Chapter 5 of 11 · 3995 words · ~20 min read

Part 5

36. Verbs.

(For Grammatical Notes see section "The Verb".)

37. Adverbs, Conjunctions & Prepositions. (_Adverboj, Konjunkcioj kaj Prepozicioj._)

(For Grammatical Notes see the elementary grammar.)

ELEMENTARY GRAMMAR.

The Article.

The DEFINITE ARTICLE _the_ is in Esperanto represented by _la_. Like the article in English, _la_ does 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.

The INDEFINITE ARTICLE _a_ is not expressed in Esperanto. Thus, "_filo_" is _son_ or _a son_.

The Noun.

In Esperanto every noun in the singular ends in *o*. 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) the NOMINATIVE, or unchanged form, and (2) the ACCUSATIVE, 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.

The Adjective.

All adjectives end in the nominative singular in *a*. 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 *-n* to the nominative. The adjective agrees in number and case with the noun which it qualifies. Ex.:--

Blua libro (_or_ libro blua), _a blue book_; bluaj libroj, _blue books_. La viro legas bluan libron. _The man reads a blue book._ La viroj legas bluajn librojn. _The men are reading blue books._

Thanks to the accusative case, one might say without loss of clearness: Bluan libron legas la viro, _or_ la viro bluan libron legas, _or_ bluan libron la viro legas, etc.

Degrees of Comparison.

There are three degrees of comparison, as in English:

The POSITIVE, as _bona_, good; _bela_, beautiful; _granda_, big, great.

The COMPARATIVE is formed by placing _pli_ (more) or _malpli_ (less) before the positive, thus: _bona_, good--_pli bona_, better; _bela_, beautiful--_malpli bela_, less beautiful. The comparison may be heightened by using _multe_ (much), thus: _multe pli_ (or _malpli_) _bela_.

_Than_ is translated by _ol_, thus: _pli_ (or _malpli_) _bela ol_..., more (_or_ less) beautiful than...

The SUPERLATIVE degree is formed by using _plej_ (most) with the positive; as _bela_, beautiful--_plej bela_, most beautiful.

_Of_ with a superlative is translated by the preposition _el_ (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 particles _ju_ and _des_. 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.

Cardinal Numbers.

The CARDINAL NUMBERS may be used as _nouns_, 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 that _miliono_ is ALWAYS used 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 preposition *da*:--_Dekduo da ovoj_, a dozen eggs; _milo da soldatoj_, a thousand soldiers (one might of course also say _dek du ovoj_, _mil soldatoj_); _du metroj da drapo_, two metres of cloth; _tri funtoj da sukero_, three pounds of sugar.

Ordinal Numbers.

The ORDINAL NUMBERS are formed by adding the adjectival ending *-a* to the Cardinals. In Compound Ordinal Numbers, the groups of hundreds, tens, units, etc., are _joined by hyphens_, and the ending *-a* is 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 be _1a_, _3a_, _11a_, _37a_, _462a_. The Ordinals are of course inflected like adjectives. (See section "The Adjective".)

Fractions

FRACTIONALS are formed by adding the suffix *-on* (plus the endings *o*, *a*, or *e* as 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_ (or _duonvera_), half-true. _Tri-kvaronoj da funto_ (or _trikvaronfuntoj_), 3/4 lb. _Duono da funto_ (or _duonfunto_), 1/2 lb.

Multiples, Collectives, and Distributives.

MULTIPLE Numbers are formed from the Cardinals by adding the suffix *-obl*, with the requisite grammatical ending *o*, *a*, or *e*. Thus: _duobla_, double; _duoblo_, a double; _duoble_, doubly; _tridekoble_, thirty-fold; _sesoble naŭ estas_ (or _faras_) _kvindek kvar_, six nines are fifty-four; _duoble du estas kvar_, twice two are four.

COLLECTIVE Numerals 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.

DISTRIBUTIVES are shown by the preposition _po_, meaning _at 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_ (or _ĉiuhore_), the train travels at (the rate of) sixty miles an hour, etc.

The Pronoun.

The PERSONAL PRONOUNS are, in the nominative: _Mi_, I; _vi_, you (sing. and pl.); _ni_, we; _li_, he; _ŝi_, she; _ĝi_, it; _ili_, they.

The archaic English _thou_ may be translated by _ci_.

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.