INTRODUCTION

The 3000 languages in the world today were originated by our ancient ancestors and morphed over several millennia. These languages are full of inconsistencies and irregularities. It is a tribute to the capacity of the human mind that it can handle such difficult material. In 1887, a new language, free from irregularities, was introduced. By speaking this relatively easy-to-learn bridge language, people from all backgrounds are able to overcome the language barrier. Today, Esperanto is the only planned human language in widespread use. Use an Esperanto-English dictionary and refer to this "key" while reading texts in Esperanto to help you unlock the meaning of Esperanto according to the grammatical rules.

CONTENTS

Jump to the following topic:

· Alphabet

· Structure

· Pronouns

· Affixes

· Adverbs

·   Numbers

·   Correlatives

·   Participles

·   Accusative

·   Prepositions

Esperanto-English Glossary  |  English-Esperanto Glossary


ALPHABET

A

B

C

Ĉ

D

E

F

G

Ĝ

H

Ĥ

I

J

Ĵ

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

Ŝ

T

U

Ŭ

V

Z

a

b

c

ĉ

d

e

f

g

ĝ

h

ĥ

i

j

ĵ

k

l

m

n

o

p

r

s

ŝ

t

u

ŭ

v

z

 

Every Esperanto word is pronounced as it is spelt, without exception. The five vowels are a as in father, e as in set, i as in machine, o as in bone, u as in tune. (These guides are for U.S. English speakers.)

 

The six letters unique to Esperanto, ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ and ŭ, were introduced so that every sound could be represented by just one letter (unlike combinations such as "ch" in "church" or "sh" as in "shoe"). In Esperanto, q, w, x and y are absent, but appear in foreign names, and are treated like ç, ñ, ð, ø, ß etc.

The consonants are pronounced pretty much the same as in English, but those that differ from English are as follows: 

 

c

ts as in dance

ĉ

ch as in chop

g

'hard' g as in go

ĝ

'soft' g as in age

ĥ

'hard' like j in Andalusean Spanish jota

or ch in Scottish loch

j

y as in year

ĵ

is like s in pleasure

s

always like s in sip

ŝ

sh as in shoe

ŭ

w as in west

 

All of the other consonants are like in English, except note that r is slightly trilled, like in Spanish. The dot over the j is lost in ĵ.

Combinations involving vowels:

 

aj

like y in sky

ej

like ay in day

oj

like oy in boy

uj

like ouy in bouy, but as one syllable

like ow in cow

say eh+w as one syllable

 

The stress in Esperanto always falls on the second-to-last vowel. Be careful with words like radio and familio, in which the last i is stressed. Also, be aware that there are no "silent" letters in Esperanto. So in words with combinations such as kn or sc at the beginning, both consonants must be sounded out. The sc combination may be tricky, but in reality it is common in English, in words such as chests. This combination appears on the beginning of some common Esperanto words.

STRUCTURE
(NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & VERBS)

Esperanto words consist of an assembly of parts put together in a logical fashion. Their function in a sentence is signaled by their grammatical endings. The ability to make words by combination greatly reduces the need for memorization. This principle is found in nature, where, from approximately 110 elements, millions of substances can be created by various combinations.

 

Root words, or base words, give the general idea, but they lack a definite meaning until they receive a grammatical ending. Take the root akv-, for example, which means “water.” Adding -o makes the singular noun akvo, a thing, “water." Adding -j makes it plural, so that akvoj means “waters.” Alternatively, adding -a to akv- makes akva, an adjective, “watery.”

 

The Guinness Book of World Records lists Esperanto as the only language in which there are no irregular verbs to learn. By comparison, French has 2238, and Spanish and German have about 700 apiece. There is only one pattern in Esperanto, which consists of just 6 endings for verbs. The present, past and future are shown by the endings -as, -is and -os, respectively. The infinitive is shown by -i, the imperative by -u, and the conditional by -us. So, from the root for “speak,” parol-, and mi (meaning "I") we make:

 

mi parolas

I speak, I am speaking

mi parolis

I spoke, I was speaking

mi parolos

I will speak

paroli

to speak

parolu!

speak!

mi parolu

I should speak

mi parolus

I would speak

To ask a yes/no question in Esperanto, the word ĉu is used. Any sentence that begins with ĉu is saying, “Is it true that…?” Ĉu li parolis? Means “Did you speak?” In non-interrogatory, contexts, ĉu means “whether.”

PRONOUNS

mi

I, me

ni

we, us

vi

you (whether one or many)

li
ŝi
ĝi

he, him
she, her
it

ili

they, them

 

 

si

reflexive pronoun for when the actor
of a verb is also the recipient of the action.

oni

one/they

Example: Oni diras ke... They say that...

 

Adding -a to a pronoun makes it possessive. mia = my. These possessive pronouns behave in the same manner as adjectives, in that they can go before or after the noun, and they will be in the plural (and accusative, see below) if the noun is also. “My house” could be mia domo or domo mia.

AFFIXES

Affixes are the elements which are most often used to modify the meanings of root words, although they can stand as root words if logic permits. Those affixes which come at the beginnings of words are called prefixes, those found at the ends of roots are called suffixes. The very last part of a complete Esperanto word is the grammatical ending, for example, one of the endings used above to create verbs.

Prefixes

bo-

in-law

filo

son

bofilo

son-in-law

dis-

separation

doni

to give

disdoni

to distribute

eks-

former

edzo

husband

eksedzo

ex-husband

ek-

start

vidi

to see

ekvidi

to catch a glimpse of

fi-

immoral

libro

book

filibro

dirty book

ge-

both sexes

patro

father/parent

gepatroj

parents

mal-

opposite (note: not "bad")

varma

warm

malvarma

cold

pra-

long ago

historio

history

prahistorio

prehistory

re-

again

legi

to read

relegi

to read again

Suffixes

-aĉ

filthy

vetero

weather

veteraĉo

foul weather

-ad

continuation

studi

to study

studado

act of studying

-aĵ

thing

manĝi

to eat

manĝaĵo

food

-an

member

klubo

club

klubano

club member

-ar

collection

arbo

tree

arbaro

forest

-ebl

possible

vidi

to see

videbla

visible

-ec

quality

libera

free

libereco

freedom

-eg

increases

domo

house

domego

mansion

-ej

place

kuiri

to cook

kuirejo

kitchen

-em

tendency

paroli

speak

parolema

talkative

-er

piece of

polvo

dust

polvero

dust mote

-estr

boss

lernejo

school

lernejestro

principal

-et

reduces

domo

house

dometo

cottage

-id

offspring

kato

cat

katido

kitten

-iĝ

become

naski
verda

to bear
green

naskiĝi
verdiĝi

to be born
to become green

-ig

causation

dormi

to sleep

dormigi

to put to sleep

-il

tool

tranĉi

to cut

tranĉilo

knife

-ind

worthy

laŭdi

to praise

laŭdinda

praiseworthy

-ing

socket

kandelo

candle

kandelingo

candlestick

-ĉj

male diminutive

patro

father

paĉjo

papa

-in

female

avo
leono

grandfather
lion

avino
leonino

grandmother
leonino

-ism

ideology

Markso

Marx (Karl)

marksismo

Marxism

-ist

professional

baki

to bake

bakisto

baker

-nj

female diminutive

patrino

mother

panjo

mama

-op

group

tri

3

triopo

threesome

-uj

container

cigaro

cigar

cigarujo

cigar box

-ul

guy

nova

new

novulo

newbie/novice

 

 

-um

(wild card)

 

um is an affix with no definite meaning that you can use when no others are appropriate.

 

folio

leaf

foliumi

to leaf through (a book, for example)

cerbo

brain

cerbumi

to brainstorm

 

Whole words can be built from the affixes. ilo tool, ilaro a set of tools, ilarujo a toolbox. See how creative you can be!

ADVERBS

Adverbs are words that modify a verb, adjective or another adverb and describe how some action is done. They are formed by adding -e to the root. So Li rapide kuras means "he quickly runs." -e can be attached to almost any root, so a sentence such as Kata kato kate katas meaning "a catlike cat cattishly behaves as a cat," is entirely possible. Note there is no Esperanto word for "a or an." There is only one word, la, for "the."

 

There is a separate class of adverbs, marked by -aŭ. When a word has this ending, it is incorporated into the root. For example, "soon" is baldaŭ, but there is no root bald-. You can, however, add affixes and grammatical endings to make words such as baldaŭa, which would mean "forthcoming."

NUMBERS

The numerals are completely regular, and are built with a small number of elements.

 

0

nul

1

unu

2

du

3

tri

4

kvar

5

kvin

6

ses

7

sep

8

ok

9

naŭ

10

dek

100

cent

1000

mil

 

From these thirteen root words, you can make any number under a million

 

11

dek unu

12

dek du

13

dek tri

20

dudek

21

dudek unu

39

tridek naŭ

140

cent kvardek

1999

mil naŭcent naŭdek naŭ

2000

du mil

 

The numbers listed above are called cardinal numbers. Ordinal numbers, which are used to put things in their order, (such as "first," "second," "third", etc.), are formed by putting -a at the end. So, "the 7th father" is la sepa patro. But "7 fathers" would be sep patroj.

CORRELATIVES

The idea behind correlative words is that certain words like where, there, nowhere, everywhere and somewhere are related, as are whose, that person's, no one's, everyone's and someone’s.

 

Each correlative word consists of three parts, with i being in the middle of every word (it is also the accented syllable in every correlative word).

The last part of each word shows the topic. Here are the nine in alphabetical order:

 

a

kind

al

motive or reason

am

time

e

place

el

manner

es

possession

o

object

om

amount

u

individuality

 

At the beginning comes the five ways to think about the topics. These parts are:

 

k

question

t

definite answer

(blank)

indefinite

nen

negation

ĉ