7 8
9 10
11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20
21 Index
Esperanto is a very interesting language. Unlike most others, this
language doesn't belong to a specific nation or culture. It is an
artificial language that was created at the end of the 19th century by Dr. L.L.
Zamenhof of Poland. The goal of this language was to become an easy
international language . . . to bring people together and ban racism, violence
and miscommunication. The idea was great and there are now several million Esperantist
in the world, but, so far, the language is not
being used for its intended purpose. Because of the Internet, however, its
time may have come. This adaptation of pure Esperanto into net-Eo will further facilitate its
use for global search engines and artificial intelligence (AI) projects.
Conventional Esperanto uses six characters with diacritical marks, nevertheless, it is
extremely easy to learn . . . both to speak and to write. Unlike other languages, it has
a regular and logical grammar and can be learned by anyone. This adaptation makes the learning
of it even easier. The characters with diacritical marks are hereby replaced with
standard ASCII symbols . . . meaning symbols on everyone's keyboard.
This free course consists of 21 lessons . . . courtesy of the many who wish
to make this world a better place. Originally, this was a Dutch/Esperanto course
created by Esperantists in the Dutch city of Arnhem. It was later enhanced
by Wil van Ganswijk (see www.xs4all.nl/~wvganswk/).
A
few years ago, the Dutch company, "Languages Made Clear"
made some changes and translated the course into English, so "this wonderful course would
be accessible to more than just the Dutch!" This is an adaptation of that Esperanto
course to net-Eo, net-Esperanto. We thank everyone who has alread contributed
and we wish to express our sincere hope to receive further input in the form of
additional lessons, comments and suggestions. We especially thank
Dr. Stanley Drake, founder of
ISFGW, the
International Society of Friendship and Goodwill, for his helpful comments and contributions
to the project.
Introduction
First of all,
if you're not yet totally committed to learning this wonderful language, here are some
reasons for doing so (in addition to its ideal use for A.I. projects):
- Esperanto is an international
language. It does not belong to a certain nation, culture or religion and
therefore qualifies as neutral. It can be used when people from
different countries want to communicate effectively. For example, a French
person, two Spanish persons and an Englishman meet each other; what language
should be spoken? You could say Spanish, because they are in the
majority, or you could say French because the French person happens to speak
only French. Or you could say English, because it is usually used in the
business world. But the most logical solution would be Esperanto!
Why make the Frenchman and the Spanish people spend their valuable time learning
English while the Englishman learns no other language. Or why make the
Englishman and the Spanish people learn French? It's better to let all
people learn Esperanto. It can be learned a lot faster, has syntax
provisions to accommodate differences, and it allows people to communicate with
an equal handicap (or advantage) in a neutral second language (instead of
fighting over whose native language to use for political reasons). Once we
do that, effective communication will become the norm. Miscommunication
will become rare. Besides, if there is be a Second Coming, the promised
"common laguage" will already be in use!
Esperanto is easy. It can be learned very rapidly. The grammar
is logical, precise, and it doesn't contain exceptions or irregularities (so common in
other languages).
You'll benefit from your Esperanto knowledge when learning any native
language, including your own! Yes, Esperanto forms a solid base. Its
vocabulary comes from several different major languages; so, when you know and speak
Esperanto, you'll find it a lot easier to learn French, Spanish, German, Russian, etc.
Research shows that learning Esperanto will allow you to learn other languages with only half
the effort! Ideally, Esperanto, including net-Eo, should be taught as a first foreign
language in all developing countries (and I predict that I will live to see this actually happen).
Now, what can you expect from this course? In 21 lessons this course will try to teach you the basics that will allow
you to have conversations in Esperanto as well as read and write letters!
Rosetta-Stone documents (such as the ones titled FREE ENERGY?,
Elvis,
texts at blumenterprise.org,
and
True Second Coming) will do the rest.
Did this help you get further
committed? Then let's get started . . . at YOUR pace. You will probably finish
these twenty-one lessons in about three months, maybe two. (It was
completed, as a full-time project, in a week by a 15 year old student!) At one hour per week
it'll take about a year. Ready? Let's do it . . . the net-Eo way . . .
with basic ASCII symbols replacing the Esperanto characters
not yet supported by conventional keeboards and email programs. To start, invoke your "full screen" feature (F11 on the Explorer); it makes for much better viewing.
"La lingvo internacia
estas preta fari}i via amiko."
Lesson ONE
Pronunciation
THE VOWELS
There are five different vowels in
Esperanto: a, e, i, o and u. They are
pronounced as described below:
The
a, at the end of a syllable is pronounced long and open, there's no
real English equivalent of the sound but it can be compared with
"Aardvark" and "Afrikaans" or the French word "voila"
la = the
la patro = the father
la kapo = the head
la tablo = the table
la nazo = the nose
la knabo = the boy
la strato = the street
la mano = the hand
When an
a appears in the middle of a syllable then it's pronounced shortly
as the a in bath (British) or as in father
(American), but a little shorter.
la planko = the floor
la arbo = the tree
la parto = the part
la lampo = the lamp
la parko = the park
The
e is pronounced like the e in "do, re, mi, . . .".
la festo = the party
la besto = the animal / the
beast
la stelo = the star
la azeno = the donkey
la orelo = the ear
la somero = the summer
The
i is pronounced like ea in
meat or i in "do, re, mi, . . ."
la filo = the son
la amiko = the friend
la libro = the book
la lito = the bed
la birdo = the bird
la piro = the pear
mi = I (1st person singular
pronoun)
ni = we (1st person plural
pronoun)
li = he (3rd person singular
pronoun)
The
o is pronounced do as in "do, re, mi, fa, so . . ."
la floro = the flower
la onklo = the uncle
la rozo = the rose
la pomo = the apple
la domo = the house
la tondro = the thunder
The
u is pronounced like in universe but without
the beginning Y sound, or like the double o in
moon. Note that the sound is NOT the same as in the
English words: up, cut or
stump
la muro = the wall
la frukto = the fruit
la urbo = the city
la suno = the sun
unu = one
du = two
la hundo = the dog
nun = now
Important rules regarding
pronunciation
The
accent/stress of the word is always on the syllable before the last
syllable.
la azeno = the donkey
la infano = the child
la tulipo = the tulip
la sinjoro = the lord / mister /
sir
la letero = the letter
la kolombo = the pigeon
la familio = the family
la folio = the leave
la leono = the lion
la lernanto = the
student
la najbaro = the
neigbor
Esperanto =
Esperanto
Each character
is pronounced seperately, the following words illustrate the
pronunciation.
la bo-a-to = the boat
la bi-e-ro = the beer
la pi-e-do = the foot
la he-ro-o = the hero
NOTE:
When a word ends in IO,
IA, IE or IU then the accent/stress lies on the i, as
in:familio, historio, and kie (where).
THE CONSONANTS
The characters b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n,
p, s, g, t and z have the same pronunciation as in English; they
are pronounced the same regardless of where they appear in a sentence. A
little exception is the r, it's pronounced harder than in
English, more like the r in other languages such as French
(regarder) and Spanish (seņor). This
r is pronounced without starting with your tongue in the
back of your throat and is, therefore, more
vibrating.
NOTE: If you have sound capabilities on
your computer, you may be able to use this link to Don HARLOW's
prounciation page. Sounds are in .au format. (You'll have
to use your BACK button to get back to this site.)
Nouns
Names of persons, animals, things,
concepts, materials, etc. (such as man, dog, chair, warmth, milk) are
nouns. A noun can be recognized because it's always possible to put the
definite article "the" or the indefinite articles "a" or "an" in front of it.
In Esperanto all nouns end in
o. The definite article is always
la.
(Note that there's no such concept as noun gender
in Esperanto.)
The indefinite article is never
translated, instead it's just omitted.
(a house = domo, a letter =
letero)
The plural version of a noun is created by
adding a j to the noun.
(the house = la domo, the houses = la
domoj, a tulip = tulipo, tulips = tulipoj)
Some vocabulary to learn:
sed = but
mi = I
li = he
ni = we
kaj = and
sur = on
de = of
kio = what
tio = that
en = in
la tero = the earth
la floro = the flower
sidi = to sit
esti = to be
fali = to fall
brili = to shine
mi estas = I am
li estas = he is
ni estas = we are
mi falas = I fall
li falas = he falls
ni falas = we fall
Exercises. Translate.
A
1. La knabo estas en la domo.
2. Pomoj kaj piroj estas
fruktoj.
3. La boato estas de la infano.
4. Kio estas tio?
5. Tio estas floro.
6. Li estas amiko de S-ro
Bakker.
7. La infanoj estas en la urbo.
8. La suno brilas.
9. Ni sidas en la boato kaj li sidas sur la
planko.
10. Malibu estas parto de la urbo Los
Angeles.
B
1. The father of the child
2. A tulip is a flower
3. The streets of the city . . .
4. Roses and tulips are flowers.
5. The birds are on the house.
6. The books are on the table.
7. The friends are in the house.
8. The houses are in the cities.
9. I am in the house.
10. That is a tulip.
11. But that is a rose.
12. The sun shines in the
summer.
13. The nose of the boy . . .
14. The appel is a fruit.
15. In the house are two
tables.
16. Lewenborg is a part of the
city.
17. The child is in the bed.
18. The dog is a friend of the
boy.
19. A pigeon is in the house.
20. Pigeons are birds.
Solutions:
A
1. The boy is in the house.
2. Apples and pears are fruits.
3. The boat belongs to the child
(literally: the boat is of the child).
4. Who is that?
5. That is a flower.
6. He is a friend of Mr.
Bakker.
7. The children are in the
city.
8. The sun shines.
9. We sit in the boat and he sits on the
floor.
10. Malibu is a part of the city Los
Angeles.
B
1. La patro de la infano.
2. Tulipo estas floro.
3. La stratoj de la urbo.
4. Rozoj kaj tulipoj estas
floroj.
5. La birdoj estas sur la domo.
6. La libroj estas sur la
tablo.
7. La amikoj estas en la domo.
8. La domoj en la urboj . . .
9. Mi estas en la domo.
10. Tio estas tulipo.
11. Sed tio estas rozo.
12. En la somero brilas la
suno.
13. La nazo de la knabo . . .
14. La pomo estas frukto.
15. En la domo estas du tabloj.
16. Lewenborg estas parto de la
urbo.
17. La infano estas en la lito.
18. La hundo estas amiko de la
knabo.
19. En la domo estas kolombo.
20. Kolomboj estas birdoj.
TOP
Lesson TWO
More Pronunciation
In the previous lesson we've seen that
most consonants are pronounced like in English. However, there are a few
consonants that have a different pronunciation:
The c is pronounced like
ts in cats
la paco = the peace
la celo = the goal
la placo = the square (as in Times Square,
New York)
The v is pronounced as in English
(or like the the w in German). Because of this conflict, Esperanto
does not use the w character. net-Eo uses the
w character instead of the Esperanto "u^". They sound virtually the
same.
la vango = the cheek
la vetero = the weather
la viro = the man
la divano = the couch
la vazo = the vase
la avo = the grandfather
la vino = the wine
la vivo = the life
Adjectives
In Lesson One
we've seen what a noun is. These nouns can have certain properties, such
as: the tall man, the black sheep, the
big love, the cold weather. These
words are called adjectives. An adjective describes a property of a
noun. In Esperanto all adjectives end in a.
bela = beautiful
bona = good
granda = big
fremda = strange
forta = strong
Attention!
In pure Esperanto, the adjective has to agree with the noun in
number, this means that when the noun is plural the adjective has to be made
plural too. This happens by adding a j to the
adjective. In net-Eo, this is left to choice; partially because it seldom is
necessary and partially because flowery/passionate speeches contain many anjectives . . .
which makes for toooo many ...aj ...aj ...aj's!
la bona viro = the good man
la bona(j) viroj = the good men
la bela infano = the beautiful
child
la bela(j) infanoj = the beautiful
children
Some more vocabulary
nigra = black
varma = warm
griza = grey
longa = long
pala = pale
dika = thick
bruna = brown
mola = soft
verda = green
blinda = blind
blua = blue
juna = young
tuta = all/entire
sana = healhty
kia = how/what kind of
kontenta = satisfied
la tago = the day
la cigaro = the cigar
la negro = the negro
la glaso = the glass
la fingro = the finger
la angulo = the angle
la gazeto = the newspaper
Prefixes and Suffixes:
The Esperanto
language uses a number of prefixes and suffixes to give a certain word another
meaning. One of the suffixes is -in-, when you put it behing
a noun (first drop the o, then add the suffix, then add the
o because it's a noun). This indicates that it's the
feminine form of the word. In other words, "in" forms the female
equivalent of persons, animals, and job titles.
la patro = the father
la patrino = the mother
la frato = the brother
la fratino = the sister
la azeno = the donkey
la azenino = the female
donkey
la heroo = the hero
la heroino = the heroine
la viro = the man
la virino = the
woman
The prefix
mal is used to express the opposite of a word; just paste it in
front of the word.
kontenta = happy/satisfied
malkontenta =
unhappy/dissatisfied
bona = good
malbona = bad
la amo = the love
la malamo = the hatred
la amiko = the friend
la malamiko = the enemy
longa = long
mallonga = short
Verbs
The verb in a
sentence indicates what's happening. In the example, "The man walks," what
is the man doing? He is walking/He walks. The verb walk
indicates the action of the sentence. A verb also indicates "when"
something is happening (I walk, I walked, I will walk). A verb that
does not indicate when something happens, is called the infinitive
verb, in English preceded by to. (to walk, to swim, to fly,
to eat). An infinitive verb in Esperanto always ends in
i. When you remove the i, you have
the stem of the verb. Using that stem, you can later form all the
tenses.
to sing = kanti
to fall = fali
to sleep = dormi
to walk = promeni
to sit = sidi
to stand = stari
to go = iri
to be = esti
to have = havi
to play = ludi
to read = legi
Now we can put the verb in a certain
tense, meaning that we can add a little ending to the stem that
will indicate when the action is taking place. When
something is happening in the present, it is called the present
tense (I walk, you sleep, we eat). In Esperanto the present
tense is formed by adding as to the stem of the verb,
regardless of who the subject of the action is.
Examples:
to sing = kanti
I sing. = Mi kantas.
We sing. = Ni kantas.
You sing. = Vi kantas.
He sings. = Li kantas.
She sings. = $i kantas.
They sing. = ili kantas.
The children sing. = La infanoj
kantas
The city is beautiful. = La urbo estas
bela
The cities are beautiful. = La urboj estas
bela(j)
The street is long. = La strato estas
longa
The streets are long. = La stratoj estas
longa(j)
Exercises. Translate.
A
1. Ni promenas en la parko.
2. La infano sidas sur la
planko.
3. La glasoj staras sur la tablo kaj la
tablo staras sur la planko en la domo.
4. La malgranda(j) infanoj iras al (=to)
la granda urbo.
5. La pala virino estas
malsana.
6. La bela(j) floroj estas en granda(j)
vazoj, sed la malbela(j) rozoj estas sur la strato.
7. La suno brilas kaj la vetero estas
bela.
8. En la granda urbo la viroj, la virinoj
kaj la infanoj estas kontenta(j).
9. La bela birdo kantas.
10. La birdo kaj la azeno estas
griza(j).
B
1. The brown bird sits in the beautiful
tree and sings.
2. The child plays in the
house.
3. A small child sits on the
floor.
4. The donkey and the female donkey are
gray.
5. The big/plump green bird is
healthy.
6. The weather is cold.
7. The life is good.
8. The young blind woman is satisfied but
the old gray man is dissatisfied.
9. In a big city are many (=multaj) small
and big houses, streets and squares.
Solutions:
A
1. We walk in the park.
2. The child sits on the floor.
3. The glasses stand on the table and the
table stands on the floor in the house.
4. The small children go to the great
city.
5. The pale woman is sick.
6. The beautiful flowers are in big vases,
but the ugly roses are on the street.
7. The sun shines and the weather is
beautiful.
8. In the big city the men, the women and
the children are satisfied/happy.
9. The beautiful bird sings.
10. The bird and the donkey are
gray.
B
1. La bruna birdo sidas en la bela arbo kaj
kantas.
2. La infano ludas en la domo.
3. Malgranda infano sidas sur la
planko.
4. La azeno kaj la azenino estas
grizaj.
5. La dika verda birdo estas
sana.
6. La vetero estas malvarma.
7. La vivo estas bela.
8. La juna, blinda virino estas kontenta,
sed la maljuna griza viro estas malkontenta.
9. En granda urbo estas multa(j) malgranda(j)
kaj granda(j) domoj, stratoj kaj placoj.
From this last translation, you can see why net-Eo is dropping the plural j on
adjectives. It really is not necessary. When required for poetic reasons, by
all means. When not required for clarity, less is better!
Some
Expressions: (Like the plural "j", the complementary "n" may also be dropped.)
Good day. = Bona(n) tagon.
Good morning. = Bona(n) matenon.
Good evening. = Bona(n) vesperon.
Good night. = Bona(n) nokton.
Please. = Mi petas/Bonvolu.
Thanks. = Mi dankas/Dankon.
Thank you very much. = Kora(n) dankon.
TOP
Lesson THREE
Special characters:
In this lesson we'll introduce the last
characters of the Esperanto language. They are: ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ and ŭ.
These characters don't appear in
English so their form and pronunciation will have to be memorized.
Unfortunately, those characters are rarely
used (in languages other than Esperanto), therefore there's not a lot of support
to let those characters be displayed correctly on your computer screen and
printer. But people speaking Esperanto have found several solutions.
Those special characters are now either marked with an ` (c` g` h` j` s` & u`), an
asterisk (c* g* h* j* s* & u*), an "x" (cx gx hx jx sx & ux) or "h" (ch, gh, hh, jh, sh, or uh),
the circumflex "^" after or before the six letters (as in c^ g^ h^ j^ s^ & u^ or ^c ^g ^h ^j ^s & ^u)
or now with the net-Eo characters [ } { ] $ and w . . . characters certainly
easier to work with for search operations.
This is how they sound (regardless of how they're printed:
[
for the ĉ sounds in church,
} for the ĝ sounds in George or gem,
{ for the ĥ sound in loch,
] for the ĵ sounds in Zsa Zsa (Gabor),
$ for the ŝ sound in shoe or ship
w for the ŭ sounds in window.
My memory pegs are [church & ZsaZsa] and {loch & George}
They help me keep track of when to use which. The "loch's" are very few; so it's just
Church, George, and Zsa Zsa . . . [ } and ]. The $ and
w are self-explanatory.
Practice reading out loud!
[ (ĉ) is pronounced like
ch in reach or church
la [ambro = the room
la [agreno = the sorrow
la [erizo = the cherry
la [okolado = the chocolate
la [apelo = the hat
la [apo = the cap
la [ielo = the sky
la vo[o = the voice
} (ĝ) is pronounced as the
g in gentleman, George or gem
la eta}o = the floor (as in 2nd
floor, 3rd floor, etc..)
la }ardeno = the garden
la froma}o = the cheese
la }ojo = the joy
la viza}o = the face
man}i = to eat
la se}o = the chair
pre}i = to pray
la pa}o = the page
lo}i = to live (as in: to live in a house,
to live in New York)
{ (ĥ) is
pronounced hard in the throat as in the Scottish word loch
la e{o = the echo
la {aoso = the chaos
] (ĵj^)
is pronounced as in the French words bonjour and
jamais or the Hungarian zs in Zsa Zsa.
]aluza = jealous
]eti = to throw
la ]urnalo = the newspaper
$ (ŝ) is
pronounced as in shelf, ship and
sheep
la $afo = the sheep
la $tono = the stone
la tapi$o = the carpet
la bu$o = the mouth
la po$o = the bag
la $ranko = the cupboard/the bookcase/the
cabinet
The last
special character known in Esperanto is the ŭ. This character appears in
diphthongs. It is used only in combination with a or e. Using
the net-Eo replacement, you get the two diphthongues aŭ and eŭ. The
first one is pronounced like ow in vowel. The second is more difficult
to explain because the sound isn't heard in English. It's pronounced
ew, where the e sounds more like the vowel in the
word bad.
awdi = to hear
Ewropo = Europe
morgaw = tomorrow
newtrala = neutral
ankaw = also
]awdo = Thursday
Attention! If you write
pure Esperanto, remember to use the half circle on top of the U or use the net-Eo
substitute "w". A plain "u" is pronunced much shorter and clearer!
This concludes the pronunciation of all
Esperanto characters. Since the characters Q,W,X and Y do not exist in
Esperanto, it makes sense to use the Western "w" instead of the diphthong "u^";
they sound virtually the same. Thank you, George!
Verb tenses
In Lesson TWO we learned the
infinitive form of verbs and the conjugation of the present tense, but an
action can also occur in the past or the future. So, here are the other two tenses.
They are simple. The as, is, os endings on verbs show
in what tense you are speaking or writing. NOTE: These three endings are always
the same, regardless of who the subject of the action is.
Present/Past/Future Endings:
Present tense:
-as
Past tense: -is
Future tense: -os
Present tense:
mi falas = I fall
vi falas = you fall (singular)
li falas = he falls
$i falas = she falls
ni falas = we fall
vi falas = you fall (plural)
ili falas = they fall
Past tense:
Mi falis. = I fell.
$i falis. = She fell.
Ni falis. = We fell.
etc...
Future tense:
Mi falos. = I will fall.
$i falos. = She will fall.
Ni falos. = We will fall.
etc...
Practice these tenses with other verbs
too, so you can learn the endings.
Some vocabulary again:
ku$i = to lay
la skatolo = the box
la tagoj = the days
paroli = to speak
kiu? = who?
diman[o = Sunday
flugi = to fly
tri = three
lundo = Monday
labori = to work
kvar = four
mardo = Tuesday
la salono = the hall/room
objekto = an object
merkredo = Wednesday
la maro = the sea
inter = between
]awdo = Thursday
la homo = the human
nova = new
vendredo = Friday
la plafono = the ceiling
flava = yellow
sabato = Saturday
la nomo = the name
kun = with
la semajno = the week
la kato = the cat
ru}a = red
apud = besides/next to
Mind your pronunciation! The accent is
always put on the syllable before the last (the penultimate one)!
Exercises. Translate.
A
1. $i falis en la }ardeno.
2. Kvar kolomboj flugis, sed du kolomboj
sidis en la domo.
3. La libroj estis sur la
tablo.
4. En la po$o de knabo estas multa(j)
objektoj.
5. Morgaw iros la knabinoj al la
urbo.
6. La malgranda knabo sidas sur la tablo
en la [ambro kaj ludas.
7. La nomoj de la tagoj de la semajno
estas: lundo, mardo, merkredo, ]awdo, vendredo, sabato, diman[o.
8. Kiu estas vi?
9. Mi estas sinjoro K (S-ro K).
10. Mi lo}as en malgranda urbo kun mia
(=my) frato.
11. Ankaw mia fratino lo}is en nia (=our)
urbo, sed nun $i lo}as en Londono.
12. La griza [apelo falis.
13. La gazeto estas interesa
(=interesting).
14. Multa(j) homoj devas (=must/have to)
labori.
15. Mi legis.
B
1. What was that?
2. Who are you?
3. We will read.
4. The child is young and healthy, but the
grandfather is old and ill.
5. Who will sleep in the new
bed?
6. That was the echo.
7. The big dog is the enemy of the small
cat.
8. Mister K. will speak
tomorrow.
9. The voice of the mother was
beautiful.
Solutions:
A
1. She fell in the garden.
2. Four pigeons flew, but two pigeons sat
in the house.
3. The books were on the table.
4. In the pocket the boy has many
things.
5. Tomorrow the girls will go to the
city.
6. The small boys sits on the table in the
room and plays.
7. The names of the days of the week are:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
8. Who are you?
9. I am mister K.
10. I live in a small city with my
brother.
11. My sister lived in our city too, but
now she lives in London.
12. The gray hat fell.
13. The newspaper is
interesting.
14. Many humans/people have to work.
15. I read.
B
1. Kio estis tio?
2. Kiu estas vi?
3. Ni legos.
4. La infano estas juna kaj sana, sed la
avo estas maljuna kaj malsana.
5. Kiu dormos en la nova lito?
6. Tio estis la e{o.
7. La granda hundo estas la malamiko de la
malgranda kato.
8. Sinjoro K. parolos morgaw.
9. La vo[o de la patrino estis
bela.
TOP
Lesson FOUR
Suffixes:
In Lesson TWO we've seen the suffix -in-
and the prefix mal-. In this lesson we'll
get to learn two other suffixes, -et- and -eg-.
The suffix -et- diminishes something and indicates that something is small, tiny
or weak.
knabo = a boy
knabeto = a little boy
hundo = a dog
hundeto = a little dog
ridi = to laugh
rideti = to smile
dormi = to sleep
dormeti = to doze
varma = warm
varmeta = lukewarm
malvarma = cold
malvarmeta = cool
The suffix
-eg- amplifies something and indicates that something is big or
strong.
varma = warm
varmega = hot
ri[a = rich
ri[ega = very rich
maljuna = old
maljunega = very old
pluvo = rain
pluvego = a lot of rain
vento = wind
ventego = storm
bela = beautiful
belega = splendid/gorgeous
The Adverb
In the first lesson we covered nouns
(names of persons, objects, conditions, etc.) and in the 2nd lesson
we covered the adjectives (words that describe a noun). In this lesson
we'll talk about the adverb. An adverb can be compared to an
adjective but instead of describing a noun it described a verb. In other
words, it tells "how" something happens. Let's examine "The little boy runs
fast." Here we see "little" as an adjective, saying something about "boy",
but we also see the word "fast" saying something about the verb "runs".
How does the boy run? The boys runs fast. "Fast" is called the
adverb in this sentence because it tells us something about a
verb.
Grammar rules to date:
1.
All nouns end in o
2. All adjectives end in a
3. All
adverbs end in e
Examples:
The big man writes beautifully. La granda (adjective)
viro (noun) skribas (verb) bele (adverb).
The boys cry loudly: La knaboj
(noun) lawte (adv.) ploras (verb). (Note that the adverb appears before
the verb here, but that's a matter of choice, it could also be put after the
verb.)
The child
sleeps well: La infano dormas bone.
Some new vocabulary for you to
study:
la fenestro = the window
la fi$o = the fish
la mateno = the morning
la forno = the stove
la vintro = the winter
la vespero = the evening
la $uo = the shoe
kvin = five
ankaw = also
veni = to come
legi = to read
komforta = comfortable
kara = kind/dear
jes = yes
ne = no/not/none
antaw = ago/before/in front of
hodiaw = today
malantaw = behind
hieraw = yesterday
(ho-di-aw gets stress on the
i and hi-e-raw on the e)
INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES
Interrogative sentences usually begin with
an interrogative pronoun:
Who are you? =
Kiu estas vi?
Who is in the room?
= Kiu estas en la [ambro?
What is that? =
Kio estas tio?
But there are also sentences that don't
start with an interrogative pronoun, like: Is the sun shining? Is he
healthy? Is the girl pretty?
We can identify those sentences as
interrogative sentences because of the use of the question mark (?) and the
special word order. In Esperanto, the word order is more flexible and
therefore doesn't directly show you it is an interrogative sentence, but there's
a solution. In Esperanto, a sentence that doesn't start with an
interrogative pronoun gets the word [u to indicate it's a question.
It could be translated as "Is it true that..." or "Do/Does...", but it doesn't
have to be translated, it only indicates that the sentence is an interrogative
sentence, a question. Note that the word order doesn't change as it does
in English:
He is sick. = Li estas malsana.
Is he sick? = [u li estas
malsana?
My son is happy. = Mia filo estas
kontenta.
Is my son happy? = [u mia filo estas
kontenta?
Exercises. Translate.
A
1. [u mia $uoj estas en la [ambro?
2. Ne, via (=your) $uoj estas en la koridoro (=corridor).
3. Mia avo estas maljunega.
4. [u ankaw via avo estas maljunega?
5. [u "Fenixo" estas gazeto?
6. La knabino ridis lawte, sed la knabo ploris mallawte.
7. Morgaw ankaw la knabo ridos.
8. [u la maro estas varma?
9. Ne, la akvo (=water) estas
malvarmega.
10. En la domo estas forno.
B
1. Is my father happy?
2. Is the street long?
3. No, the street is short.
4. Do I write splendidly? No, you
write ugly.
5. The boy reads poorly.
6. But my sister reads well.
7. Do the children sit in the
room?
8. Were you in the sea yesterday?
9. Yes, I was in the cold water.
Solutions:
A
1. Are my shoes in the room?
2. No, your shoes are in the corridor.
3. My grandfather is very old.
4. Is your grandfather also very old?
5. Is "Fenixo" a newspaper?
6. The girl laughed loudly, but the boy cried softly.
7. Tomorrow, also the boy will laugh.
8. Is the sea warm?
9. No the water is very cold.
10. In the house is a stove
B
1. [u mia patro estas kontenta?
2. [u la strato estas longa?
3. Ne, la strato estas mallonga.
4. [u vi skribas belege? Ne, vi
skribas malbele. (Note that the adverb may also appear before the verb as in:
Ne, vi malbele skribas. This applies to all sentences.)
5. La knabo legas malbone.
6. Sed mia fratino legas bone.
7. [u la infanoj sidas en la [ambro?
8. [u hieraw vi estis en la maro?
(Hieraw can also appear elsewhere in the sentence.)
9. Jes, mi estis en la akvo malvarma.
How to say:
Good night (when going to bed) - Dormu bone
Thanks, you
too. - Dankon, same.
You're right. - Vi pravas/Prave.
Excuse me/Sorry, - Pardonu,
Excuse me/Sorry. - (Mi
petas) pardonon.
TOP
Lesson FIVE
Information about the Esperanto
language
In this lesson we'll first tell something about the
Esperanto language itself and then give you some repetition exercises. First browse
through the previous lessons and then try to do them. It is a good idea to
read out loud so you can practice your pronunciation. Note that
words ending on IO, IA or IE are stressed on the I, because that is the syllable before
the last.
In June 1887, an eye-doctor named Dr. L.L.
Zamenhof from Warsaw (Poland), published a book that introduced the language
that was designed by him. He called the language "Internacia
Lingvo". He himself used the nickname "D-ro Esperanto". "D-ro" is an
abbreviation for "doktoro" and "Esperanto" means "he who is hoping". It
was only a short matter of time before his nickname became synonymous with the
name of the language, hence it's now called "Esperanto"
In 1905, the first
Esperanto-World-Congress took place in Boulogne sur Mer, France. It was a
touching event for Zamenhof and the hundreds of participants from different
parts of the world. People immediately understood each other when speaking
Esperanto. There was no need for time- and money-consuming
translators!
Every year, Esperantist people from all
over the world hold big congresses. Over 2000 people visit these events
every year to discuss a huge variaty of topics. Such an event lasts for
about a week, and there are excursions, parties, movies, theather, lectures, and
so on. The participants feel they're part of one big family. If one
visits such an event, one truly knows what it means to say: "I am an
Esperantist."
At those events there is no Italian,
Irish, Polish, Dutch, Turkish, South-American, Islandic, Chinese, Russian,
Norwegian, Scottish, Japanese, Bulgarian, Belgian or Fin. There, everyone
is an Esperantist . . . linguistically equal.
In 1959, it was 100 years since the birth
of Dr. Zamenhof. To honor him, the congress took place in Warsaw.
Such a big event also occurred in 1987, the 100th birthday of the
first publication in Esperanto. Over 6000 people attended.
Esperanto is the only international
language that's still alive; it survives more than 100 years of use by hundreds
of thousands of people all over the world in daily and cultural life.
Some years ago, people asked the United
Nations to discuss the language-problem. Over 17 million people from
various countries acknowledged the value of the Esperanto language as
international language by handing in their signature.
In 1954, a very important meeting of the
UNESCO took place in Montevideo, Uruguay. Esperanto was recognized as an
international language with great cultural value for all of humanity. The
U.E.A (Universala Esperanto-Asocio) was added by the UNESCO to a list of
organizations with a so-called consultative status.
Over ten thousand books are published in
the Esperanto language, among those are original publications as well as
translations. New ones are published daily. In the Netherlands, an
Esperanto translation was released of the famous "Diary of Anne Frank".
There are other famous books such as "Erik or The Small Insectbook", by Godfried
Bomans. Even the Bible has its Esperanto version! And there are
Esperanto novels, poems, scientific books, art books, religious books,
politics-related books, travel books, and comic books such as the
Flinstones.
Esperanto shows are broadcast weekly from
Italy, Beijing (China) and Warschaw (Poland). Many foreign cities also
publish brochures and tourist information in Esperanto. And when one wants
to travel, one can write a letter to the "Esperanto-consul" in the city of
destination. There, one can obtain information about meeting other
Esperantists. They will show you the city and their surroundings, like
others have never seen before. You'll meet new people, but no strangers,
because they all speak your language: Esperanto.
In order to establish international
cooperation and friendship, it is necessary for us to get to know other
countries and for them to get to know us. It used to be only a minor group
of people who were able to dedicate years to study a foreign language. But
now in the 21st century, everyone gets to learn
foreign languages. It has become easy to get assistance in establishing
international friendships by writing or talking with foreign people.
Especially Esperantists (from all over the world) love to write to one
another. Often this results in visits and vacations with the other
people. In this modern age, email is of course very popular and
convenient for making this first contact. Go to
www.esperanto.org or any other established E-o site for additonal help.
(See Epilogue)
Repetition Exercises.
Read and translate.
A
-
La kvar amikoj estis hieraw
en mia komforta domo.
-
Mia domo estas en nova
longa strato.
-
Via(j) amikoj estas mia(j)
amikoj.
-
[u mia(j) amikoj estas
ankaw via(j) amikoj?
-
Malantaw la fenestro staris
la filineto de najbaro.
-
Mi ne povas (able to/can)
veni, [ar (because) mia fileto estas malsana.
-
[u la infanoj
ludas?
-
Ne, la infanoj ne ludas,
[ar ili devas lerni.
-
La kato ludas en la
}ardeno.
-
[u vi fumas
(smoke)?
B
-
Monday, Wednesday and
Sunday are names of the days (in a week).
-
In the room are the
children, they play and read.
-
My sister doesn't play, she
($i) sleeps.
-
Is your mother
ill?
-
Yesterday the weather was
ugly, but today the weather is splendid.
-
Our fifth (kvina) lesson
(leciono) is a repetition (ripeto).
-
Do you also go to the
convention (kunveno)?
-
Yes, we are also going and
the people will be satisfied.
Solutions:
A
-
The four friends were in my
comfortable home yesterday.
-
My home is in a new long
street.
-
Your friends are my
friends.
-
Are my friends also your
friends?
-
The daughter of a neighbor
stood behind the window.
-
I am not able to go (veni)
because my son (baby boy) is sick.
-
Do the children
play?
-
No, the children don't
play, because they must (have to) learn/study.
-
The cat plays in the
garden.
-
Do you
smoke?
B
-
Lundo, Merkredo kaj Diman[o
estas nomoj de la tagoj (en semajno).
-
En la [ambro estas la
infanoj, ili ludas kaj legas.
-
Mia fratino ne ludas, $i
dormas.
-
[u via patrino estas
malsana?
-
Hieraw la vetero estis
malbona, sed hodiaw la vetero estas belega.
-
Nia kvina leciono estas
ripeto.
-
[u ankaw vi iras al la
kunveno?
-
Jes, ni ankaw iras kaj la
homoj estos kontentaj.
How to say:
See you tomorrow. =
}is morgaw.
How do you do? = Kiel vi fartas?
Very good, thank you. =
Dankon, tre bone.
Bon appetit. = Bona(n) apetiton.
TOP
Lesson SIX
Analyzing Sentences
This lesson will introduce a very
important grammar rule in Esperanto. You should study the rule as best as
possible and practise a lot! We'll start by analysing a sentence, meaning that
we will name all its parts.
In the sentence: "The boy plays in the
garden" we call "plays" the verb, this indicates an action
that is occurring. "The boy" is the subject of the
sentence. This means the person/animal is the subject doing
the action (in this case, the one who plays).
In the garden is a definition of location.
Definitions with and without
prepositions
Because we find a preposition (the word
"in") in the definition "in the garden", we call it a definition of
location with preposition.
A preposition is a word that indicates a
relationship between various entities. For example: in, on, at, before,
after, in front of, between, etc. are all prepositions. The
translation of the sentence "The boy plays in the garden" is "La knabo ludas en
la }ardeno."
"La knabo" is the subject, "ludas" is the
verb, and "en la }ardeno" is a definition of location with
preposition.
Some more sentences follow to demonstrate
this. We'll make the definition bold; the first bolded word will be the
preposition:
La birdo sidas sur la domo. - La
$uoj staras antaw la se}o. - La knabino ku$as en la lito. - Ni
promenas al la urbo.
Now let's use this sentence:
"The father writes a letter." Here we have "the father" as subject,
"writes" as the verb, and "a letter" as the definition. But, as you can
see, there is no preposition in this sentence! That's why we call this a
"definition without preposition" . . . more commonly known as "the direct
object." The direct object can be obtained by asking yourself the
question "WHAT + main verb + subject?" In our example, the answer to "What
writes the father?" is "a letter", which is the direct
object. In Esperanto, this reads "La patro skribas
leteron." What do you see? An N behind letero, that's
right. In Esperanto all direct objects get an N, so that the
difference between the direct object (between the thing created) and the subject (its creator)
can be spotted instantly.
Some more sample sentences:
The boy eats an apple = La knabo man}as
pomon.
The girl sells flowers = La knabino
vendas florojn.
So keep in mind that (in both Esperanto and net-Eo),
definitions without a preposition (direct object nouns) get an extra N.
Definitions with a preposition are left as is (because the emphasis is on the preposition).
Now compare these two
sentences (in pure Esperanto):
Mi havas belan libron = I
have a nice book.
Mi havas belajn librojn = I have nice
books.
You see that the adjective (bela) also gets the accusative
N (right behind the plural J). But in net-Eo, as said before, this complementing adjectives
to nouns is optional for normal use. For A.I. purposes, adjectives are left as is (without
the 'j' or 'jn').
Note also that a definition, the direct object,
doesn't always have to appear at the end of a sentence; word order in Esperanto is very
flexible:
En la }ardeno ludas la infanoj =
La infanoj ludas en la }ardeno = The children play in the
garden.
Pipon fumas la patro = La
patro fumas pipon = The father smokes a
pipe.
Some other sample sentences:
- He learns Esperanto. = Li lernas Esperanton.
- George steals an apple from the garden. = El la }ardeno `George $telas pomon.
(For A.I. purposes, proper names must be preceeded by the ` character found below the tilde (~)
on your keeboard.)
- He says "good evening." = Li diras: "bonan vesperon."
- Are you writing your girlfriend a long letter? = [u vi skribas al via amikino longan leteron?
- We visit our friends. = Ni vizitas nia(jn) amikojn.
- The childs loves the father and the mother. = La infano amas la patron kaj la patrinon.
- Tomorrow we'll visit the convention of the Esperanto-course. = Morgaw ni vizitos (future tense!) la kunvenon de la
Esperanto-kurso.
Vocabulary
for you to study:
|
lingvo |
language |
banano |
banana |
|
okulo |
eye |
biciklo |
bike |
|
blanka |
white |
mordi |
to bite |
|
helpi |
to help |
porti |
to carry/wear |
|
post |
after |
ses |
six |
Exercises.
Translate.
A
1. La patrino awdas la infanon.
2.
`George havas belan libron.
3. Li a[etis (bought) belan novan [apelon.
4.
[u li a[etis brunan [apelon?
5. Mia filino diras al la najbarino bonan
tagon.
6. Ni vidis la blankajn kolombojn.
7. Ni lernis la internacian
lingvon.
8. Post ses lecionoj vi povas skribi mallongan leteron.
9. La
hundo mordas la katon.
10. La semajno havas sep tagojn.
11. $i helpas la
virinon.
12. Mi vidas, ke la viro portas belan, grandan nigran [apelon.
13. Mi vidas lin (him).
B
1. A big tree stands in our garden.
2.
This tree has green leaves.
3. I also see beautiful big red tulips in our
garden.
4. My neighbor eats an apple and two bananas.
5. I have two ears
and two eyes.
6. You have to tell your name to me.
7. From my aunt I
received a long letter.
8. My uncle wrote no letter, but he has a new bike
for me.
9. Did my father give a dog to her?
Solutions:
A
1. The mother hears the child.
2.
George has a nice book.
3. He bought a beautiful new hat.
4. Did he buy
a brown hat?
5. My daughter says "good day" to the neighbor (a woman in this
case).
6. We saw the white pigeons.
7. We learned the international
language.
8. After six lessons you are able to write a short letter.
9.
The dog bites the cat.
10. The week has seven days.
11. She helps the
woman.
12. I see that the man wears a nice big black hat.
13. I see
him.
B
1. Granda arbo staras en nia }ardeno.
2. [i tio arbo havas verda(jn) foliojn
3. Mi ankaw vidas bela(jn) granda(jn) ru}a(jn)
tulipojn en nia }ardeno.
4. Mia najbaro man}as pomon kaj du bananojn.
5.
Mi havas du orelojn kaj du okulojn
6. Vi devas diri via(n) nomon al mi.
7. De
mia onklino mi recevis longa(n) leteron.
8. Mia onklo ne skribis leteron, sed
li havas nova(n) biciklon por mi.
9. [u mia patro donis hundon al $i?
TOP
Lesson SEVEN
Suffixes
In this lesson we'll discuss some more
suffixes in order to be able to form more words.
The suffix
-il- indicates a tool or means by which a task can be
accomplished.
|
flugi |
to fly |
flugilo |
wing |
|
kombi |
to comb |
kombilo |
(a) comb |
|
veturi |
to drive |
veturilo |
vehicle |
|
tondi |
to cut/to snip |
tondilo |
scissors |
|
tran[i |
to cut |
tran[ilo |
knife |
|
helpi |
to help |
helpilo |
(an) aid |
The suffix
-ist- indicates a craftsman/professional:
|
presi |
to print |
presisto |
printer |
|
instrui |
to teach |
instruisto |
teacher |
|
baki |
to bake |
bakisto |
baker |
|
}ardeno |
garden |
}ardenisto |
gardener |
|
arto |
art |
artisto |
artist |
|
dento |
tooth |
dentisto |
dentist |
|
$uo |
shoe |
$uisto |
shoemaker |
The suffix
-id- indicates a descendant or child.
|
[evalo |
horse |
[evalido |
colt |
|
$afo |
sheep |
$afido |
lamb |
|
re}o |
king |
re}ido |
prince |
In Summary:
Using prefixes and suffixes
is learned by using them over and over. What makes most of these prefixes and suffixes
so handy, is that you can even use them as words onto themselves.
For example, when one learns the word "labori" (to work) then one is also capable to form
the word "worker", which is "laboristo". Likewise, if you see "segi" ("to saw") then you
also know how to form the word "the saw", "la segilo". I am sure you can already see,
that with a few basic words, you can really create a huge number of other words!
Directional "N"
Some prepositions (on, in, through, etc.)
can express both a static location (the answer to the question WHERE?) as well
as a dynamic direction (the answer to the question WHERE TO?). In Esperanto
one should put a so-called directional N behind the word when it is
a dynamic direction and not yet a state of being at a certain location. An
example:
He walks in the garden = Li mar$as
en la }ardeno. (He already is in the garden and he's walking there now.)
He walks into the garden = Li
mar$as en la }ardenon (He was for example somewhere on the street
and is now walking into the garden.)
This case was easy because in English we
also use different prepositions for these two cases, i.e., in vs.
into. Now two other examples:
The book is on the table = La libro
estas sur la tablo (it's a static location).
He puts the book on the table = Li
metas la libron sur la tablon (it's a direction and a
movement).
He walks through the forest = Li
mar$as tra la arbaro (he's walking in the forest).
He walks through the forest = Li
mar$as tra la arbaron (he walks in and out of the forest).
Especially the last one was a bit
more tricky. Here you see that the English language is not always clear on
the exact meaning of a preposition. Esperanto does make a distinction by
adding an n and eliminating any doubt regarding the meaning
of the sentence.
Remember: After the
words el, al, }is and de, we
never use a directional n because these prepositions already
indicate a direction themselves. They can't be used statically.
|
Mi iras al la urbo |
I go to the city |
|
Li venas el la domo. |
He comes out of the
house |
|
Ni promenos }is la
placo. |
We'll walk as far as (up to / down
to) the square |
|
La vazo falis de la
tablo. |
The vase fell from the
table |
New vocabulary for you to
study:
|
lumo |
light |
haki |
to chop |
|
kudri |
to sew |
salti |
to jump |
|
voli |
to want |
gladi |
to iron |
|
demandi |
to ask |
viziti |
to visit |
|
konduktoro |
conductor/ticket
collector |
vesto |
piece of clothing |
|
pri |
about/regarding |
verki |
to write (a book) |
|
alia |
other |
|
|
Exercises.
Translate.
A 1. bad 2.
darkness 3. worker 4. rain (as in it's raining cats and dogs or
pooring with rain)
5. huge 6. teacher
(female) 7. little lamb (one word)
8. axe 9. to toil
10. needle (for sewing)
B 1. La kato saltas de la
se}o sur la tablon.
2. Mia patrino volis gladi.
3. $i demandis al mi: "Johano, [u vi vidas mian
novan gladilon?"
4. Sed mi respondis: "Ne, mi ne
vidas vian gladilon" kaj mia patrino ne povis gladi.
5. La re}o kaj la re}ido vizitis nian malgrandan
urbon.
6. La konduktoro diras al ni, ke alia tramo
ne venos.
7. La birdo flugas el la [ambro, sed la
kolomboj flugas en la [ambron.
8. La vestoj de la
re}idino estis belega(j).
C 1. The (female) teacher
tells the little girl, that she writes beautifully.
2. The green bird flies out of the room.
3. I see a
thin needle on the floor.
4. She speaks about the
gray hat of the old shoemaker.
5. Who teaches the
children?
6. The artist writes a nice, thick book.
7. We speak about the brown colts.
8. Did you also visit the
convention?
Solutions:
A 1. malbona 2. mallumo 3.
laboristo 4. pluvego
5. grandega 6. instruistino 7.
$afideto
8. hakilo 9. laboregi 10.
kudrilo
B 1. The cat jumps from the
chair onto the table.
2. My mother wanted to iron.
3. She asked me: "Johano, did you see my new iron?"
4. But I responded: "No, I do not see your iron",
and my mother could not iron.
5. The king and the
prince visited our small city.
6. The conductor
says to us, that another tram won't come.
7. The bird
flies out of the room, but the pigeons fly into the
room.
8. The clothing of the princess were
splendid.
C 1. La instruistino diras al
la knabineto, ke $i bele skribas.
2. La verda birdo
flugas el la [ambro.
3. Mi vidas sur la planko
maldikan kudrilon.
4. $i parolas pri la griza
[apelo de la maljuna $uisto.
5. Kiu instruas la
infanojn?
6. La artisto verkas belan, dikan libron.
7. Ni parolas pri la bruna(j) [evalidoj.
8. [u ankaw vi vizitis la kunvenon?
Hello! = Saluton!
See you later /
Goodbye. = }is revido.
See you soon. = }is baldaw.
As big as possible. = Kiel eble plej granda.
TOP
Lesson EIGHT
Suffixes
After learning these next three suffixes,
you'll have significantly increased the number of words you can form. Here
they are: -ej-, -estr- and -ul-. It is also quite common to use these suffixes as root words.
More about this later.
The suffix -ej- indicates the
place where the action is occuring, or where persons or objects related to the
baseword can be found.
|
lerni |
to learn |
lernejo |
school |
|
labori |
to work |
laborejo |
workplace |
|
pre}i |
to pray |
pre}ejo |
church |
|
legi |
to read |
legejo |
reading
room/chamber |
|
bovo |
bull/beef |
bovejo |
cow shed/pasture |
The suffix
-estr- indicates a boss/leader of the object referred to by the
baseword:
|
$ipo |
ship |
$ipestro |
captain |
|
urbo |
city |
urbestro |
mayor |
|
lernejo |
school |
lernejestro |
principal |
The suffix
-ul- indicates the person, who has the property expressed by the
baseword:
|
griza |
gray |
grizulo |
gray-haired man |
|
malsana |
ill/sick |
malsanulo |
sick person |
|
malsanulejo |
hospital |
grizulejo |
institution for gray-haired
men |
Can you see
how, by learning a baseword ('sana' for example), you can create a huge number
of different, though related, words?
Vocabulary:
|
pedanta |
pedantic |
kompreni |
to understand |
|
kvazaw |
as if |
oni |
one (as in: "one is supposed to know
such a thing") |
|
feli[a |
happy |
perdi |
to lose |
|
avara |
miserly |
mensogi |
to lie |
|
sa}a |
wise/smart |
pentri |
to paint |
|
neniu |
nobody |
fali |
to fall |
|
nenio |
nothing |
dek du |
twelve |
|
[io |
everything |
monato |
month |
|
kiam |
when |
lasta |
last/final |
|
diversa |
different |
ankoraw |
still |
|
tre |
very |
por |
for |
Exercises.
Translate.
A 1. Nia najbaro, S-ro
Smith, estas pedantulo.
2. Li parolas kvazaw li
scias [ion.
3. Kato kaj hundo estas kvarpieduloj
(kvar = four, piedo = foot).
4. Jaro havas dek du
monatojn.
5. La malfeli[ulo falis en la akvon.
6. En la pre}ejo oni pre}as.
7. Kiam vi venis?
8.
Mi venis sabaton kaj mi foriris (for = away, iri = go) lundon.
9. La ri[ulino donis dolaron al la malri[a
blindulo.
10. [u vi komprenis la lecionon de la instruisto?
B 1. Pedantic (pigheaded) people
(translate to one word!) are not wise.
2. The good
man (translate to one word!) lost a lot of money.
3. The miserly man (one word!) did not give anything to the blind woman (one
word!).
4. The captain of
the ship bought a book.
5. The book cost five
dollars.
6. Are you a liar?
7. The blind gray-haired man (one word) went into
the garden.
8. The knife fell on the ground and
nobody saw it (it = }in).
9. The paintress worked in
our workplace.
10. Wednesday they will go out of
town.
Solutions:
A 1. Our neighbor, Mr.
Smith, is a pedantic (pigheaded) person/man.
2. He
speaks as if he knows everything.
3. A cat and a
dog are four-legged (literally: four-feet) animals.
4. A year has twelve months.
5. The unhappy
person/man fell into the water.
6. In the church
one prays.
7. When did you come?
8. I came Saturday and I went away (on) Monday.
9. The rich lady/woman gave a dollar to the poor
blind person/man.
10. Did you understand the lesson of the
teacher?
B 1. Pedantuloj ne estas
sa}a.
2. La bonulo perdis multa(n) monon.
3. La avarulo ne donis ion al
blindulino.
4. La $ipestro a[etis libron.
5. La libro
kostis kvin dolarojn.
6. [u vi estas mensogulo?
7. La blinda grizulo iris en la }ardenon.
8. La tran[ilo falis sur la plankon kaj neniu vidis
}in.
9. La pentristino laboris en nia laborejo.
10. Merkredon ili iros el la urbo.
TOP
Lesson NINE
Forming words
In the previous
lesson we've seen how to form words by adding suffixes and prefixes. But
words can also be formed by changing their ending. For example, you can
make nouns out of adjectives, adjectives out of verbs, verbs out of adverbs, and
so on.
|
kanti |
to sing |
la kanto |
the song |
|
devi |
to have to (must) |
la devo |
the duty |
|
ami |
to love |
la amo |
the love |
|
deziri |
to wish |
la deziro |
the wish |
|
promeni |
to walk |
la promeno |
the walk |
|
vivi |
to live |
la vivo |
the life |
|
viziti |
to visit |
la vizito |
the visit |
|
la frato |
the brother |
frata |
brotherly |
|
kura}i |
become brave |
kura}a |
couragous |
|
kura}o |
courage |
|
|
Compound
words
Esperanto also
has a large number of compound words, words that exist out of multiple other
words. Some examples:
|
}ardeno |
garden |
benko |
bench |
}ardenbenko |
garden-bench |
|
akvo |
water |
birdo |
bird |
akvobirdo |
water-bird |
|
dormo |
sleep |
[ambro |
room |
dorm[ambro |
bedroom |
You can see in the samples, that the final
o of the first word is usually omitted. If that makes the compound word
hard to pronounce, as it would be in akvbirdo, leave the o.
Likewise, instead of man}[ambro, man}o[ambro is said.
Numbers
It's now time to learn how to count in
Esperanto, so here we go:
1 = unu
2 = du
3 = tri
4 = kvar
5 = kvin
6 = ses
7 = sep
8 = ok
9 = naw
10 = dek
11 = dek unu
12 = dek du
13 = dek tri
___=______________
___=______________
___=______________
___=______________
___=______________
___=______________
20 = dudek
21 = dudek unu
___=______________
23 = dudek tri
___=______________
___=______________
___=______________
___=______________
___=______________
29 = dudek naw
30 = tridek
40 = kvardek
50 = kvindek
___=______________
70 = sepdek
___=______________
90 = nawdek
100 = cent
500 = kvincent
1000 = mil, 10,000 = dekmil, etc.
The Months:
You already know the names of the days in
Esperanto, now let's meet the months in chronological order: januaro,
februaro, marto, aprilo, majo, junio (stress the i), julio, awgusto, septembro,
oktobro, novembro, decembro.
Subject/Object Pronouns:
To refresh our memory, let's repeat the
subject/object pronouns:
mi = I (me)
vi = you (you)
li = he (his)
$i = she (her)
}i = it (it)
ni = we (us)
vi = you (you)
ili = they (them)
Possessive Adjectives:
The possessive adjectives in Esperanto are
formed by adding an a to the subject pronoun:
mia = my
via = your
lia =
his
$ia = her
}ia = its
nia = our
via = your
ilia =
their
my garden = mia }ardeno; her bike =
$ia biciklo; your letter = via letero
It's logical that the possessive case of these
words takes on the 'a' because they are, in that case, adjectives (they tell
something about a noun). Also note that in E-o you must make them agree in number, just like
with other adjectives. In net-Eo you may leave them off.
big houses = granda(j) domoj; our
houses = nia(j) domoj; our big houses = nia(j) granda(j) domoj
New vocabulary for you to study:
|
kiam |
when |
kial |
why |
|
kie |
where |
kiel |
how (in what way) |
|
popolo |
people |
stacidomo |
(train)station |
|
trafiko |
traffic |
monto |
mountain |
|
en la mezo |
in the centre |
per |
by (by means of) |
|
presi |
to push/press |
kompreni |
to understand |
|
bezoni |
to need |
kuiri |
to cook |
|
montri |
to show |
alta |
high |
|
dan}era |
dangerous |
komuna |
common |
|
oni |
one (pronoun) |
|
|
The ABC
Below is the complete Esperanto alphabet,
28 letters, adapted to net-Eo:
a, b, c, [, d, e, f, g, }, h, {, i, j, ],
k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, $, t, u, w, v, z.
(pronounce as: a, bo, co, [o do, etc.)
Go to Net-Eo-Quickie.html for detailed memory pegs.
Exercises. Translate.
A 1. Kiam estas la lasta
leciono de nia kurso?
2. Tion nia instruisto
ankoraw ne scias.
3. Kial ni lernas Esperanton?
4. [ar la diversaj popoloj de la tuta mondo
bezonas komuna(n) internacia(n) lingvon.
5. Kie estas
via instruistino?
6.$i estis en la }ardeno, sed nun
$i estas en via kuirejo.
7. Kiel oni povas iri al
la stacidomo, sinjoro?
8. Vi povas iri per tramo,
sinjorino.
9. La trafiko en nia(j) granda(j) urboj estas
tre dan}era(j) por nia(j) infanoj.
10. Kial via(j) infanoj ludas en mia
}ardeno?
B 1. We eat our cheese.
2. The three cats jumped on the garden-bench.
3. My garden is big, it is square.
4. Does your daughter have seven fish?
5. The hill is 65 meters
high.
6. When will your children leave?
7. I do not understand you.
8. Where is the train-station?
9. The train-station is in the centre of our city.
10. Can you show me (to me) the route to the
train-station?
Solutions:
A 1. When is the last lesson
of our course?
2. This our teacher also doesn't
know.
3. Why do we learn Esperanto?
4. Because the world needs a common international
language.
5. Where is your (female) teacher?
6. She was in the garden, but now she is in your
kitchen.
7. How can one go to the train-station,
sir?
8. You can go by tram, madam.
9. The traffic in our big cities is very dangerous
for our children.
10. Why do your children play in my
garden?
B 1. Ni
man}as nia(n) froma}on.
2. La tri katoj saltis sur la
}ardenbenkon.
3. Mia }ardeno estas granda, }i estas
kvadrata.
4. [u via filino havas sep fi$ojn?
5. La monteto estas sesdek kvin metrojn alta.
6. Kiam via(j) infanoj foriros?
7. Mi ne komprenas vin.
8. Kie estas la stacidomo?
9. La stacidomo estas en la mezo de nia urbo.
10. [u vi povas montri al mi la vojon al stacidomo?
TOP
Lesson TEN
Writing a Letter
In this lesson we won't introduce new
grammar, instead we'll write a letter to demonstrate that even after only 9
lessons, a nice letter can already be written!
New Vocabulary:
|
rakonti |
to tell |
konstati |
to establish (as a fact), find |
|
inviti |
to invite |
$pari |
to save (money) |
|
voja}i |
to travel |
akcepti |
to accept |
|
esperi |
to hope |
korespondi |
to correspond |
|
atendi |
to wait |
ferioj |
vacation/holidays |
|
}ojo |
joy |
saluto |
greeting |
|
pacienco |
patience |
koro |
heart |
|
po$tmarko |
stamp |
sukceso |
success/good luck |
|
vortaro |
dictionary |
adreso |
address |
|
sanstato |
health |
nun |
now |
|
[i tiu |
this |
kiam |
when/at what time |
|
kelkaj |
some/several |
agrabla |
pleased |
|
apenaw |
hardly/just |
baldaw |
soon |
|
volonte |
willingly/gladly |
kompreneble |
understandably |
|
denove |
again |
do |
so |
|
jam |
already |
|
|
Prepositions
Here is a list
of almost all prepositions:
|
al |
to |
[e |
near |
|
apud |
besides/near |
sur |
on |
|
sub |
under |
tra |
through |
|
pro |
because of/through |
de |
from/of |
|
ekster |
outside |
inter |
between |
|
sen |
without |
antaw |
before (as in: before the
building) |
|
post |
after |
por |
for (as in: leaving for
London) |
|
law |
according to |
kun |
with |
|
}is |
to, (un)til |
per |
by (means of) |
|
dum |
while |
[irkaw |
around/about |
|
trans |
over |
malgraw |
in spite of |
|
krom |
except/besides |
anstataw |
instead of |
|
en |
in |
preter |
by/beyond/alongside |
|
kontraw |
against |
pri |
about |
|
malantaw |
behind |
|
|
There are also three more prepositions
(da, je, and po) whose meanings will be explained later.
Translate these (fictional)
letters:
Groningen (Nederlando), la 10-an de
awgusto 2002
Kara amiko,
Hieraw mi ricevis vian longan
leteron. kaj kun granda }ojo mi konstatis ke mi, post naw lecionoj
esperantaj, povis kompreni la tutan leteron! Kelkajn vortojn mi ne
komprenis, sed mi havas vortaron. Vi skribis pri via bela urbo Milano kaj
mi tre volonte akceptas vian koran inviton. Mi volonte venos kaj mi
esperas, ke mi havos tre agrablajn feriojn en via lando. Vi povos montri al
mi la belajn stratojn kaj belegajn domojn kaj vi povos rakonti pri la historio de via
urbo. Mi apenaw povas atendi }is la somero. Kompreneble mi invitas
ankaw vin por veni al mia lando. Kun malpacienco mi atendas vian
respondon. Mi dankas vin pro la belaj po$tmarkoj. Kun multa(j) amika(j)
salutoj,
Via amiko
Milan (Italy), August 17, 2002
Dear friend,
In good health I received your
letter. Of course I want to come, but....this year I can not, because my
friend from London will come. This year I will not go away so I can save
money for the trip/voyage to The Netherlands. I wish to see your beautiful
city, the sea and the tulips. My brother also learns Esperanto now,
because he was jealous when he read your letter. He wishes to correspond
with an Esperantist from Copenhagen. He already received an address from
another friend from Oslo. Will you soon write a new letter? Good
luck with Esperanto!
Greetings,
Your Friend
Groningen (The Netherlands), the
10th of August 2000
Dear friend,
Yesterday I received your long
letter. And with great joy I found that I, after nine esperanto lessons,
could understand the entire letter! I didn't understand some words, but I
have a dictionary. You wrote about the nice city of Milan and I
gladly/willingly accept your kind invitation. I'll gladly/willingly come
and I hope, that I will have a very nice vacation in your country. You
will be able to show me the beautiful streets and splendid homes and you will be
able to tell about the history of your city. I can hardly wait until the
summer. Of course I also invite you to come to my country. With
eager I await your response. I thank you for the nice stamps! With
many friendly greetings:
Your Friend
Milano, la 17-an de awgusto,
2000
Kara amiko,
En bona sanstato mi recivis vian
leteron. Kompreneble mi volonte veni, sed...[i tiun jaron mi ne povas, [ar
mia amiko de Londono venos. [i tiun jaron mi ne foriros do mi povas $pari
por la voja}o al Nederlando. Mi deziras vidi via(n) bela(n) urbon, la maron kaj
la tulipojn. Mia frato ankaw lernas Esperanton nun, [ar li estis ]aluza
kiam li legis via(n) leteron. Li deziras korespondi kun Esperantisto de
Kopenhago. Li jam ricevis adreson de alia amiko de `Oslo. [u vi skribos
nova(n) leteron baldaw? Sukceson kun Esperanto!
Salutojn,
Via amiko,
Want to write a real letter?
Do you now want to write a real letter in
Esperanto to a real person? Then you can write to the following
persons! They'll be more than happy to receive and answer your
letter!
Elke van Gompel - The Netherlands - elkeq4@zonnet.nl
TOP
Lesson ELEVEN
Counting
In one of the previous lessons we learned
how to count, i.e.: 1 = unu, 2 = du, 3 = tri, 4 = kvar, 5 = kvin, 6 = ses, 7 =
sep, 8 = ok, 9 = naw, 10 = dek, 21 =
dudek unu, 53 = kvindek tri, 85 = okdek kvin,
99 = nawdek naw. To change these into ordinal numbers, simply add an
A. This makes "first" out of "one", "second" out of "two"
etc.
Examples:
unua = first
dua = second
tria = third
deka = tenth
So this 11th lesson would be
"La dek-unua leciono".
Interrogative Pronouns:
In English we
have many interrogative pronouns starting with the letter w, like:
what, who, where, when and why.
In Esperanto
all those so-called interrogative pronouns start with a
k:
who/which =
kiu
what = kio
how (what kind of) - kia
whose =
kies
where - kie (pronounced as: ki-e)
why - kial
when = kiam
to whom = al
kiu
how (in what way) = kiel (pronounce: ki-el)
how
much/many = kiom (da)
|
Who are you? |
Kiu vi estas? |
|
What does he say? |
Kion li diras? |
|
What kind of flowers do you
have/see? |
Kiajn florojn vi
vidas? |
|
Whose book is on the
table? |
Kies libro estas sur la
tablo? |
|
Where is your book? |
Kie via libro
estas? |
|
Why does he learn? |
Kial li lernas? |
|
When does she come? |
Kiam $i venas? |
|
How does he sing? |
Kiel li kantas? |
|
What does he say? |
Kion li diras? |
|
How much is one plus
one? |
Kiom estas unu plus
unu? |
|
How many flowers? |
Kiom da
floroj? |
After Kiom you
should use da when you're asking for a quantity of a certain
substance. Although da remains untranslated you could silently
translate it "of the", as in: "How many of the flowers?", "Kiom da
floroj?"
Prefixes
The prefix
ge- unites both sexes.
|
father |
patro |
Father and mother
(parents) |
gepatroj |
|
gentleman |
sinjoro |
ladies and gentlemen |
gesinjoroj |
|
son |
filo |
sons and daughters |
gefiloj |
|
friend |
amiko |
friends (both sexes) |
geamikoj |
It is not necessary to always use the
ge- prefix. When you want to say: "Ladies and gentlemen" you also
have the choice between "Gesinjoroj" and "Sinjorinoj kaj
sinjoroj."
Suffixes:
The suffix
-an- indicates a member, supporter, participant, inhabitant or
follower.
|
Amsterdamo |
Amsterdam |
amsterdamano |
some one from Amsterdam |
|
kurso |
course |
kursano |
participant in the
course |
|
urbo |
city |
urbano |
inhabitant of the
city |
|
eksterlando |
foreign |
eksterlandano |
foreigner |
|
Nederlando |
The Netherlands |
nederlandano |
a dutch
person |
At the first international convertion of
Esperantists (in 1905) all people where addressed in this way by Dr. Zamenhof:
"Gasamideanoj! Kun granda }ojo mi salutas vin!" =
"Congenials! With great joy I greet you!"
Exercises. Translate.
|
A |
1. |
En la somero multaj eksterlandanoj
vizitas nian landon. |
|
|
2. |
Kial ili vizitas nian
landon? |
|
|
3. |
[ar ili deziras na}i en la maro kaj
vidi niajn florojn. |
|
|
4. |
Mi estis malsan dum la unua tago de
mia(j) ferioj. |
|
|
5. |
Kie/Kiu estas mia
biciklo? |
|
|
6. |
[u amsterdamanoj lo}as en
Londono? |
|
|
7. |
Kial vi timas (fear) iri al la
dentisto? |
|
|
8. |
La instruistino instruas la
kursanojn. |
|
|
9. |
Hieraw mi estis en Londono kaj vidis
la veturilon de la re}ino. |
|
|
10. |
En la printempo la virinoj volas
laboregi por purigi (clean) la [ambrojn, sed . . .
kie estas la
viroj? |
|
B |
1. |
Did you already write a letter to
your grandparents? |
|
|
2. |
Why didn't you learn the ninth
lesson? |
|
|
3. |
The fourth apple fell on the
floor. |
|
|
4. |
The worker lost a
knife. |
|
|
5. |
Who plays in the bedroom
(sleeping-room)? |
|
|
6. |
The boys and the girls (one word) walk
into the garden of the neighbor. |
|
|
7. |
The rain fell on the new red
garden-bench. |
|
|
8. |
I do not understand, why you
lie. |
|
|
9. |
We are happy, because spring
(printempo) comes. |
|
|
10. |
To whom will you give these
beautiful flowers? |
|
|
11. |
The inhabitants of this town (one
word!) also came to the city. |
Solutions:
|
A |
1. |
In the summer many foreigners visit
our country. |
|
|
2. |
Why do they visit our
country? |
|
|
3. |
Because they want to swim in the sea
and see our flowers. |
|
|
4. |
I was ill the first day of my
holidays. |
|
|
5. |
Where/Which is my bike? |
|
|
6. |
Do (some) people from Amsterdam live
in London? |
|
|
7. |
Why do you fear going to the
dentist? |
|
|
8. |
The lady-teacher teaches the participants
of the course (one word). |
|
|
9. |
Yesterday I was in London and saw
the vehicle of the Queen. |
|
|
10. |
The women want to work hard to clean
the rooms in spring, but . . .
where are the men? |
|
B |
1. |
[u vi jam skirbis leteron al via
geavoj? |
|
|
2. |
Kial vi ne lernis la nawan
lecionon? |
|
|
3. |
La kvara pomo falis sur la
plankon. |
|
|
4. |
La laboristo perdis
tran[ilon |
|
|
5. |
Kiu ludas en la
dorm[ambro? |
|
|
6. |
La geknaboj promenas en la }ardenon
de la najbaro |
|
|
7. |
La pluvo falis en/sur la novan ru}an
}ardenbenkon. |
|
|
8. |
Mi ne komprendas, kial vi
mensogas. |
|
|
9. |
Ni estas }oja, [ar printempo
venas. |
|
|
10. |
Al kiu donos [i tiojn belajn
florojn? |
|
|
11. |
La urbanoj ankaw venis al la
urbo. |
TOP
Lesson TWELVE
Forming Words
In lessons
seven and nine, we learned something about forming words. In this lesson you'll
see some more examples. You learned for example: en = in/into,
iri = to go. So if
"eniri" means "to go in/into, to enter" then "entrance" would be "enirejo"
and exit would be "elirejo".
|
domo |
house |
|
pordo |
door |
|
dompordo |
housedoor |
|
bona |
good |
|
deziro |
wish |
|
bondeziro |
goodwish |
|
nova |
new |
|
jaro |
year |
|
novjaro |
newyear |
|
piedo |
foot |
|
iri |
to go |
|
piediri |
to go by foot |
|
vo[o |
voice |
|
doni |
to give |
|
vo[doni |
to vote |
|
naski}i |
to be born |
|
tago |
day |
|
naski}tago |
birthday |
|
legi |
to read |
|
libro |
book |
|
leglibro |
reading book |
|
akvo |
water |
|
fali |
to fall |
|
akvofalo |
waterfall |
|
vino |
wine |
|
botelo |
bottle |
|
vinbotelo |
wine bottle |
Verbs
We've already translated
sentences containing two verbs, but there is a distinctive difference between English
and Esperanto:
|
He can read. |
Li povas legi. |
|
You have to tell me your
name. |
Vi devas diri al mi vian
nomon. |
|
We can't sleep. |
Ni ne povas dormi. |
|
He will have to
learn |
Li devos
lerni. |
Sometimes we
add the word "to" in English, but in Esperanto this never happens because the
infinitive 'i' ending does this automatically.
|
We wish to go away/to
leave |
Ni deziras foriri. |
|
We will begin to learn
Esperanto |
Ni komencos lerni
Esperanton. |
|
I wish to read |
Mi deziras
legi. |
Suffixes
We'll now learn
the suffix -ant-. This suffix is used to indicate that something
is in progress:
|
la leganta knabo |
the reading boy/the boy who is
reading |
|
la parolanta sinjoro |
the speaking gentleman/the gentleman
who is speaking |
|
la ridanta knabino |
the laughing girl/the girl who's
laughing |
|
la lernanta infanoj |
the learning children/the children
who're learning. |
|
Ni vidas la dancantojn. |
We see the dancing group/We see
those who are dancing. |
|
la fluganta birdo |
the flying bird |
|
la lernanta gekursanoj |
The learning participants of the
course
|
|
(gekursanoj expresses masculine
and feminine participants of a course) | |
Attention!
You now understand that if we write "la leganto", we refer to "the
reading person" or "the reader". Likewise, "la parolanto" would be "the speaking
person/the speaker" and "la geridantoj" = "the laughing persons (both
genders)"
Anta = to be doing something right
at the moment. Something is happening right now. Brulanta domo = a burning
house, a house that's burning right at this moment. You already noticed we use
this ending with verbs.
The next suffix
we'll teach you is the suffix -ar-. It indicates a collection of the
baseword. Examples:
|
arbo |
tree |
|
arbaro |
forest |
|
vorto |
word |
|
vortaro |
dictionary |
|
vagono |
carriage/wagon |
|
vagonaro |
train |
|
monto |
mountain |
|
montaro |
chain of mountains |
|
adreso |
address |
|
adresaro |
address-book |
|
$ipano |
shipper |
|
$ipanaro |
crew |
|
estro |
head/boss |
|
estraro |
Board of Directors |
|
ano |
members |
|
anaro |
(all)
members |
The last two words show that the
prefixes -estr- and -an- can also be used independantly.
Some more examples: You learned, that the
prefix mal- indicates the opposite of the baseword. Therefore, if Good =
Bona, then Bad = Malbona. If Friend = Amiko, then Enemy = Malamiko.
"La malo" is the Esperanto word for "the opposite", as in
"La malo okazis" = "The opposite occurred."
"[u vi estas ri[a?
Male, mi estas malri[a." = "Are you rich? On the contrary, I'm poor."
This seems a lot to memorize, but we
give these samples to show you what you can do with the information you've
learned. By practicing a lot, reading and writing, you'll learn all those constructions
automatically. Just remember to actually use the language!
Exercises.
Translate.
|
A |
1. |
D-ro L.L. Zamenhof naski}is en la
monato decembro de la jaro 1859 en la urbeto
Bjalistok en Polio
(Poland). |
|
|
2. |
La lo}antoj de la urbeto estis
poloj (Polish), judoj (Jewish), rusoj (Russian)
kaj germanoj
(German). |
|
|
3. |
Ili parolis malsamajn
lingvojn. |
|
|
4. |
La rezulto (result) estis multa(j)
konfliktoj, [ar la poloj ne povis kompreni la germanojn
kaj la germanoj ne
povis bone kompreni la rusojn. |
|
|
5. |
La patrino de la juna Zamenhof
instruis al li, ke la homoj estas gefratoj. |
|
|
6. |
Sed en la stratoj li konstatis la
malon. |
|
|
7. |
La juna knabo havis nur unu
deziregon; doni pacon al la homaro. |
|
|
8. |
Li volis fari (to make)
lingvon. |
|
|
9. |
La nova lingvo devis esti
internacia, kaj newtrala. |
|
|
10. |
Li kreis triologojn en
Esperanto. |
|
|
|
|
|
B |
1. |
In the year 1905 the first
international congress (kongreso) was in France
(Francio). |
|
|
2. |
In the congressroom (room = salono)
were eighthundred persons from different
countries. |
|
|
3. |
Doctor (doktoro) Zamenhof said:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I greet you!" |
|
|
4. |
You came from many countries and you
are now the guests of the French (franca) Esperantists. |
|
|
5. |
In the room (salono) were no
Russians, or Germans, or Frenchmen; however, in that room
were many
people from many other countries. |
|
|
6. |
And they do not speak different
languages. |
|
|
7. |
They speak Esperanto, the neutral
international language. |
|
|
8. |
Now we are brothers and sisters of a
big and international family (familio). |
|
|
9. |
Doctor Zamenhof could/should be pleased
(satisfied). |
Solutions:
As homework, write out the translations and send them to us (via email). If
they are acceptably accurate, we'll send you an Interim Certificate of Completion.
TOP
Lesson THIRTEEN
In Lesson ELEVEN we
learned some interrogative pronouns such as "Who? What? Where? Etc." And now of
course we need to learn to answer these questions.
"Kio estas
tio?" = "What is that?"
In Esperanto, the
words used to answer such a question always start with a 't'
"Tio estas
arbo." = "That is a tree."
Here are the
correlative words we use to start questions and answers:
|
Question: |
|
Answers: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
kiu |
Who/which |
tiu |
That (refers to
persons) |
|
kio |
what |
tio |
That (refers to
objects) |
|
kia |
How/what kind of |
tia |
Such a/that kind of |
|
kies |
Whose |
ties |
It's |
|
kie |
Where |
tie |
There |
|
kial |
Why |
tial |
Because |
|
kiam |
When |
tiam |
Then/at that moment |
|
kiel |
How/in what way |
tiel |
So/that
way |
The second
letter of all standard question and answer words is always an 'i'.
Make sure you memorize them, because they are very common and used in all kinds of texts
and conversations. It's easy to confuse them if you haven't memorized
them.
|
Kio estas sur la
tablo? |
What is on the
table? |
|
Tio estas sur la
tablo. |
This/That is on the
table. |
|
Kie estas la
stacidomo? |
Where is the
trainstation? |
|
Tie. |
There. |
|
Kial vi ploras? |
Why do you cry? |
|
Tial mi ploras. |
That's why I cry. |
|
Kiam li venis? |
When did he come? |
|
Tiam li venis. |
Then he came. |
Since those
t-words point at something, they are called demonstrative
pronouns.
Vocabulary to study:
|
kofro |
suitcase |
|
muso |
mouse |
|
flari |
to smell |
|
super |
above |
|
pano |
bread |
|
aw |
or |
|
regali |
to treat (entertain, give a present) |
|
ponto |
bridge |
|
plezuro |
pleasure/fun |
|
vila}o |
village |
|
aviadilo |
airplane |
|
fajro |
fire |
Examples showing prepositions:
|
I go to the city. |
Mi iras al la urbo. |
|
I give the book to
George. |
Mi donas la libron al
George. |
|
Instead of `George, Pete will
come. |
Anstataw `George, venos
`Pete. |
|
He lives with him. |
Li lo}as [e li. |
|
He lives near us. |
Li lo}as apud ni. |
|
The book is on the
table. |
La libro estas sur la
tablo. |
|
The sun shines through the
window. |
La suno brilas tra la
fenestro. |
|
I will go till/to London. |
Mi iros }is
Londono. |
|
The dog of the
neighbor |
La hundo de la
najbaro |
|
During one week he was
ill. |
Dum unu semajno li estis
malsana. |
|
I sit in the room. |
Mi sidas en la
[ambro. |
|
I go out of the room. |
Mi iras el la
[ambro. |
|
The table stands between the
windows. |
La tablo staras inter la
fenestroj. |
|
He lives between her and
me. |
Li lo}as inter $i kaj
mi. |
|
He walks with two
dogs. |
Li promenas kun du
hundoj. |
|
He travels without a
suitcase. |
Li voja}as sen
kofro. |
|
After Saturday comes
Sunday. |
Post sabato venas
diman[o. |
|
The dog lies before the
stove. |
La hundo ku$as antaw la
forno. |
|
The cat lies behind the
stove. |
La kato ku$as malantaw la
forno. |
|
Under the bed walks a
mouse. |
Sub la lito iras
muso. |
|
Above the sea flies an
airplane. |
Super la maro flugas
aviadilo. |
|
He cuts with a knife the
bread. |
Li tran[as per tran[ilo la
panon. |
|
I stood outside the
house. |
Mi staris ekster la
domo. |
|
They sat around the
fire. |
Ili sidis [irkaw la
fajro. |
Attention. The use of
prepositions can differ a bit from English so it's best to use them frequently
and practise a lot by reading and listening.
Exercises. Translate.
|
A |
1. |
Mi laboris dum tri semajnoj en
Londono. |
|
|
|
2. |
La leganta virino sidas sur la se}o
apud la forno. |
|
|
|
3. |
La tramo veturas }is la
ponto. |
|
|
|
4. |
Mi voja}as por mia
plezuro. |
|
|
|
5. |
La $ipo ku$as sub la
ponto. |
|
|
|
6. |
La geknaboj iris tra la stratoj de
la vila}o. |
|
|
|
7. |
Oni man}as per la bu$o, flaras per
la nazo, kaj vidas per la okuloj. |
|
|
|
8. |
Kiam la sinjorinoj venis kun la
infanoj? |
|
|
|
9. |
Anstataw la patrino kuiris la
filino. |
|
|
|
10. |
[u vi voja}as sen kofroj aw kun
kofroj? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
B |
1. |
We travelled till
Paris. |
|
|
|
2. |
The sun shines above the
mountains. |
|
|
|
3. |
I sat behind the door and heard the
children. |
|
|
|
4. |
What did you hear? |
|
|
|
5. |
That I did not
understand. |
|
|
|
6. |
That's why we learn
Esperanto. |
|
|
|
7. |
That way you can sit near the
table. |
|
|
|
8. |
Where is my book? |
|
|
|
9. |
There, under the chair, is your
book. |
|
|
|
10. |
I do not understand, why you don't
learn your lessons. |
|
|
|
11. |
To those boys and girls (one word!)
I gave my beautiful books. |
|
|
|
12. |
That's why they were
discontent. |
|
NOTE: Start this set of solutions for your final submission.
TOP
Lesson FOURTEEN
All international words remain unchanged
but adapt to the spelling of the Esperanto language:
|
telephone |
telefono |
|
telegraph |
telegrafo |
|
machine |
ma$ino |
|
theory |
teorio |
Prefixes:
In English we
use the suffix "in-law" to indicate a relationship that exists because of a
marriage; the equivalent in Esperanto is the prefix bo-.
|
father |
patro |
father-in-law |
bopatro |
|
sister |
fratino |
sister-in-law |
bofratino |
|
brother |
frato |
brother-in-law |
bofrato |
Attention! Parents =
gepatroj, parents-in-law = bogepatroj; however, it's more common to put
ge before bo = gebopatroj.
The prefix
dis- indicates a division, seperation, or spread:
|
iri |
to go |
disiri |
go apart |
|
sendi |
to send |
dissendi |
to send away |
|
bati |
to hit |
disbati |
hit apart (smash
apart) |
Suffixes:
The suffix
-er- indicates the smallest unit:
|
pano |
bread |
panero |
breadcrumb |
|
sablo |
sand |
sablero |
a grain of sand |
|
ne}o |
snow |
ne}ero |
snowflake |
|
mono |
money |
monero |
coin |
|
ligno |
wood |
lignero |
sliver (from wood) |
|
pluvo |
rain |
pluvero |
raindrop |
|
fajro |
fire |
fajrero |
spark |
Don't confuse this suffix with the suffix
ar, as in arbaro (forest).
The suffix
-ebl- corresponds with the English suffix able/ible. It indicates
something CAN be the object of an action.
|
legi |
to read |
legebla |
readable |
|
vidi |
to see |
videbla |
visible |
|
trinki |
to drink |
trinkebla |
drinkable |
|
atingi |
to reach |
atingebla |
reachable |
|
uzi |
to use |
uzebla |
usable |
|
awdi |
to hear |
awdebla |
hearable |
Note that the Esperanto -ebl- correspond to both
-able and -ible in English. Because of the irregular nature of the
English language, visible for example ends in ible while hearable ends in able.
Something that can be eaten, is edible while something that can be loved is loveable.
-ebl- words can also be
translated using 'can':
La domo estas a[etebla = the house can be
bought, the house is for sale.
La viro estas konvinkebla (konvinki = to convince) =
The man can be convinced.
Exercises.
Translate.
|
A |
1. |
Vitro estas rompebla kaj
travidebla. |
|
2. |
$i ne estis
konvinkebla. |
|
|
3. |
En la mateno mi donis al la birdoj
panerojn. |
|
|
4. |
La instruistino disdonis la
kajerojn. |
|
|
5. |
La ludanta infanoj
diskuris. |
|
|
6. |
La prezidanto parolis tro mallawte,
li ne estis awdebla. |
|
|
7. |
Kies domo estas
a[etebla? |
|
|
8. |
Mia bogepatroj lo}as en la domo de
mia bofrato. |
|
|
9. |
Mi iris en la domon, [ar mi sentis
kelka pluverojn. |
|
|
10. |
La knabino lawte ploris, [ar $i
havis sableron en la okulo. |
|
|
11. |
[u vi dissendas la invitojn por la
kontaktvespero? |
|
B |
1. |
The letter from my friend from The
Netherlands was readable. |
|
|
2. |
The coin was on the
table. |
|
|
3. |
When can your house be
bought? |
|
|
4. |
My house won't be for sale, but it
can be rented (to rent = lui). |
|
|
5. |
The stars were not
visible. |
|
|
6. |
Sunday my brother-in-law will visit
me. |
|
|
7. |
My sister can't come, because she
has a sliver in her eye. |
|
|
8. |
My sister is stubborn (obstina), she can't be
convinced. |
|
|
9. |
With whom did you speak in the train
yesterday? |
|
|
10. |
The brown water from the river was
undrinkable. |
|
|
11. |
The bike of my little brother (one
word) was usable. |
Now try to write some
sentences in Esperanto . . . using the above words but in a different context or syntax.
TOP
Lesson FIFTEEN
Comparing things
Translating "long - longer - longest" or
"beautiful - more beautiful - most beautiful" in Esperanto is easy, simply use
'pli' and 'plej' as in:
beautiful = bela, more
beautiful = pli bela, the most beautiful = (la) plej bela
great = granda, greater = pli granda, the greatest
- (la) plej granda.
Note that you always use pli and
plej for comparisons. There are no irregular forms as in English. We say "good -
better - best" but in Esperanto it's just "bona - pli bona - plej bona", it's
very logical!
Some sample sentences:
My father is the strongest man = Mia patro
estas la plej forta viro.
The red pencil is the longest = La ru}a krajono
estas la plej longa.
In that store one can buy the better books = En tiu
butiko oni povas a[eti la pli bonajn librojn.
Carl is big = Carl/Karlo estas
granda.
Peter is bigger, but Johan is the biggest = Petro estas pli granda,
sed Johano estas la plej granda.
She is the best student in her class = $i
estas la plej bona lernantino el $ia klaso.
From those books the green one
is the biggest = El tiuj libroj la verda estas la plej dika.
Attention! In the last
two sentences you'll note that in and of
has been translated using el, this is always used when
taking a selection out of a bigger unity. It's better, in these cases, to use
el than de.
Some more examples:
She sings beautifully. = $i kantas bele.
She sings more beautifully. = $i kantas pli bele.
She sings most beautifully. = $i kantas plej bele.
You learned to translate "more" and "most"
but what about "less and least"? Well, it's very simple and logical; you
translate those by saying "malpli" and "malplej".
He's less interested = Li estas malpli
interesa.
Of them all, he's the least interested
= El [iuj, li estas la malplej interesa.
Now let's continue with comparing things.
There are two types of comparisons:
The first type of comparisons are the
comparisons of inequality (used for comparing two things that are not
equal). When we're looking at the differences, we're talking about
comparisons of inequality, as in: "I'm bigger than you." In Esperanto
this would translate as: "Mi estas pli granda ol vi."
The second type of comparisons are the
comparisons of equality (used for comparing two things that are equal). In
looking for similarities, we'd say, "I am as big as you." In
Esperanto, this can be translated in two ways; choose whichever translation you
prefer:
Mi estas tiel granda kiel
vi.
Mi estas same granda kiel
vi.
To end this lesson, we'll discuss something
that's not quite logical in English but has a logical counterpart in
Esperanto. In English we can say: "Peter has two pencils, the blue one is
longest", and you'll note we use longest. But in E-o, when comparing two pencils
then one can be quite long and the other can be longer, but it
can't be the longest. It can only be longest when comparing three pencils.
The first one is long, the second is longer. Only the THIRD is longest.
Remember: When comparing TWO things
in Esperanto, we always use the 'pli' form and never the 'plej'
form.
"Peter has two pencils, the blue one is
longest" would translate as "Petro havas du krajonojn, la blua estas la pli
longa."
Translate:
A
- La elefanto estas pli forta besto ol la hundo.
- Mi ne estas tiel forta kiel vi.
- En nia }ardeno staras du arboj; la pli granda apartenas al mia frato.
- Kiu lo}as en tiu kastelo?
- En tiu kastelo lo}as la plej ri[a viro el nia vila}o.
- Mia patrino estas malpli granda ol mia patro.
- Vi skribas same malbele kiel mi.
- La plej malgrandan libron mi a[etis.
- Sed }i estas la plej bona el [iuj (all) libroj.
- Sinjoro, mi ne povas kredi, ke mia frato estas la plej maldiligenta
(diligenta = diligent) knabo el via klaso.
- Mi opinias (opinii = to have an opinion) ke li estas same
diligenta kiel la alia(j) geknaboj.
B
- Is the dog stronger than the cat?
- Yes, but the cat is not as big as the dog.
- That house is the biggest of all ([iuj) houses.
- Which country has the highest house?
- Where do you live? I live in the most beautiful city of our country.
- In summer the days are longer than in winter, but the nights are shorter.
- Today my mother is less ill than yesterday.
- My sister sings more beautifully than I.
- My brother sings ugliest.
Work the solutions and store them for further review.
TOP
Lesson SIXTEEN
Some new
prefixes:
The prefix RE- is used only
with verbs. It has two meanings: (1) to do something again (to redo
something) or (2) to do something back (to return the action). Some
examples:
legi = to read, relegi = to reread/to read
again, diri = to say, rediri = to say again
(redoing something)
sendi = to send, resendi
= to send back,
bati = to hit, rebati = to hit back, veni =
to come, reveni = to come again,
salti = to jump, resalti = to jump back/to bounce,
tiri = to pull, retiri = to
pull back/to withdraw (returning the action). For redoing something, you
might say, "refarantas" . . . re (re) far (do) ant (ing) as (present tense).
As you can clearly see, the English
language uses this re- prefix in many cases.
Some new suffixes:
The suffix -IG-, when applied
to an adjective (nice, beautiful, warm) or a noun, indicates a putting/taking
something into a certain state. This needs some further explanation;
here are some examples:
bela = beautiful, beligi =
to make nice/to decorate; varma = warm/heat, varmigi =
to make warm/to heat; kontenta = satisfied, kontentigi =
to make satisfied/to satisfy
Does this make it clearer? Then here
are some samples with nouns:
gasto = guest, gastigi = to
make someone a guest; entuziasmo = enthusiasm, entuziasmigi = to make
enthusatic
In Lesson TWELVE we've seen the suffix
-ANT-, which we used to indicate that something was in
progress:
the reading boy = la leganta knabo, the
laughing girl = la ridanta knabino, the learning kids = la lernanta(j)
infanoj
These sentences can also be written like
this:
The boy is reading = La knabo estas
leganta.
The children are learning = La infanoj
estas lernanta(j).
The above exercises should be well understood before
continuing with the next subject of this lesson, the so-called
PARTICIPLES or PERFECT TENSE.
Until now you've only seen sentences with
verbs in the present tense, past tense and future tense (as in: "I walk, I
walked" and "I will walk"), but now you'll learn to form sentences like "I have
walked" and "I had walked". The former is called the PERFECT TENSE
and "walked" in these cases is the PARTICIPLE. To be
more to the point: "I have walked" is called PRESENT PERFECT
TENSE and "I had walked" is called the PAST PERFECT
TENSE.
You see, in English we use the auxiliary verb
"to have" as in "I HAVE walked," "I HAD seen," and "He HAS forgotten." In Esperanto,
there is only one auxiliary verb, which is the verb TO BE (ESTI).
Never use TO HAVE (HAVI) as an auxiliary verb in Esperanto!
Let's deal with some samples to
illustrate how to form the PRESENT PERFECT TENSE:
He has come. = Li estas veninta.
We have walked. = Ni estas
promenintaj.
The children have played. = La infanoj
estas ludintaj.
You'll notices we used the INTA
suffix. In pure E-o, remember to add a J when you're talking about more
than one person (Ni, Vi, Ili).
The PAST PERFECT TENSE is
very similar. The only difference is that this tense occurs further in the
past, so you should use "estis" instead of "estas".
He had come. = Li estis veninta.
We had walked. = Ni estis
promeninta(j).
The children had played. = La infanoj estis
ludinta(j).
We'll continue to discuss participles in
the next lesson.
EXTRA REMARK
Never use HAVI as an auxilliary verb in
Esperanto! So never say "Ni havis leginta(j)." It is as wrong as you can
get. The correct translation is: "Ni estas leginta(j)."
Exercises.
Translate.
A 1. Nia najbaro purigas la
[ambrojn. 2. Ni estis jam puriginta nian [ambron. 3. Kion vi faris
(fari = to do/to make) hieraw? 4. Mi estis ricevinta belan libron de mia
amiko kaj mi legis la tutan vesperon. 5. Tial vi ne estis lerninta vian
lecionon. 6. La parolinto entuziasmigis la gesinjorojn en la salono.
7. La instruisto plibonigis (pli-bon-igi = to make more good/to correct) la
erarojn (eraro = error). 8. [u li redonis al vi miajn librojn? 9. Mi
estis a[etinta multajn belajn florojn. 10. Ili estos laboranta en la }ardeno.
11. La maljunulo estis jam (already) mortinta (morti = to die).
B 1. Why didn't you
come? 2. The children had played in the garden. 3. The old sick man
was dying. 4. Can you come back (one word)? 5. She had already read
the book and that's why (tial) she gave it back to me. 6. He had greeted
(to greet=saluti) me, but I didn't see him 7. Tomorrow we will have
learned our lessons. 8. He has worked better than I. 9. Did my sister sing
as beautifully as your aunt? 10. He has written readably, but I can't read
the letter.
C Try to write some sentences
about the topic: THE STREET. Let your imagination go to work!
TOP
Lesson SEVENTEEN
Some more examples using the PERFECT
TENSE with the -inta- suffix:
La viroj estas konstruinta la domon. = The
men have built the house. La gepatroj estas promeninta kun la infanoj en
la arbaro. = The parents have walked in the forest with the children. La
voja}antoj estis veninta per la awtobuso. = The travelers had come by bus.
La lernantoj estis kantinta en la lernejo. = The children had sung at
school.
In a previous lesson we've seen the suffix
-IG-; this lesson will introduce you to two more.
The first new suffix is the
-I}- suffix. If we put it behind a word, it indicates: "to come
(end up) in a certain state." Note the similarity with -IG-
which means "to put/bring in (cause) a certain state."
Let's use some examples to clearify things
a bit:
pala = pale, pali}i = to become pale,
libera = free, liberi}i = to become free, ri[a = rich, ri[i}i = to become rich,
sana = healthy, resani}i = to get healthy again/to recover, ano = member, ani}i
= to become a member, $tono = stone, $toni}i = to become of stone (petrify)
Let's compare some words/roots that
can get both suffixes:
Resanigi = to make healthy again/to cure
(La kuracisto resanigis la virinon. = The doctor made the woman healthy again/the
doctor cured the woman.) Resani}i = to get heathy again/to recover (Post
du semajnoj la knabo resani}is. = After two weeks the boy got healthy again/After
two weeks the boy recovered.)
The second suffix we'll discuss in this
lesson is the suffix -UJ-. It can be found in three
different forms:
1. Names of objects, capable of
holding/containing the item expressed by the rootword.
cindro = ash, cindrujo = ashtray; salo =
salt, salujo = salt cellar; mono = money, monujo = wallet; pano =
bread, panujo = breadbox; abelo = bee, abelujo
= beehive; kafo = coffee, kafujo = coffee can;
kudrilo = needle, kudrilujo = needle-cushion; inko
= ink, inkujo =
inkwell.
2. Names of bushes or trees
carrying the fruits indicated by the word:
pomo = apple, pomujo = appletree; frukto =
fruit, fruktujo = fruit-tree; piro = pear, pirujo = pear-tree; frago =
strawberry, fragujo = strawberry-bush
In this case, instead of "ujo" you can
also use "arbo", so appletree can be translated as either "pomujo" or
"pomarbo".
3. Names of a country, inhabited by
a person indicated by the rootword. Examples:
belgo = a Belgian, Belgujo = Belgium;
anglo = An Englishman, Anglujo = England
Atentu!
A more common suffix used to construct the
name of a country, is the IO suffix. It is recommended instead of
UJ. Examples:
belgo = a Belgian, Belgio =
Belgium; anglo = an Englishman, Anglio = England; germano =
a German, Germanio = Germany; svedo = a Swedish person, Svedio
= Sweden; italo = an Italian, Italio =
Italy; franco = a Frenchman, Francio = France; hispano =
a spaniard, Hispanio = Spain; norvego = a norwegian person, Norvegio
= Norway; dano = a danish person, Danio =
Denmark.
In all these examples the name of the
country is derived from the name of its inhabitants. In some cases the
name of the country ends in "lando", so the name of the inhabitant is derived
from the name of the country by using the suffix -an:
The Netherlands = nederlando, a Dutch
person = nederlandano; Ireland = irlando, an Irish
person = irlandano; Iceland = islando, an Icelander
= islandano.
NOTE: It is not correct to say Nederio or Isio instead of
(nederlando and islando).
Countries outside of Europe
and Asia usually form the name of their inhabitants using ano, as in:
Kanado = Canada, Kanadano = a Canadian,
Brazilio = Brazil, Braziliano = a Brazilian person
Exercises.
Translate.
A 1. Li sidas apud la forno por
varmi}i. 2. La infano ru}i}is, [ar }i mensogis. 3. Johano, [u vi
volas doni al mi la cindrujon? 4. [u vi jam estas man}inta la "nova haringoj"?
5. La nederlandano korespondis kun la hispana frawlino (Miss). 6.
Mia fratino estas elmigrinta (elmigri = to emigrate) al Kanado. 7.
La sanstato de la grizulo malpliboni}is. 8. [u vi ani}os al unui}o? (union).
9. Kie estas la pano? 10. $i estis metinta (meti =
to put/to place) la panon en la panujon. 11. En la tero ni trovis (trovi
= to find) belajn $toni}intajn bestojn.
B 1. Coffee-bushes also grow
(kreski) in Brazil. 2. My Spanish friend (female) had written me a long
letter. 3. The inkpot has fallen on the beautiful book. 4. The
English queen (king = re}o) visited our country. 5. The old man
(one word) got ill. 6. Frenchmen, Englishmen, Norwegians, Greeks, Belgians,
Spaniards, Italians, and Canadians had come to the meeting. 7. We have a
beehive in our garden. 8. The Canadians liberated a part (parto) of The
Netherlands. 9. I haven't been in the garden. 10. The small children
have played in the garden of the neighbor (female).
C Now construct some senteces in
Esperanto about the topic: "The house"
TOP
Lesson EIGHTEEN
The suffix -IG-, when used
with an adjective or noun, means: the making of, bringing/putting in a state
(active). Examples:
pura = clean, purigi = to
make clean/to clean; seka = to make dry, sekigi = to make
dry; kontenta = content, kontentigi
=- to make content/to satisfy; edzo- husband, edzigi = to marry a husband/to
wed; amaso = mass/heap/pile, amasigi = to amass/pile up;
publiko = public, publikigi = to make public; regulo
= rule, reguligi = to regulate/coordinate
-IG- behind (suffixed to) a verb indicates "to
make, render, cause to be." Here are a few more examples:
veni = to come, venigi =
to cause/make (someone) come; sidi = sit, sidigi =
to cause to sit; morti = to die, mortigi = to kill/cause
to die; bruli = to burn, bruligi = to cause to burn;
boli = to boil, boligi = to cause it to boil
-I}- behind an adjective or noun
means: to BECOME or GET INTO a certain state or situation (passive). Examples:
pala = pale/faint, pali}i =
to get pale (when the suntan leaves); laca = tired, laci}i
= to tire/get tired; ri[a = rich, ri[i}i =
to become/get rich; edzo = husband, edzi}i = to become
husband/married; edzini}i = to become a wife; glacio = ice,
glacii}i = to become ice/to freeze; veki = to wake,
veki}i = to wake up (one's self); rompi = to break, rompi}i
= to become broken
Behind adjectives and nouns you can use
both -IG-, as well as -I}-. Behind verbs
only one is usually suitable, but that depends of course on the verb. To make an
intransitive verb transitive, we use 'ig'; to make a transitive verb intransitive, we add 'i}'.
varma = warm, varmigi =
to heat, varmi}i = to become warm; libera = free,
liberigi = to free, liberi}i = to become free;
ano = member, anigi = to make someone member, ani}i
= to become a member; veni = to come, venigi =
to let come/to summon; perdi = to lose, perdi}i =
to get lost.
You can see for example that veni (to come) can use
-ig- (one can make someone else come to you) but it can't use -i}- (you can't
"become" come). By contrast, perdi (to lose something) can get -i}- (something can get lost),
but you can't use -ig- (because you can't make something get lost . . . you'd probably
still know where it is and it, therefore, wouldn't be lost).
DIRECT OBJECTS (review)
Let's refresh our memory regarding direct
objects. We'll go deeper into this matter later. Remember that in
Esperanto, direct objects should always get an N. Let's review:
I lose the book = Mi perdas la
libron. What is lost? The book. = La libron. (direct
object)
The boy ate an apple = La knabo man}is
pomon. What was eaten? = An apple! = Pomon. (direct object)
The teacher begins the lesson = La
instruisto komencas la lecionon. What does the teacher begin? = The
lesson. = la lecionon.
The mother loves the children = La patrino
amas la infanojn. Whom does the mother love? = The children. = La
infanojn.
TRANSITIVE & INTRANSITIVE VERBS
Let's learn two important grammar
terms. There are verbs that CAN have a direct object and there are verbs
that NEVER have a direct object. The verbs that CAN have one, are called
TRANSITIVE VERBS, and those that NEVER get a direct object are
called INTRANSITIVE VERBS.
A transitive verb is for example "to see"
because you can say "What do you see?". An intransitive verb is "to come",
because you can't say "What do you come?". In Esperanto these are called
TRANSITIVaj VERBoj and NETRANSITIVaj VERBoj.
perdi = to lose, turni = to turn, komenci
= to begin, are TRANSITIVaj VERBoj and have a direct
object. Therefore: Mi turnas la radon. La instruisto
komencas la lecionon.
You can use these verbs in an intransitive
way by using i} . . . as in:
La rado turni}as.
La leciono komenci}os.
The other way round, you can make a
transitive verb out of an intransitive verb by using the -ig-
suffix. A good example is the verb "to die", which of course is an
intransitive verb because you can't say, "What do you die?"
If we take the intransitive word "morti" and
form the transitive verb by using the -ig- suffix, we get mortigi,
which can be translated with "to make die" or, even better, "to kill". Other examples
are, "La birdo mortas. = The bird dies." and "Ili mortiigis la
malamikojn. = They killed the enemies."
Exercises.
Translate.
A 1. La knabino purigas la
tablon. 2. Mia najbaro blankigis la murojn de la domo. 3. La promeno
al la granda urbo tre lacigis min. 4. Mia amiko el Ameriko vizitos nin, kaj
mia patrino diris, ke ni gastigos lin. 5. La knabino estis tre malsana, ni
devis venigi la kuraciston (doktor). 6. La vento sekigas la vestojn de la
familio. 7. En la vintro la fornoj varmigas niajn [ambrojn. 8. La
patrino boligas la akvon por prepari teon. 9. La infano volis dormi kaj la
patrino ku$igis }in en la liton. 10. La gepatroj volas edzinigi la filinon
kun ri[ulo.
B 1. La knabino pali}is, [ar $i
estis tre laca. 2. La akvo en la kanaloj glacii}is kaj la infanoj nun povas
glitkuri. 3. Kiam la knabino estos dudek unu-jara, $i edzini}os kun la
ri[a sinjoro. 4. Mia fratino estis tre malsana, sed nun $i
resani}as. 5. Post la dudeka leciono, la Esperanto-kurso ankoraw ne
fini}os. 6. [iuj (all) lernantoj feli[i}as, [ar ili povas korespondi kun homoj de la tuta
mondo. 7. Via laboro estas bona, sed }i povas ankoraw pliboni}i. 8.
Mia frato korespondas kun Esperantistoj en la eksterlando kaj li entuziasmi}as
por Esperanto.
C 1. My
sister will marry our neighbor. 2. In winter (in the winter) our big stove
heats our rooms. 3. We walked during the entire days in the forest and we
had become very tired. 4. The earth rotates (rotati) around the sun.
5. The wind was strong and the curtains in front of the windows moved (movi = to
move). 6.The new stamps (po$tmarkoj) don't glue well. (Translate like:
"the new stamps glue bad." I glue = mi gluas; the stamps are being glued, so
. . .)
TOP
Lesson NINETEEN
In previous lessons we learned the tenses
of verbs. By adding -as behind the stem of a verb, we get the
present tense (I see = mi vidas). By adding -is we get
the past tense (I saw = mi vidis), and -os is used to form
the future tense (I will see = mi vidos). The conditional tense is formed
by using -us, so "I would see" would be translated as "Mi vidus".
In Lesson SIXTEEN, we encountered the perfect
and past perfect tense using the auxiliary verb (esti). We've learned things
like "I have seen/witnessed = Mi estas vidinta" and "I had seen =
Mi estis vidinta."
These are all examples of active
sentences . . . the subject is actively engaging in an action. It
does something, did something, will do something,
etc. Opposed to active sentences are of course the passive
sentences. These are sentences in which the subject is NOT DOING
something, but where something IS BEING DONE to the subject. This
might be quite confusing, so let's illustrate it with an example:
I read the book (This is an active
sentence since the subject "I" is doing something, "reading" in this
case).
The book is read by me (This is a
passive sentence where something is being done to the subject "the
book").
Try to really understand this. Here are
some more examples:
I eat an apple. = An apple is eaten by
me.
She hears a train. = A train is heard by
her.
We own the dog. = The dog is owned by
us.
Note that all
these active sentences (in the first column) have a direct object. And the
direct object of active sentences becomes the subject of the passive
sentences. Note that "An apple, a train and the dog" in the passive
sentences (2nd column) are NOT the direct objects but are the subjects of those
sentences!
Again, let's apply
this knowledge to Esperanto:
Active (normal present tense): I
eat an apple. = Mi man}as pomon.
Active (using gerund): I
am eating an apple = Mi estas man}anta pomon.
Passive: An apple is eaten by
me = Pomo estas man}ata de mi.
Note the
similarities between the passive sentence and the active sentence using the
gerund. You'll see that the active sentence with the gerund uses the
auxiliary verb ESTI + ANTA and the passive sentence also uses the auxiliary verb
ESTI but in combination with ATA! That's all there's to it!
AUXILIARY VERBS
You'll now get to see some rules regarding
the use of auxiliary verbs, so this applies to passive sentences, sentences in
progress, perfect tense and past perfect tense.
A. Don't
use the perfect and past perfect tense too often, they are to be used only when the
normal past tense doesn't suffice.
I have sung. = Mi estas kantinta.
But better is: Mi kantis. I have read. = Mi estas leginta. But
better is: Mi legis.
So, instead of "estas + inta" you can
usually just use the past tense.
B. The
tense of the auxiliary verb in English corresponds to the tense of the
auxiliary verb in Esperanto.
When the English sentence uses
is/are/has/have, then you should use estas in Esperanto.
When the English sentence uses
was/were/had, then you should use estis in Esperanto.
When the English sentence uses
will be or will have been, then you should use estos in Esperanto.
C. There
is only one auxiliary verb in Esperanto, which is
esti; never use havi as an auxilliary verb!
In cases where "to have" is used as an auxiliary verb in English, "esti" is used
in Esperanto. Havi is used only when indicating
possession, consequently never used as an auxiliary verb.
I have learned. = Mi estas lerninta.
I had slept. = Mi estis dorminta.
D. The gerunds anta/ata
correspond to the English -ing form . . . to be doing something;
inta/ita correspond with to be finished doing something, to have done
something; and onta/ota correspond with to be about to do something.
Mi estas kantanta. = I am
singing.
Mi estas kantinta. = I am finished
singing, or better: I have sung.
Mi estas kantonta. = I'm about to
sing.
ANTA / INTA / ONTA are
used in active sentences. ATA / ITA / OTA are used in passive sentences. In Esperanto,
not net-Eo, the plural 'j' is required with these gerunds:
The table is big. = La tablo estas
granda. The tables are big = La tabloj estas granda(j).
The child is playing. = La infano estas
ludanta. The children are playing = La infanoj estas ludanta(j).
Last, the translation of the word "by" as
in "The book is read by me" which is to be translated by "de" in
Esperanto.
He was greeted by her. = Li estis
salutita de $i.
Exercises.
Translate.
A 1. Kial vi ne legus la bela(n)
libron de via amiko? 2. [u vi konas la parolinton? 3. La knabo estos
punata, [ar li ne volas lerni. 4. Multa(j) homoj estis demandinta(j) kiam
okazos la lasta kontaktvespero. 5. Mi estas feli[a (happy), ke mi povas
respondi al lia lasta letero. 6. Mi povis vidi, ke la libro estis
legita. 7. Mi promenis el la parko kaj mia amiko promenis en la
parkon. 8. La vetero estis tre bona kaj tial ni povis ku$i en la
}ardeno. 9. Sed mi ne povis dormi, [ar la geknaboj de mia najbarino estis
ludanta kaj kriis lawte. 10. Tamen mi ekdormis (fell asleep) finfine
(finally). 11. Mi son}is ( son}i = to dream), ke mi estis en
Hispanio.
B 1. I have never (neniam)
understood, why you didn't learn the international language. 2. You should
be able to correspond with many foreigners (eksterlandanoj). 3. She was
singing, but I heard, that she sang more beautifully than my sister. 4. My
brother-in-law didn't write the letter. 5. Would the boy be
punished? 6. Yes, because he has hit the dog. 7. My friend from
Sweden will come tomorrow. 8. Saturday, I gave the books back to your
sister-in-law. 9. That, she didn't tell me. 10. The letter from Greece
was not readable. 11. I hope, that you will read many beautiful books and
learn to speak the international language Esperanto.
C Finish the sentences.
-
En la }ardeno kreskas . . . . . . . .
- En la domo vi vidas . . . . . . . .
- Tra la strato veturas . . . . . . . .
- Dum la somero la arboj estas . . . . . . . .
- Sur la tablo ku$as . . . . . . . .
- La infanoj sidas sur . . . . . . . .
TOP
Lesson TWENTY
Review
Leciono 20 = Dudeka leciono
Ni ripetas = We repeat.
[u vi ankoraw scias? = Do you still
know?
- That you should always stress words on the
syllable before the last one? radio = radio, apetito = apetite,
ferio = vacation.
- That all nouns (words describing an
object, person or condition) end on -o?
- That the plural is formed by adding
a 'j'? domo = domoj, [ambro = [ambroj, besto = bestoj
- That all adjectives end on
-a? bela = malsana = granda
- That in pure E-o, these also get a 'j' when
the noun they're describing is plural? bela domo = bela(j) domoj. In
net-Eo, for A.I. purposes, we usually use "kvadrata urba }ardenoj" (instead of kvadrataj urbaj
}ardenoj)
- That adverbs derived from adjectives
always end on -e? $i laboras diligente. Li promenas rapide.
}i flugas alte.
- That there are also some time-indicating
adverbs that never change? Examples: hodiaw = today, hieraw = yesterday,
morgaw = tomorrow, tuj = immediately, nun = now,
ankoraw = still, baldaw = soon
- That all verbs (infinitive case) end on
-i? to speak = paroli, to read = legi, to eat = man}i, to
travel = voja}i
- That this (infinitive) ending changes to
"as" in present tense, "is" in past tense,
"os" in future tense, and "us" in
conditional tense? Mi legas. - Mi legis. - Mi legos. - Mi legus.
- That the subject of the sentence never
gets an n but that a direct object always does (get an n), unless it is a propositional
phrase started with an AL, EL, }is, or DE?
Mi man}as pomon. Ni faras promenon. Ili studas Esperanton.
- That there is a directional
-n used for showing directional movement? Ni sidis en la
[ambro = We sat in the room. Ni iras en la [ambron. = We go into the
room. Trans la rivero estas bela kastelo. = Across the river is a nice
castle. La knaboj na}as trans la riveron. = The boys swim across the river.
- Since the prepositions al, el,
de and }is already indicate a direction,
a directional n is not needed with those prepositions?
Li iras al la lernejo. $i venas el la lernejo.
- That the suffix -ulo indicates a
person? ri[ulo, avarulo, blindulo
- That the suffix -ejo indicates a
location? legejo, enirejo, laborejo
- That the suffix -isto indicates a
profession? instruisto, }ardenisto
- That the suffix -estro indicates
the boss/leader? lernejestro, urbestro, $ipestro
- That the suffix -ino indicates the
feminine form? instruistino, patrino, avino, bovino
- That the suffix -et- indicates a
very small/weak object/person and -eg- a very big/strong object/person?
$toneto - $tonego, pluveto - pluvego, urbeto - urbego
- That the prefix mal- always
indicates the opposite of the word it's used with? malsana, malri[a,
malkontenta, maldiligenta
- That an interrogative sentence always
starts with either [u or an interrogative pronoun like kia, kio,
kiu, etc.?
- That the suffix -ido indicates a
descendant? hundido, leonido, [evalido, re}ido
- That the suffix -ilo indicates an
instrument? flugilo, na}ilo, helpilo
Fill the gaps
- La patrino rigardas eksteren (looks outside). $i staras antaw la . . . . . . . .
- Oni sonorigas (Someone calls. The phone rings.) Antaw la . . . . . . . . . . . staras la
geonkloj.
- La patro estis en butiko. Li a[etis donaceton por sia (his) . . . . . . . . . .
- Ni promenas ekster la urbo. Ni vidas $afidon en la . . . . . . . (herbo = grass).
- En la dorm[ambro ni vidis . . . . . . . . . . . kaj . . . . . . . . . . .
Exercises. Translate.
- In our garden are many high trees and splendid red, white, yellow and blue
flowers.
- We ate a lot of cherries, and little apples.
- Our parents visit our grandparents in the small village.
- If we want to learn Esperanto, we have to study one hour each day.
- Then we will visit our Esperanto-friends in many countries and invite them to
visit our country.
- We made a long walk out of the city and into the forest.
- Did you see the beautiful colt and the white lamb of our neighbor?
- The blind man (one word) has a faithful dog; they always walk in the park.
- My mother bakes cookies (a cooky = kuko) in the kitchen, she
does that (tion) for us because we're fond of (to be fond of = $ati)
good-tasting (=bongusta) cookies.
- When (kiam) we are abroad, we always speak Esperanto. We learned the
English language and the German language at school, but our teacher (female) was very
modern and taught us Esperanto.
- You have to correspond in Esperanto, then you'll hear about (pri) the habits
(kutimoj) in other countries and you can read the literature of those countries in
Esperanto.
- These sentences are very difficult, but you learned all the words. You now simply
have to learn to use them.
- You can also speak and write Esperanto with ("per" in this case) simple (simpla)
short sentences (frazoj).
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Lesson TWENTY-ONE
Review
Lasta leciono! = Last lesson!
[u vi ankoraw povas nombri?
Nombru! Unu, du, tri, kvar, kvin, ses, sep, ok, naw, dek, dek kvin, dudek
ses, cent kvin, okcent dudek du, mil (thousand), 1999 = mil nawcent nawdek naw,
2000 = dumil.
The twnety-first lesson = La dudek unua
leciono.
You can also use the numbers as adverbs:
unue = First of all (as in: first I want to tell you) or due =
secondly, . . ..
[u vi ankoraw scias?
That interrogative pronouns start with a
K and that you don't have to use [u in those
cases? Kiu = Who/which; Kio = What; Kia = What kind of; Kies = Whose; Kie
= Where; Kial = Why; Kiam = When; Kiel = How; Kiom (da) = How much/many.
The answers to these questions start with a T, tiu, tio,
tie, etc.
That the prefix ge-
unites two genders? gepatroj, geavoj, geamikoj, gefiloj.
That the suffix -ano indicates
a member, supporter, etc.? urbano, klubano, sam[ambrano (roommate),
kristano, samlandano.
What leganta
means? It corresponds to the English ing form: La
knabo estas leganta = the singing boy/the boy who is singing.
That the suffix -aro indicates
a collection of equal items? arbo = tree, arbaro = forest; homo = human, homaro
= humanity
That the prefix bo- indicates
a relationship between two people that exists because of a marriage? bopatro
= father-in-law, bofrato = brother-in-law, bofilino = daugher-in-law.
That the prefix dis- indicates
a spread, a 'disunit'? disiri = to go apart
That the suffix -ero indicates
the smallest unit possible of the word? Panero = bread crumb, monero = coin,
ne}ero = snow flake
That the suffix -ebl- indicates
a possibility? videbla = visible, luebla = rentable/for rent, man}ebla =
edible
Exercises. Translate.
A
- 27, 99, 264, 2222 (write in letters)
- The child on the fifth chair learns the twentieth lesson.
- The second tree in our garden is ill.
- The fifty-second book from my bookcase is the most beautiful of all books.
- First of all, it's big; second, it's beautiful; third, it's thick; fourth, it's
blue, and fifth, it's very expensive (multekosta).
B
- Who wrote you a letter?
- What flies there?
- What are you writing to your friend?
- What kind of book are you reading?
- I read a history (historia) book.
- Whose dog walks in the garden?
- Where are the forty-four children?
- Why did they run away?
- When will they come back?
- How do you make your work (of art)? With a pencil (plumo), a typewriter (skribma$ino), or a computer (komputilo)?
C
- My uncle and aunt are members of our Esperanto-club.
- My grandparents were villagers, but my parents are not.
- An Esperanto-couple (use edzo=husband) from England will visit us in July.
- We like receiving foreigners. (To receive persons, use akcepti. To
receive letters/messages/objects, use ricevi.)
- We will present (prezenti) the members of the club (one word) to them.
D
- The crying girl . . .
- The eating child . . .
- The eating dog . . .
- The flying birds . . .
- The walking people . . .
- The studying participants of the course (one word) . . .
E
- Using the Dictionary
- stairs (one step = $tupo) - fleet of stairs ? . . . . . . . .
- Look up words at random every time you open the dictionary!
F
- Which of (who from) the students laughed?
- What did you buy for your father?
- That, on the table.
- What kind of dress (robo) does your sister wear (porti)?
- She wears such (this kind of) a dress, a read one.
- Why don't you work?
- I'm tired, that's why I don't work.
- How do you learn Esperanto?
- By using (per/de) a course on the Internet (interneto).
- This way I also learned the English and French languages.
G
- I am the daugher-in-law of my father-in-law.
- The man(husband) of my sister is my brother-in-law.
- The police officers (policistoj) seperated the fighting (to fight = batali)
boys.
- The participants went apart after the convention.
- The snowflakes fell on the roofs (tegmentoj) of the houses.
- A sparkle fell out of the stove and my mother feared a fire.
- The sick person (one word) is unsavable (to save = savi).
- His suitcase was too (tro) heavy; it couldn't be lifted (to lift =
levi).
- Look out (atentu), the vase is very fragile.
INDEX
I created the index by pressing Ctrl-f,
entering a searchword, and clicking "Find Next". Once you have the habit of
doing this (starting a session by searching for all entries of a keyword), you will find your
retention increased tremendously. The reasoning: Much of our brain functions
like a database; meaning, we can't add to a database (in a retrievable fashion) without
first creating a path and space (a field) for the new data. Most brains are quite
similar.
The process:
The memorization process originally creates and then opens the segment of the brain that can
catalogue the data you are about to encounter and decide to store. Granted, people with a
photographic memory use a slightly different process (they create and save on the fly),
but the rest of us function like a DOS-based PC . . . which means, we must first
create a space, then save and catalog it before we can reopen it for use.
So, if linear learning is what you need (to
store and find information), use your browser's find feature . . . often!
Doing so, will decrease your learning time and increase your enjoyment of the process.
In fact, I just decided to leave the index off. Why don't you first try to create your
own. If you can't, email a request, and I'll send you one.
Meanwhile, use either "Ctrl-f" or simply hover your mouse cursor over the chapter numbers.
I added the "title" feature to list the highlights.
Epilogue (Epilogo)
You've reached the end of these 21
lessons. I hope you are pleased. I hope you enjoyed them.
Now that the course has ended . . .
- Subscribe to an Esperanto magazine and some bilingual message service (such as our
BIG CHEESE proverbs/sayings)).
- Read a couple of our rosetta stone documents.
This first link is to George's document on Free Energy.
It is worth reading if you are concerned about the politics of energy. It also has
links to his other works. My rosetta-stone creations include
Elvis
and the True Second Coming.
"Elvis" is a tool for learning the correlatives. The "True Second Coming" is a positive
interpretation of the end-times scenario.
- Take a look at the vocabulary section of
Languages Made Clear. It is an ingenious site with about 3000
additional words for you. Or buy a good dictionary through ELNA
or UEA. I use Butler's
Esperanto-English vortaro and Benson's English-Esperanto dictionary.
- Go to conventions where all kinds of Esperantists meet
- Find yourself a penpal. There are plenty of people willing to communicate
in Esperanto (using either email or postal mail)
- Visit people in foreign countries at little or no cost, using the
"pasporta servo" book (a book which lists people who speak Esperanto and enjoy
receiving other Esperantists into their homes) . . . a perfect way to mingle with
foreign cultures at a low price!
- Give us feedback! Please contact us when you've discovered a
mistake, want to ask something, or have suggestions. Just let us
know! And you can also sign our guestbook at
BlumEnterprise.orgto share your thoughts.
Thank you again for particpating in this
course!
Sincerely,
Maarten van Gompel, The Languages Made
Clear Project
Joe Blum, Webmaster for mylnn.net (Longevity News Network), ClozeOnline.us, and BlumEnterprise.org.
George Brooks, A.I. project coordinator
Postscript by Joe (Postskribo, de *josef)
In editing these lessons, I may have
inadvertently eliminated some of the intended charms of Maarten's
translations. If I did, forgive me; it was not my intent. In fact, I
commend Maarten and his group for doing such an excellent job. Course
modifications were minimal . . . mainly cosmetic. Only a few descriptions were modfied to cater
to American tastes. Enjoy.
As Mr. Spock of Star Trek would say, "Live long and prosper!" (Vivu longe kaj
prosperu!)
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