TheDefinite Articletheis in Esperanto represented byla. Like the article in English,ladoes not vary with the number or gender of the noun before which it is placed; e.g.,la briko, the brick;la brikoj, the bricks;la patro, the father;la patrinoj, the mothers.
TheIndefinite Articleais not expressed in Esperanto. Thus, "filo" issonora son.
In Esperanto every noun in the singular ends ino. Thus:viro,a man;la libro,the book. The plural is formed from the singular by adding the termination-j. Thus:viroj,men;la libroj,the books.
In order to allow each nation to construct its sentences in the order to which it is accustomed, every noun in Esperanto has two forms or "cases," (1) theNominative, or unchanged form, and (2) theAccusative, which is formed from the nominative by adding the termination-n. This is merely to distinguish between subject and object. The accusative form is also used to indicate motion towards, etc.
All adjectives end in the nominative singular ina. They may be placed either before or after the noun. As in the case of the noun, the plural is formed by adding the termination-j, and the accusative is formed by adding-nto the nominative. The adjective agrees in number and case with the noun which it qualifies. Ex.:—
Thanks to the accusative case, one might say without loss of clearness:Bluan libron legas la viro,orla viro bluan libron legas,orbluan libron la viro legas,etc.
There are three degrees of comparison, as in English:
ThePositive, asbona, good;bela, beautiful;granda, big, great.
TheComparativeis formed by placingpli(more) ormalpli(less) before the positive, thus:bona, good—pli bona, better;bela, beautiful—malpli bela, less beautiful. The comparison may be heightened by usingmulte(much), thus:multe pli(ormalpli)bela.
Thanis translated byol, thus:pli(ormalpli)bela ol…, more (orless) beautiful than…
TheSuperlativedegree is formed by usingplej(most) with the positive; asbela, beautiful—plej bela, most beautiful.
Ofwith a superlative is translated by the prepositionel(out of).La plej granda el ĉiuj, the greatest of all.
The more…the more,the less…the less, are translated by means of the particlesjuanddes. Thus:Ju pli oni studas, des pli oni lernas, the more one studies, the more one learns.Ju pli mi kun li parolas, des malpli mi lin estimas, the more I speak to him, the less I esteem him.
TheCardinal Numbersmay be used asnouns, by the addition of the ending-o. Thus,unuo, a unit;trio, a trio;dekduo, a dozen;dudeko, a score;cento, a hundred;milo, a thousand. Note thatmilionoisALWAYSused as a noun.
When a number or any other word is used as a noun of quantity, the noun which follows it must be preceded by the quantitative prepositionda:—Dekduo da ovoj, a dozen eggs;milo da soldatoj, a thousand soldiers (one might of course also saydek du ovoj,mil soldatoj);du metroj da drapo, two metres of cloth;tri funtoj da sukero, three pounds of sugar.
TheOrdinal Numbersare formed by adding the adjectival ending-ato the Cardinals. In Compound Ordinal Numbers, the groups of hundreds, tens, units, etc., arejoined by hyphens, and the ending-ais added to the unit numeral. Thus:unu, one—unua, first;tria, third;dek-unua, eleventh;tridek-sepa, thirty-seventh;kvarcent-sesdek-dua, 462nd, and so on. Written in figures these would be1a,3a,11a,37a,462a. The Ordinals are of course inflected like adjectives. (See page77.)
Fractionalsare formed by adding the suffix-on(plus the endingso,a, oreas required) to the Cardinal Numbers. Thus:unu duono, one-half;tri kvaronoj, three-quarters;dek sep dek-naŭonoj, 17/19;dudek tri kvarmil-kvincent-tridek-naŭonoj, 23/4539.Duone vera(orduonvera), half-true.Tri-kvaronoj da funto(ortrikvaronfuntoj), ¾ lb.Duono da funto(orduonfunto), ½ lb.
MultipleNumbers are formed from the Cardinals by adding the suffix-obl, with the requisite grammatical endingo,a, ore. Thus:duobla, double;duoblo, a double;duoble, doubly;tridekoble, thirty-fold;sesoble naŭ estas(orfaras)kvindek kvar, six nines are fifty-four;duoble du estas kvar, twice two are four.
CollectiveNumerals are formed by the addition of the suffix-op(plus the grammatical termination required). Thus:duope, two at a time, two together;naŭope, nine at a time;ili venadis dekope, they came in tens;dumilopa taĉmento, a detachment two thousand strong.
Distributivesare shown by the prepositionpo, meaningat the rate of. Thus:li aĉetis por ĉiu infano po ses pomoj, he bought six apples for each child;li ricevas po dek ŝilingoj por ĉiu tago, he gets ten shillings a day;la vagonaro veturas po sesdek mejloj en ĉiu horo(orĉiuhore), the train travels at (the rate of) sixty miles an hour, etc.
ThePersonal Pronounsare, in the nominative:Mi, I;vi, you (sing. and pl.);ni, we;li, he;ŝi, she;ĝi, it;ili, they.
The archaic Englishthoumay be translated byci.
The Accusative case of the personal pronouns is formed like that of nouns and adjectives, by adding-n. Thus:Min, me;vin, you;nin, us;lin, him;ŝin, her;ĝin, it;ilin, them.
TheReflexive Pronounof the 3rd person issi(accusativesin), standing forhimself,herself,itself,one's-self, orthemselves, as the case may be. There is no special reflexive form for the pronouns of the 1st and 2nd person,I,we, andyou.
TheIndefinite Personal Pronounisoni(= the Frenchon)—one, people, they, you. Ex.:Li amas sin, he loves himself;ŝi amas sin, she loves herself;ĝi montras sin, it shows itself;ili diras al si, they say to themselves;oni vidas sin, one sees one's-self;mi lavas min, I wash myself;vi laŭdas vin, you praise yourself.
By adding the adjectival ending-ato the personal pronouns, thePossessiveAdjectives and Pronouns are obtained. Thus:Mia, my, mine;cia, thy, thine;via, your, yours;nia, our, ours;lia, his;ŝia, her, hers;ĝia, its;sia(reflexive), his, her(s), its, their(s), one's.
Notethe following use ofsia. In English the sentence, "He saw his friend with his brother," is not clear. Does it mean that he saw his friend (1) with hisfriend's brother, or (2) with hisown brother? In Esperanto, the use ofsiamakes the meaning quite clear; (1) would be:Li vidis sian amikon kunLIAfrato, and (2) would be:Li vidis sian amikon kunSIAfrato.
The wordmem, meaning-self or -selves, may be added to a personal pronoun to give emphasis. Thus:Konu vin mem, know thyself;li iris mem, he went himself;li mem, himself;li parolis al si mem, he spoke to himself.
Like other adjectives, possessives agree in case and number with the noun to which they refer. Ex.:
TheDemonstrativeAdjective and Pronoun "that" is rendered in Esperanto by the wordtiu(acc.tiun); pluraltiuj(acc.tiujn), those. The addition (either before or after) of the particleĉito the singular and plural respectively, givesthisandthese. Ex.:
Kiu?—who, which? Plural,kiuj?Kio?—what?Kies?—whose?Al kiu?—to whom?Kiun?—whom? (acc.),kiujn?(acc. plu.).Ex.:
Kiuis also used withAdjectivalmeaning. Thus:Kiu libro estas via?—which book is yours?Kiun libron vi preferas?—which book do you prefer?Kiuj domoj apartenas al vi?—which houses belong to you?Kiujn stratojn vi konas?—which streets do you know?Kio estas tio?—what is that?Kion li volas?—what does he want?
The English-everis translated byajn. For example:Kiu ajn li estas, ne parolu al li, whoever he be, do not speak to him.Kies ajn, whosesoever.Kiu(j)n ajn, whomever.
The Relative Pronouns are identical with the Interrogative:Kiu(j), who, that, which,kiu(j)n, whom, that, which. Ex.:
Note.—Iu,ĉiu, andneniuare also used with nouns. Thus:Kiun libron vi deziras?Which book do you desire?Iun ajn libron.Any book.Iu homo, any man, some man or other.Ĉiu bona patro amas siajn infanojn, every good father loves his children.Ĉiuj liaj amikoj(orĉiu lia amiko), all his friends, every friend of his.Mi renkontis neniun amikon, I met no friend.
OtherPronominal Words and Expressionsare:
multaj(n), many;multo(n), much;malmultaj(n), malmulte da…, a few. Ex.:malmultaj personoj, few persons;malmulte da scio, little knowledge.
kelkajn, some, several;kelke da…, some. Ex.:kelkaj personoj, some persons, several persons;kelke da libroj, some (quantity of) books.
alia(n), another, other;aliaj(n), others. Ex.:ili parolis unu al alia, they spoke to one another;ni parolis unu al la alia, we spoke to each other;unu aŭ la alia taŭgos, either (one or the other) will do;nek unu nek la alia konvenas, neither (one nor the other) is suitable.
ambaŭ(invariable), both. Ex.:ambaŭ venis, both came;mi konas ambaŭ fratojn, I know both brothers;mi vidis ilin ambaŭ, I saw both of them;mi ŝatas ambaŭ, I like both.
TheVerbin Esperanto has three main Tenses—the Present, Past, and Future. These are denoted by means of the verbal endings-as,-is, and-os. Thus, from the rootvid, see, are formed:
Present.Past.Future.mi vidas, I seemi vidis, I sawmi vidos, I shall see
Every Esperanto verb has three Moods—the Conditional, the Imperative, and the Infinitive, which are formed respectively by means of the endings-us,-u, and-i. Thus:
Conditional.Imperative.Infinitive.mi vidus, I should seevidu, see!vidi, to see
TheConditionalMood is used to expresssupposition; the three Tenses, on the other hand, are used to expressfactsor actual happenings. (For examples, see "Conjunctions," page83.)
TheImperativeMood is used to express an order, desire, wish, will, etc. (See page84.) Used with the personal pronouns of the 1st and 2nd persons, this mood corresponds to the Englishlet, used as an expression of a wish. Thus:mi pensu, let me think;li venu morgaŭ, let him come to-morrow;ili parolu, let them speak.
Notethatletsometimes meansto allow, to give leave, in which case the verblasiis used. Thus: let (allow) him come,lasu lin veni; leave it there,lasu ĝin tie.
The Imperative may be used interrogatively to translate the Englishshall, with an idea of wish or desire. Thus:
What will he do?would of course be simplyKion li faros?—for there is here no question of desire or wish, but merely a question of future action.
TheInfinitiveMood is used to express the mere idea of the verb, without any limit of person or number, and corresponds to the Englishtobefore the verb. Thus:kuri, to run;paroli, to speak.
Note.—In Esperanto, as is largely the case in English, the mood and tense endings of the verbdo not varyaccording to person or number. For instance:mi vidas, I see,li vidas, he sees; alsoni vidis, we saw,ili vidis, they saw;vi vidos, you will see;oni vidos, one will see;ŝi vidus, she would see,vi vidus, you would see.
There are in Esperantosixparticiples, three active and three passive, corresponding to three tenses. They are formed in theActiveby means of the endings-ant,-int, and-ont, and in thePassiveby means of the endings-at,-it,-ot, with the addition of the adjectival termination-a. Thus:
Active.Present.Past.Future.vidanta, seeingvidinta, having-seenvidonta, about-to-seePassive.vidata, (being) seenvidita, (having-been) seenvidota, (about-to-be) seen
TheParticiplesmay be used either asNouns,Adjectives, orAdverbs, the terminations-o,-a,-ebeing added to the participial endings as required. When used as nouns or adjectives, they of course take the sign of the Plural (-j) and of the Accusative (-n) when the construction of the sentence so requires. Ex.:
(1)Active.En la venonta jaro, in the coming year.La parolanto, the speaker.La aŭskultantoj, the audience (lit., listeners).Mi vidis lin skribantan, I saw him writing.Li foriris kurante, he went off at a run.Li revenis ne vidinte sian amikon, he returned without having seen his friend.(2)Passive.La ekzamenato, the examinee.La mortigitoj kaj vunditoj, the killed and wounded.Estimata sinjoro, dear (lit., esteemed) sir.Frapote, li sin defendis, about to be struck, he defended himself.Mi aŭdis tiun himnon kantatan, I heard that hymn sung.
(1)Active.En la venonta jaro, in the coming year.La parolanto, the speaker.La aŭskultantoj, the audience (lit., listeners).Mi vidis lin skribantan, I saw him writing.Li foriris kurante, he went off at a run.Li revenis ne vidinte sian amikon, he returned without having seen his friend.
(2)Passive.La ekzamenato, the examinee.La mortigitoj kaj vunditoj, the killed and wounded.Estimata sinjoro, dear (lit., esteemed) sir.Frapote, li sin defendis, about to be struck, he defended himself.Mi aŭdis tiun himnon kantatan, I heard that hymn sung.
TheCompound Tensesare formed by means of the auxiliary verbesti, to be. Thus, by the combination of the participles with the six tenses and moods, we obtain thirty-six compound tenses, enabling us to express with the utmost precision any time-relation whatsoever. We have in all:
li estas,orestus,orestis,orestu,orestosorestividantaorvidatavidintaorviditavidontaorvidota
The use of the participles is very easy when once one grasps the fact that the auxiliaryestiserves to denote the particular division of time, or the particular manner, of the occurrence of the action denoted by the participle. Ex.:
The wordbyafter a Passive is translated by the prepositionde. Thus: The wood was being chopped by the boy,la ligno estis hakata de la knabo. He has been seen by all,li estas vidita de ĉiuj.
Note.—TheCompound Tensesshould not be used if theSimple Tensessuffice to show the meaning clearly. Thus,I have seen himis more neatly expressed bymi jam vidis linthan bymi estas vidinta lin.Li jam forirismight stand for eitherhe had goneorhe has gone, according to circumstances, and the context would clearly show which was meant.Li parolasis generally quite right forhe is speaking.Li estas parolantashould be used only when it is particularly intended to show that he isactually engagedin the act of speaking.
In Esperanto,Adverbsare denoted by the ending-e, and may be placed in any position, either before or after the verb. Thus:bela, beautiful—bele, beautifully;vera, true—vere, truly.Li parolas saĝe, he speaks wisely.Li rapide kuras, he runs quickly.
Adverbial Numbersare formed by adding-eto the Cardinals. Thus:unue(1e), firstly;trie(3e), thirdly;sepe(7e), etc.
In English, one preposition often has many different meanings. In Esperanto, on the contrary, every preposition, with the exception of the wordje, has one precise and fixed meaning.
The prepositionjeis the only one in Esperanto without a definite meaning. It sometimes happens that one wishes to use a preposition of some sort or other, but is uncertain just which preposition will precisely express the idea. In such casesjeis used. Thus: He laughedatme,li ridis je mi; fullofwater,plena je akvo; six metres long,longa je ses metroj; fearofhim,timo je li, etc.
Jeshould not be abused. Its too frequent use is a mark of the beginner in the language.
When there is no ambiguity to be feared, the prepositionje, and even other prepositions, are often omitted in Esperanto; and the word to which the preposition, if expressed, would have referred is put into the accusative. Thus, instead of sayingli ridas je mi(he is laughing at me), one might sayli ridas min; similarly,du metrojn altawould stand foralta je du metroj.Ĝi kostis je tri ŝilingojis more usually expressed:ĝi kostis tri ŝilingojn.Mi restis tie dum kvin horoj(I stayed there for five hours) could be:mi restis tie kvin horojn; and so on.
Certain prepositions, viz.,antaŭ, before,ĉe, at,en, in,sub, under,sur, on,kontraŭ, against,super, over, andtrans, across, are often used to denotemovement towards, whereas of themselves they only expressrest at. In order to make it quite clear whether motion or rest is intended, use is made of the accusative. Thus:li promenis en la urbo, he took a walkinthe city; butli promenis en la urbon, he took a walkintothe city.Li kuris antaŭ mi, he ran (along) before or in front of me; butli paŝis antaŭ min, he stepped in front of me; and so on.
Adverbsare sometimes used with prepositional force. Thus:proksime de la domo, near the house;dekstre de la arbo, on the right of the tree, etc.
A full list ofConjunctionswill be found on page72. The following constructions should be noted:
Note that in Esperanto the verb is put in the exact time or tense used by the speaker. Thus:mi ne sciis, ĉu li venos, I did not know whether he would (lit., will) come;ili ne diris, ĉu ili vin renkontis, they did not say whether they had met you.
After verbs expressing wish, intention, will, or desire, or command, the verb following is put in theImperative Mood. Thus:mi ordonas, ke li venu, I order that he come (him to come);mi tre deziris, ke li vivu, I very much wanted him to live;ili intencis, ke ni perdu, they intended us to lose. Here the actual expressions used were:li venu,li vivu,ili perdu.
The following are the principalInterjections:
adiaŭ!adieu! farewell!ah!ah!antaŭen!forward!atentu!look out!bis!encore!bone!good!certe!certainly!ĉu ne?orĉu ne vere?is not that so?ĉu vere?is that so?efektive!indeed!fi!fie!for!away! be off!ha!ha!halt!halt!he!hey! halloo!ho!oh!ho ve!alas!hontinde!shameful!jen!there!kompreneble!naturally! of course!ne!no!neeble!impossible!nu!well!rapide!quick!rapidu!hurry up!
In Esperanto, considerable use is made of prefixes and suffixes, every one of which has a clear, fixed meaning. Great economy of vocabulary is thus effected, one root-word in Esperanto sufficing, when modified by suitable affixes, to translate many English words. Many of the affixes are often met with as single words. In such cases the English translation is added after the various examples of the affix in question.
bo-denotesRelationship by Marriage:patro, father,bopatro, father-in-law;filo, son,bofilo, son-in-law.
dis-denotesSeparation:ĵeti, to throw,disĵeti, to scatter, throw about;peli, to drive along,dispeli, to dispel,fali, to fall,disfali, to fall apart, fall to pieces.
ek-denotes aBeginning of an Action, aMomentary Action:iri, to go,ekiri, to begin to go, to start;brili, to shine,ekbrili, to begin to shine, to flash.
ge-denotes theTwo Sexes Taken Together:patro, father,gepatroj, father and mother, parents;frato, brother,gefratoj, brother(s) and sister(s);Gesinjoroj B., Mr. and Mrs. B.
mal-denotes theOpposite of an Idea:bona, good,malbona, bad;ŝati, to like,malŝati, to dislike;amiko, friend,malamiko, enemy;laŭta, loud,mallaŭte, softly.—Malo, an opposite;male, on the contrary.
pra-is a prefix ofRelationship, corresponding to the EnglishFORE-,GREAT-:patro, father,prapatro, forefather, ancestor;avo, grandfather;praavo, great-grandfather;nepo, grandson,pranepo, great-grandson.
re-denotesReturn and Repetition:iri, to go,reiri, to go back, or to go again;repreni, to take back;revidi, to see again.—Ree, again.
-aĉdenotes that a word is used in aBad Sense, withDisparagement:domo, a house,domaĉo, a hovel;ridi, to laugh,ridaĉi, to sneer.
-addenotesContinuation or Durationof an action:paroli, to speak,paroladi, to make a speech;kanto, a song,kantado, singing;vojaĝo, a voyage,vojaĝado, travelling;rido, a laugh,ridado, laughter.
-aĵdenotes someConcrete Thingcharacterized by the idea contained in the root:bela, beautiful,belaĵo, a beautiful thing;nutri, to feed, nourish,nutraĵo(ornutrantaĵo), food;ĝentila, polite,ĝentilaĵo, a polite act, act of politeness;bovo, ox,bovaĵo, beef.—Aĵo, a thing.
-andenotes aPartisan of, aMember, anInhabitant:Kristo, Christ,Kristano, a Christian;eklezio, a church,ekleziano, a churchman;Londonano, a Londoner.—Ano, a member.
-ardenotes aCollection of, aNumber of:arbo, tree,arbaro, a forest;homo, a human being,homaro, mankind;vorto, a word,vortaro, a dictionary.—Aro, a collection, number, gathering.
-ĉjadded to the first two to five letters of a word, is used to denoteMasculine Diminutives of Endearment:Johano, John,Joĉjo, Jack;patro, father,paĉjo, papa, daddy.
-ebldenotesPossibility, and corresponds to the English suffixes -ABLE, -IBLE:kredi, to believe,kredebla, credible;videbla, visible;al, to,iri, to go,alirebla, accessible.
-ecdenotesAbstract Ideas,Qualitiesand corresponds to the English suffixes -NESS, -SHIP, etc.:feliĉa, happy,feliĉeco, happiness;alta, high,alteco, height;reĝo, king,reĝeco, kingship.
-egdenotesAugmentation,Intensity of Degree:granda, big, great,grandega, enormous;bela, beautiful,belega, magnificent;ŝtono, stone,ŝtonego, rock;pafilo, a gun,pafilego, cannon.
-ejdenotes aPlace specially set apart foror allotted to:preĝi, to pray,preĝejo, church;manĝi, to eat,manĝejo, refectory;kuirejo, kitchen;enirejo, entrance;elirejo, exit.
-emdenotesPropensity,Inclination,Disposition:paroli, to talk,parolema, talkative;mensogi, to lie,mensogema, untruthful.
-erdenotes anElement of, aUnit, aGrain:polvo, dust,polvero, a grain of dust;fajrero, a spark;hajlero, hailstone;mono, money,monero, a coin.—Ero, particle, grain, element.
-estrdenotes aChief, Leader, Head:regno, state;regnestro, head of the state, ruler;lernejo, school,lernejestro, head-master.—Estro, leader, chief;estraro, the authorities;estri, to act as chief.
-iddenotes aDescendant,Offspring,Young of:bovo, ox,bovido, calf;ŝafo, a sheep,ŝafido, lamb;Izraelido, Israelite;la homidoj, the sons of man;Sro. Brown kaj la Brownidoj, Mr. Brown and the little Browns.—Ido, a descendant, child;idaro, descendants, offspring.
-etdenotesDiminution of Degree(compare-egabove):bela, beautiful,beleta, pretty;venteto, breeze;ridi, to laugh,rideti, to smile;bona, good,boneta, fairly good, mediocre.—Eta, tiny.
-igdenotes aMaking,Rendering,Causing to Be:granda, great,grandigi, to enlarge;venigi kuraciston, to send for (cause to come) a doctor;halti, to stop (intr.),haltigi, to stop (tr.);tranĉigi al si la harojn, to get one's hair cut.—Igi, to make, render.
-iĝdenotes aBecoming,Getting,Growing,Being made:hela, bright,heliĝi, to grow or become bright;ruĝa, red,ruĝiĝi, to redden, blush;disiĝi, to separate (intr.).—Iĝi, to become.
With transitive verbsiĝ-is used to make intransitive verbs, thus:renversi, to overthrow, turn upside down,renversiĝi, to turn (intr.) upside down, to get overthrown;fari, to make,fariĝi, to become;perdiĝi, to get lost;vidiĝi, to be seen.
Used with intransitive verbs,iĝ-gives the idea of a becoming, aGradual Transitionfrom one state to another:morti, to die,mortiĝi, to become dead, to die away, to expire;sidi, to be seated,sidiĝi, to become seated, to sit down.
Notethat, since verbs in-iĝare of necessity intransitive, their participles should only be used in theactive form. Thus:renversiĝinta, having become overthrown, and notrenversiĝita;perdiĝinta, having become lost, notperdiĝita; and so on. One might of course simply sayrenversita, overthrown, andperdita, lost, though the meaning would in that case not be quite the same.
-ildenotes anInstrument,Tool, orMeans:tranĉi, to cut,tranĉilo, a knife;filtri, to filter,filtrilo, a filter;teni, to hold,tenilo, a handle.—Ilo, tool, instrument;ilaro, set of tools.
-inddenotesWorthiness(English -WORTHY):laŭdi, to praise,laŭdinda, praiseworthy;vidinda, worth seeing,vidindaĵoj, things worth seeing, sights.—Inda (je), worthy (of);indeco, worthiness.
-ingdenotes theHolder of a Single Object(compare-ujbelow):plumo, pen,plumingo, penholder;fingro, finger,fingringo, thimble;cigaringo, cigar-holder.—Ingo, a socket, holder.
-indenotesFeminines:viro, a man,virino, a woman;patro, father,patrino, mother.—Ino, a female.
-istdenotesTrade,Occupation,Profession:labori, to work,laboristo, workman;kuraci, to treat (medically),kuracisto, doctor.
-njadded to the first two to five letters of a word, is used to formFeminine Diminutives of Endearment(compare-ĉjabove):Johanino, Jane,Johanjo, Jenny;patrino, mother,panjo, mamma.
-ujdenotes aReceptaclewhich contains or bears aCollection or a Quantityof things or material (compare-ingabove):mono, money,monujo, purse;inko, ink,inkujo, inkstand.—Ujo, a utensil case, bin.
The suffix-ujis also used to denoteTreesbearing certain fruits:pomo, apple,pomujo, apple-tree;ĉerizujo, cherry-tree;rozujo, rose-bush. The wordarbo, however, is more frequently used in such cases:pomarbo,rozarbeto, etc.
-Ujis also used to denote theNames of Countries:Anglo, Englishman,Anglujo, England;Franco, a Frenchman,Francujo, France. (Seefootnote 4, p. 40.)
-uldenotes aBeing characterised by the Idea contained in the Root-word:bela, beautiful,belulino, a beautiful woman, a beauty;kulpo, blame,kulpulo, culprit;laŭdindulo, one worthy to be praised;bonulo, a good fellow;bonegulo, a jolly good fellow.
-umis anIndefinite Suffix, like the wordjeamong the prepositions, Thus:pleni, to fill,plenumi, to fulfil (compareplenigi, to fill);kolo, neck,kolumo, collar;aero, air,aerumi, to air (a room, clothes, etc.).
[Words containing-umshould be learnt as independent roots.]
In Esperanto, any word can be combined with any other word or words to form a compound word. Considerable use is made of prepositions for this purpose. The requisite grammatical ending must of course be added in each case. The student should carefully study the following words, and also those given above, and endeavour to form words for himself.9Ability to form words readily is absolutely necessary to fluent speech or composition in the language. In the examples given below the component parts of the words are separated by a small stroke ('), but these are of course omitted in ordinary usage: