It is raining or It normally rains here on
Tuesdays, or with there is, as in There is a big dog in that plant stand. Both of these types of
sentences are translated in Esperanto by leaving out the subject:
Estas varme hodia
u.
It is warm today.
Kutime pluvas marde ci tie.
It normally rains here on Tuesdays.
Estas granda hundo en la domo. There is a big dog in the house.

5.6

Still more suxes

-et- diminishes that to which it is attached: viroman, viretodwarf. In counterpoint to this is -eg-:
viregogiant.
-ar- signies a group of objects: safosheep, safaroherd; homohuman, la homarohumanity.

5.7

And a prex

Ek- acts as an inchoativethat

action:
a
udi
to hear
eka
udi
vidi
to see
ekvidi
dormi to sleep ekdormi
brili
to shine ekbrili
ugi
to y
ekugi

5.7.1

is, it signies the beginning of some action or the suddenness of said

to
to
to
to
to

get wind of
catch sight of
fall asleep
ash
take ight

Exercises

1. Translate from Esperanto to English

(a) Se la no venus kaj vi estus la sola virino en la mondo, mi eble amus vin.
estus tro malfacila, ke vi portu miajn librojn?
(b) Cu
(c) La amplekso de lia stulteco estas tiel, ke li estas facile la plej stulta viro ce MIT.
(d) Mi surbendigis la debaton inter la preziduntojn, kaj pensis ke ili estis tiel stulta kiel kutime.
(e) Kiu ajn tusos mian donacojn estos instruita lecionon, kiun li ne forgesos!
2. Translate from English to Esperanto

34

LECIONO 5. ESPERANTO: THE FINAL CHAPTER, PART I

(a) Where are the remaining letters I wrote?
(b) There is one, which I hid under my clothing.
(c) I gave her a card and wished her a happy new year.
(d) It is warm, and the weather is great!
(e) Bob is constantly drinking out of the boards which one nds under bridges in bad structural
condition.
(f) The crazy little-rabbit (kuniklo) launched a period of vast extent, during which the stars fell and
anyone who wanted could seem to follow advice.

Appendix A

Key to Exercises
Exercises 1.2.6
1. Translated from Esperanto.
(a) Here is the Frogmorton family.
(b) Bob, or Robert, is the father, and Wilhelmina is the mother.
(c) Bob is Mr. Frogmorton, and Wilhelmina is Mrs. Frogmorton.
(d) Mary is Miss Frogmorton, and Peter is Master Frogmorton, or Mr. Frogmorton.
(e) The dog is Barf, and the cat Simsalabim.
(f) Mary is crying, and Peter is laughing.
(g) Peter and Mary are sitting and playing, and Robert is translating.
2. Translated from English.
(a) Rocjo kaj Vilhelmino anka
u estas geedzoj.
(b) Maria kaj Petro estas infanoj, sed Maria estas knabino kaj Petro estas knabo.
(c) Rocjo, Vilhelmino, Maria, kaj Petro estas homoj kaj personojRocjo kaj Petro estas viroj, kaj
Vilhelmino kaj Maria estas virinoj.
(d) Maria kaj Petro estas gefratoj, sed ne amikoj.
(e) La solvo estas 42.
(f) Vilhelmino kuiras.

Exercises 1.2.10
1. Translated from Esperanto
(a) Wilhelmina is very beautiful, but not very young.
(b) The family speaks Esperanto.
(c) Esperanto is a simple (uncomplicated) language, and the Frogmortons think that Esperanto is
beautiful.
(d) The cat is new, but old.
(e) Barf also is stupid.
(f) Peter thinks that Mary is dumb, but Mary does not agree.
35

36

APPENDIX A. KEY TO EXERCISES

(g) Bob is not alone, because he is a husband.
(h) Peter and Mary think that Wilhelmina is Mommy and Robert is Daddy. Peter and Mary are
right.
(i) The father does not standthe father is too tall.
(j) Superman ies, but Bob does not yhe walks.
2. Translated from English
(a) Maria kaj Petro estas junaj.
(b) Infanoj estas junaj.
(c) Esperanto estas simpla lingvo, car la vortoj estas malstultaj.
la hundo estas nova?
(d) Cu
(e) Ne, Barfo estas malnova.
(f) La hundo estas granda, sed la kato estas malgranda.
Barfo scias, ke Simsalabimo estas kato?
(g) Cu
(h) Jes, sed Barfo ne scias, ke Barfo estas hundo.
(i) Roberto scivolas, cu Roberto estas vera viro, sed Vilhelmino scias.

Exercises 2.7.1
1. Translated from Esperanto
(a) Simsalabim habitually eats birds. It is a nasty cat.
(b) Barf does not eat birds. It eats dogfood.
(c) Superman ghts our enemies, but Lex Luthor ghts him.
(d) Who is hitting Superman?
(e) Who (pl.) is Superman hitting?
(f) She continually mixes the tea, but the sheep does not drink it.
(g) She has a bottle of wine, but another drinks it.
2. Translated from English.
estas blua birdo.
(a) Kio estas
gi? Gi
via porkao estas bona?
(b) Cu
estas bona, sed mi estas sata.
(c) Gi
(d) Kial li havas krajonon sed ne plumon?
(e) La fratino de Rocjo estas la onklino de liaj infanoj.
(f) Petro kaj Maria anka
u havas onklon.
(g) Li estas la frato de ilia patro.
(h) Kiel ili movis ilian grandan hundon?
saltis.
(i) Ili ne movis
gin. Gi

Exercises 3.4.1
1. Translated from Esperanto.

37
(a) The Frogmortons live in Esperantio, but they are taking (making) a trip to Europe.
(b) Esperantio is not a real country.
(c) They visited many lands, and saw many beautiful towns.
(d) Whither did they go? They went to France.
(e) Where did they stay in France? They stayed in Paris.

Exercises 4.1.3
1. Translated from Esperanto.
(a) I shall drink milk, and I shall be able to grow!
(b) Superman endeavored to nd Lex Luthors house.
(c) Besides being stupid, you are also very ugly.
2. Translated from English.
(a) Mi povas kanti, se mi volas.
(b) Mi devas postuli, ke vi fermu la skatolon.

Exercises 4.2.1
1. Translated from English.
(a) Vilnjo Jean estas si, kiu opinias, ke la infano estas mia lo.
(b) Vi estas la rataco, kiu mortigis mian fraton.
(c) Tiuj estas la ratacoj, kiujn mia frato mortigis.

Exercises 4.3.1
1. Translated from English.
(a) Tiu estas la loko, kie mi lo
gas.
(b) Tiuj estas la birdoj, kiuj ugis ien hiera
u.
(c) Io estas malbona pri vi.

Exercises 4.4.3
1. Translated from English.
(a) Vilnjo Jean ne estas mia amanto; si nur estas knabino, kiu diras, ke mi estas tiu.
(b) La hundo estos mortinta en la cambro dum tri semajnoj, kiam ni mangos gin.

Exercises 4.6.1
1. Translated from English.
(a) Mi pensis, ke mi diris al vi, ke vi iru al la lernejo!
(b) Mi petis la hundon, ke
gi sidu.
(c) La Sinjoro diris al Maria, ke si nasku lon.

Exercises 4.7.1

38

APPENDIX A. KEY TO EXERCISES

1. Translated from English.
(a) Li mem lo
gas en Irlando.
(b) Nixon skribis multajn librojn pri si mem.
(c) Al si mem preska
u placis li.
(d) Mi donis al mi bildon pri angilo.

Exercises 5.7.1
1. Translated from Esperanto.
(a) If the end came and you were the only woman in the world, I might love you.
(b) Would it be too dicult for you to carry my books?
(c) The extent of his stupidity is such that he is easily the dumbest man at MIT.
(d) I taped the debate between the would-be-presidents and thought that they were as stupid as
usual.
(e) Whoever touches my gifts will be taught a lesson he will never forget!
2. Translate from English to Esperanto
(a) Kie estas la ceteraj leteroj, kiujn mi skribis?
(b) Tie estas unu, kiun mi kasis sub miajn vestojn.
(c) Mi donis al si karton kaj diris al si, ke mi volas, ke si havu felican novan jaron.
(d) Estas varme, kaj la vetero estas bonega!
(e) Rocjo konstante trinkadas el la tabuloj, kiujn oni trovas sub pontoj, kiuj estas en malbonaj
strukturaj statoj.
(f) La freneza kunikleto lancis periodon de vasta amplekso, dum kiu la steloj falis, kaj iu ajn kiu
volis, povis sxajni kvaza
u sekvanta konsilon.

Appendix B

Tables
(stress)
-cont
-sonor
+cont
+sonor

glides

-voice
+voice
-voice
+voice
+nasal
-nasal
(lateral)

-s +s
labial
p
b
f
v
m
-l
u

+l

-s +s
coronal
t
c
d
s
z
n
r
l
-l +l
j

-s +s
palatal
c
g
s

-s +s
velar
k
g
h

-l

-l

+l

+l

glottal

-l
h

+l

Tabelo B.1: Phonetical Analysis of Consonants in Esperanto

39

40

APPENDIX B. TABLES

Indefinite

Quality
Kind of

Some, any
Ia
Some kind
Any kind

K-

T-

C-

Nen-

Questioning
Relative
What, which
Kia

Definite

Inclusive

Negative

That
Tia

Each, every, all

Cia

No, none
Nenia

What kind

That kind
Such

Each kind
Every kind

No kind

Motive

Ial

Kial

Tial

Cial

Nenial

Reason
Purpose

For some reason

For any reason

For what reason

Why

For that reason

Therefore

For each reason

For every reason

For no reason

Iam

Kiam

Tiam

Ciam

Neniam

Sometime

At what time

At that time

Each time

At no time

Any time

When

Then

Every time
Always

Never

Time

Place

Manner

Possession

Thing

Quantity

Individuality

Ie

Kie

Tie

Cie

Nenie

In some place

At what place

At that place

At each place

At no place

Somewhere
Anywhere

Where

There

At every place
Everywhere

Nowhere

Iel

Kiel

Tiel

Ciel

Neniel

In some way

In what way

In that way

In each way

In no way

In any way
Somehow, anyhow

How
As, like

So

In every way

Nohow

Ies

Kies

Ties

Cies

Nenies

Someones
Anyones

What persons
Whose

That ones

Each ones
Everyones

No ones

Io

Kio

Tio

Cio

Nenio

Something

What thing

That thing

Everything

Nothing

Anything

What

Iom

Kiom

Tiom

Ciom

Neniom

Some

What quantity
How much

That quantity
So much

Every quantity
All of the quantity

None of the
quantity

Iu

Kiu

Tiu

Ciu

Neniu

Someone
Anyone

What person
Which thing
Who Which

That person
That (specified)
thing

Each person
Everyone

Ciuj,
all, all the

No one
Nobody

Tabelo B.2: Correlative Pronouns, from The Esperanto Teacher

41

-ac
-a
-ar
-ec
-ej
-end
-estr
-id
-i
g
-ind
-in
-obl
-on
-ul
-cjo
boekmalpra-

Suksoj
contemptible, disgusting
-ad
substance, concreteness
-an
collection, set of
-ebl
abstract quality
-eg
place
-em
which must be done
-er
leader, manager
-et
ospring
-ig
becoming something
-il
worthy of
-ing
feminine
-ist/m
-fold
-op
-th (fractions)
-uj
person possessing a certain quality
-um
male diminutive
-njo
Preksoj
relation by marriage
dissudden or momentary action
eksshameful, nasty
geopposite
misof great antiquity; greatreTabelo B.3: Axes

frequent or continuous action

inhabitant, member, adherent
possibility
great size, intense degree
propensity, tendency
single unit, item
smallness, small degree
causing something to be
tool, instrument
holder for one object
as in English
in a group of
container
no xed meaning
female diminutive

seperation, scattering
former, exboth sexes together
mis-, wrongly
over again, re-

42

APPENDIX B. TABLES

Prepozicioj
al
anstata
u
anta
u
apud

ce

cirka
u
da
de
dum
ekster
el
en
gis

inter
je
kontra
u
krom
kun
la
u
malgra
u
per
po
por
post
preter
pri
pro
sen
sub
super
sur
tra
trans

to
instead of
before (time), in front of (location)
beside
at (location)
around
of [with expressions of quantity]
of, from, by
during
outside
out of, from
in
until (time), up to (location)
between
[no xed meaning], at (time)
against
besides, apart from
with
according to, along
notwithstanding
by means of
at the rate of,
for, in order to
after (time), behind (location)
beyond, past
about, concerning
because of, on account of
without
under
above
on
through
across

Tabelo B.4: The prepositions. A few others may be formed by the addition of an ax.