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 ciuj, 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 page 77.)

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-nauonoj, 17/19; dudek tri kvarmil-kvincent-tridek-nauonoj, 23/4539. Duone vera (or duonvera), half-true. Tri-kvaronoj da funto (or trikvaronfuntoj), ¾ lb. Duono da funto (or duonfunto), ½ 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 nau 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; nauope, nine at a time; ili venadis dekope, they came in tens; dumilopa tacmento, a detachment two thousand strong.

Distributives are shown by the preposition po, meaning at the rate of. Thus: li acetis por ciu infano po ses pomoj, he bought six apples for each child; li ricevas po dek silingoj por ciu tago, he gets ten shillings a day; la vagonaro veturas po sesdek mejloj en ciu horo (or ciuhore), 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; si, she; gi, 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; sin, her; gin, it; ilin, them.

The Reflexive Pronoun of the 3rd person is si (accusative sin), standing for himself, herself, itself, one's-self, or themselves, as the case may be. There is no special reflexive form for the pronouns of the 1st and 2nd person, I, we, and you.

The Indefinite Personal Pronoun is oni (= the French on)—one, people, they, you. Ex.: Li amas sin, he loves himself; si amas sin, she loves herself; gi 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 laudas vin, you praise yourself.

Possessive Adjectives or Pronouns.

By adding the adjectival ending -a to the personal pronouns, the Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns are obtained. Thus: Mia, my, mine; cia, thy, thine; via, your, yours; nia, our, ours; lia, his; sia, her, hers; gia, its; sia (reflexive), his, her(s), its, their(s), one's.

Note the following use of sia. In English the sentence, "He saw his friend with his brother," is not clear. Does it mean that he saw his friend (1) with his friend's brother, or (2) with his own brother? In Esperanto, the use of sia makes the meaning quite clear; (1) would be: Li vidis sian amikon kun LIA frato, and (2) would be: Li vidis sian amikon kun SIA frato.

The word mem, 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.:

• lia libro, his book; liaj libroj, his books;
• si havas lian, kaj li havas sian, she has his, and he has hers;
• liaj estas la plej bonaj libroj, his are the best books;
• mi preferas miajn, I prefer mine; li preferas siajn, he prefers his;
• ili preferas siajn, they prefer theirs.

Demonstrative Adjective or Pronoun.

The Demonstrative Adjective and Pronoun "that" is rendered in Esperanto by the word tiu (acc. tiun); plural tiuj (acc. tiujn), those. The addition (either before or after) of the particle ci to the singular and plural respectively, gives this and these. Ex.:

• Tiu viro, that man. Tiu estas mia, that (one) is mine.
• Mi elektas tiun, I choose that (one).
• Mi preferas tiun ci (or ci tiujn), I prefer this (one).
• Tiuj ci (or ci tiuj) estas miaj, these are mine.
• Mi portos tiujn ci, I will carry these.

Interrogative Pronouns.

Kiu?—who, which? Plural, kiuj? Kio?—what? Kies?—whose? Al kiu?—to whom? Kiun?—whom? (acc.), kiujn? (acc. plu.). Ex.:

• Kiu estas tiu?—who is that?
• Kiun vi deziras vidi?—whom do you desire to see?
• Kiuj foriris?—which (ones) went away?
• Kiujn vi vidis?—which ones did you see?

Kiu is also used with Adjectival meaning. 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 -ever is translated by ajn. 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.

Relative Pronouns.

The Relative Pronouns are identical with the Interrogative: Kiu(j), who, that, which, kiu(j)n, whom, that, which. Ex.:

• La libro, kiun vi legas, the book (which) you are reading.
• Tiu, kiu parolis al vi, the one who spoke to you.
• La personoj, kiujn li konas, the persons (whom) he knows.
• Tio, kion li diras, ne estas vera, what he says is not true.
• La arbo, kies supron vi vidas, the tree whose top you can see.

Indefinite Pronouns.

• iu (acc. iun), anyone, someone or other;
• ies, anyone's, someone's;
• iuj (acc. iujn), any persons, some persons or other;
• io (acc. ion), anything, something.

• ciu (acc. ciun), everyone, each;
• cies, everyone's, everybody's, each one's;
• ciuj (acc. ciujn), everybody, all;
• cio (acc. cion), everything, all.

• neniu (acc. neniun), no one, nobody;
• nenies, no one's, nobody's;
• nenio (acc. nenion), nothing, not anything.

Note.—Iu, ciu, and neniu are 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. Ciu bona patro amas siajn infanojn, every good father loves his children. Ciuj liaj amikoj (or ciu lia amiko), all his friends, every friend of his. Mi renkontis neniun amikon, I met no friend.

Other Pronominal Words and Expressions are:

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 au la alia taugos, either (one or the other) will do; nek unu nek la alia konvenas, neither (one nor the other) is suitable.

ambau (invariable), both. Ex.: ambau venis, both came; mi konas ambau fratojn, I know both brothers; mi vidis ilin ambau, I saw both of them; mi satas ambau, I like both.

The Verb.

Tenses.

The Verb in 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 root vid, see, are formed:

Moods.

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:

The Conditional Mood is used to express supposition; the three Tenses, on the other hand, are used to express facts or actual happenings. (For examples, see "Conjunctions," page 83.)

The Imperative Mood is used to express an order, desire, wish, will, etc. (See page 84.) Used with the personal pronouns of the 1st and 2nd persons, this mood corresponds to the English let, used as an expression of a wish. Thus: mi pensu, let me think; li venu morgau, let him come to-morrow; ili parolu, let them speak.

Note that let sometimes means to allow, to give leave, in which case the verb lasi is used. Thus: let (allow) him come, lasu lin veni; leave it there, lasu gin tie.

The Imperative may be used interrogatively to translate the English shall, with an idea of wish or desire. Thus:

• What shall I give you? Kion mi donu al vi?
• What shall we do to-day? Kion ni faru hodiau?

What will he do? would of course be simply Kion li faros?—for there is here no question of desire or wish, but merely a question of future action.

The Infinitive Mood is used to express the mere idea of the verb, without any limit of person or number, and corresponds to the English to before 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 verb do not vary according to person or number. For instance: mi vidas, I see, li vidas, he sees; also ni vidis, we saw, ili vidis, they saw; vi vidos, you will see; oni vidos, one will see; si vidus, she would see, vi vidus, you would see.

Participles.

There are in Esperanto six participles, three active and three passive, corresponding to three tenses. They are formed in the Active by means of the endings -ant, -int, and -ont, and in the Passive by means of the endings -at, -it, -ot, with the addition of the adjectival termination -a. Thus:

The Participles may be used either as Nouns, Adjectives, or Adverbs, the terminations -o, -a, -e being 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 auskultantoj, 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 audis tiun himnon kantatan, I heard that hymn sung.

Compound Tenses.

The Compound Tenses are formed by means of the auxiliary verb esti, 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:

The use of the participles is very easy when once one grasps the fact that the auxiliary esti serves to denote the particular division of time, or the particular manner, of the occurrence of the action denoted by the participle. Ex.:

• Li estis skribanta, kiam mi vidis lin, he was writing when I saw him.
• Li estis fininta, kiam mia amiko alvenis, he had finished (lit., was having finished) when my friend arrived.
• Mi estis tuj forironta, kiam vi aperis, I was just about to go out when you appeared.
• Li estas nunmomente parolanta, he is speaking at this very moment.
• Li estas mortonta, he is about to die.
• Li estus jam foririnta, he would have already departed (lit., would be already gone away).

The word by after a Passive is translated by the preposition de. 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 ciuj.

Note.—The Compound Tenses should not be used if the Simple Tenses suffice to show the meaning clearly. Thus, I have seen him is more neatly expressed by mi jam vidis lin than by mi estas vidinta lin. Li jam foriris might stand for either he had gone or he has gone, according to circumstances, and the context would clearly show which was meant. Li parolas is generally quite right for he is speaking. Li estas parolanta should be used only when it is particularly intended to show that he is actually engaged in the act of speaking.

The Adverb.

In Esperanto, Adverbs are 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 sage, he speaks wisely. Li rapide kuras, he runs quickly.

Adverbial Numbers.

Adverbial Numbers are formed by adding -e to the Cardinals. Thus: unue (1e), firstly; trie (3e), thirdly; sepe (7e), etc.

The Preposition.

In English, one preposition often has many different meanings. In Esperanto, on the contrary, every preposition, with the exception of the word je, has one precise and fixed meaning.

The preposition je is 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 cases je is used. Thus: He laughed at me, li ridis je mi; full of water, plena je akvo; six metres long, longa je ses metroj; fear of him, timo je li, etc.

Je should not be abused. Its too frequent use is a mark of the beginner in the language.

Use of Accusative.

When there is no ambiguity to be feared, the preposition je, 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 saying li ridas je mi (he is laughing at me), one might say li ridas min; similarly, du metrojn alta would stand for alta je du metroj. Gi kostis je tri silingoj is more usually expressed: gi kostis tri silingojn. 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., antau, before, ce, at, en, in, sub, under, sur, on, kontrau, against, super, over, and trans, across, are often used to denote movement towards, whereas of themselves they only express rest 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 walk in the city; but li promenis en la urbon, he took a walk into the city. Li kuris antau mi, he ran (along) before or in front of me; but li pasis antau min, he stepped in front of me; and so on.

Adverbs are sometimes used with prepositional force. Thus: proksime de la domo, near the house; dekstre de la arbo, on the right of the tree, etc.

The Conjunction.

A full list of Conjunctions will be found on page 72. The following constructions should be noted:

Tenses after Ke (that).

• Mi vidis, ke si ploras, I saw (that) she was crying.
• Mi sciis, ke li venos, I knew that he would come.
• Mi sciis, ke li jam alvenis, I knew (that) he had already arrived.
• Li diris, ke se li estus tiel granda, kiel mi, li facile farus tion, he said that if he were as tall as I, he would easily do that.

Note that in Esperanto the verb is put in the exact time or tense used by the speaker. Thus: mi ne sciis, cu li venos, I did not know whether he would (lit., will) come; ili ne diris, cu ili vin renkontis, they did not say whether they had met you.

Use of Imperative.

After verbs expressing wish, intention, will, or desire, or command, the verb following is put in the Imperative 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.

Use of Conditional after Se.

• Se vi tiel diris, vi malprave faris, if you spoke thus you did wrongly.
• Se vi tiel dirus, vi estus malprava, if you said (were to say) thus, you would be wrong.
• Se vi venos, vi vidos, if you (will) come, you will see.

Interjections.

The following are the principal Interjections:

Formation of Words.

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.

Prefixes.

bo- denotes Relationship by Marriage: patro, father, bopatro, father-in-law; filo, son, bofilo, son-in-law.

dis- denotes Separation: jeti, to throw, disjeti, to scatter, throw about; peli, to drive along, dispeli, to dispel, fali, to fall, disfali, to fall apart, fall to pieces.

ek- denotes a Beginning of an Action, a Momentary Action: iri, to go, ekiri, to begin to go, to start; brili, to shine, ekbrili, to begin to shine, to flash.

ge- denotes the Two 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 the Opposite of an Idea: bona, good, malbona, bad; sati, to like, malsati, to dislike; amiko, friend, malamiko, enemy; lauta, loud, mallaute, softly.—Malo, an opposite; male, on the contrary.

pra- is a prefix of Relationship, corresponding to the English FORE-, GREAT-: patro, father, prapatro, forefather, ancestor; avo, grandfather; praavo, great-grandfather; nepo, grandson, pranepo, great-grandson.

re- denotes Return and Repetition: iri, to go, reiri, to go back, or to go again; repreni, to take back; revidi, to see again.—Ree, again.

Suffixes.

-ac denotes that a word is used in a Bad Sense, with Disparagement: domo, a house, domaco, a hovel; ridi, to laugh, ridaci, to sneer.

-ad denotes Continuation or Duration of an action: paroli, to speak, paroladi, to make a speech; kanto, a song, kantado, singing; vojago, a voyage, vojagado, travelling; rido, a laugh, ridado, laughter.

-aj denotes some Concrete Thing characterized by the idea contained in the root: bela, beautiful, belajo, a beautiful thing; nutri, to feed, nourish, nutrajo (or nutrantajo), food; gentila, polite, gentilajo, a polite act, act of politeness; bovo, ox, bovajo, beef.—Ajo, a thing.

-an denotes a Partisan of, a Member, an Inhabitant: Kristo, Christ, Kristano, a Christian; eklezio, a church, ekleziano, a churchman; Londonano, a Londoner.—Ano, a member.

-ar denotes a Collection of, a Number of: arbo, tree, arbaro, a forest; homo, a human being, homaro, mankind; vorto, a word, vortaro, a dictionary.—Aro, a collection, number, gathering.

-cj added to the first two to five letters of a word, is used to denote Masculine Diminutives of Endearment: Johano, John, Jocjo, Jack; patro, father, pacjo, papa, daddy.

-ebl denotes Possibility, and corresponds to the English suffixes -ABLE, -IBLE: kredi, to believe, kredebla, credible; videbla, visible; al, to, iri, to go, alirebla, accessible.

-ec denotes Abstract Ideas, Qualities and corresponds to the English suffixes -NESS, -SHIP, etc.: felica, happy, feliceco, happiness; alta, high, alteco, height; rego, king, regeco, kingship.

-eg denotes Augmentation, Intensity of Degree: granda, big, great, grandega, enormous; bela, beautiful, belega, magnificent; stono, stone, stonego, rock; pafilo, a gun, pafilego, cannon.

-ej denotes a Place specially set apart for or allotted to: pregi, to pray, pregejo, church; mangi, to eat, mangejo, refectory; kuirejo, kitchen; enirejo, entrance; elirejo, exit.

-em denotes Propensity, Inclination, Disposition: paroli, to talk, parolema, talkative; mensogi, to lie, mensogema, untruthful.

-er denotes an Element of, a Unit, a Grain: polvo, dust, polvero, a grain of dust; fajrero, a spark; hajlero, hailstone; mono, money, monero, a coin.—Ero, particle, grain, element.

-estr denotes a Chief, 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.

-id denotes a Descendant, Offspring, Young of: bovo, ox, bovido, calf; safo, a sheep, safido, 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.

-et denotes Diminution of Degree (compare -eg above): bela, beautiful, beleta, pretty; venteto, breeze; ridi, to laugh, rideti, to smile; bona, good, boneta, fairly good, mediocre.—Eta, tiny.

-ig denotes a Making, 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.); trancigi al si la harojn, to get one's hair cut.—Igi, to make, render.

-ig denotes a Becoming, Getting, Growing, Being made: hela, bright, heligi, to grow or become bright; ruga, red, rugigi, to redden, blush; disigi, to separate (intr.).—Igi, to become.

With transitive verbs ig- is used to make intransitive verbs, thus: renversi, to overthrow, turn upside down, renversigi, to turn (intr.) upside down, to get overthrown; fari, to make, farigi, to become; perdigi, to get lost; vidigi, to be seen.

Used with intransitive verbs, ig- gives the idea of a becoming, a Gradual Transition from one state to another: morti, to die, mortigi, to become dead, to die away, to expire; sidi, to be seated, sidigi, to become seated, to sit down.

Note that, since verbs in -ig are of necessity intransitive, their participles should only be used in the active form. Thus: renversiginta, having become overthrown, and not renversigita; perdiginta, having become lost, not perdigita; and so on. One might of course simply say renversita, overthrown, and perdita, lost, though the meaning would in that case not be quite the same.

-il denotes an Instrument, Tool, or Means: tranci, to cut, trancilo, a knife; filtri, to filter, filtrilo, a filter; teni, to hold, tenilo, a handle.—Ilo, tool, instrument; ilaro, set of tools.

-ind denotes Worthiness (English -WORTHY): laudi, to praise, laudinda, praiseworthy; vidinda, worth seeing, vidindajoj, things worth seeing, sights.—Inda (je), worthy (of); indeco, worthiness.

-ing denotes the Holder of a Single Object (compare -uj below): plumo, pen, plumingo, penholder; fingro, finger, fingringo, thimble; cigaringo, cigar-holder.—Ingo, a socket, holder.

-in denotes Feminines: viro, a man, virino, a woman; patro, father, patrino, mother.—Ino, a female.

-ist denotes Trade, Occupation, Profession: labori, to work, laboristo, workman; kuraci, to treat (medically), kuracisto, doctor.

-nj added to the first two to five letters of a word, is used to form Feminine Diminutives of Endearment (compare -cj above): Johanino, Jane, Johanjo, Jenny; patrino, mother, panjo, mamma.

-uj denotes a Receptacle which contains or bears a Collection or a Quantity of things or material (compare -ing above): mono, money, monujo, purse; inko, ink, inkujo, inkstand.—Ujo, a utensil case, bin.

The suffix -uj is also used to denote Trees bearing certain fruits: pomo, apple, pomujo, apple-tree; cerizujo, cherry-tree; rozujo, rose-bush. The word arbo, however, is more frequently used in such cases: pomarbo, rozarbeto, etc.

-Uj is also used to denote the Names of Countries: Anglo, Englishman, Anglujo, England; Franco, a Frenchman, Francujo, France. (See footnote 4, p. 40.)

-ul denotes a Being characterised by the Idea contained in the Root-word: bela, beautiful, belulino, a beautiful woman, a beauty; kulpo, blame, kulpulo, culprit; laudindulo, one worthy to be praised; bonulo, a good fellow; bonegulo, a jolly good fellow.

-um is an Indefinite Suffix, like the word je among the prepositions, Thus: pleni, to fill, plenumi, to fulfil (compare plenigi, to fill); kolo, neck, kolumo, collar; aero, air, aerumi, to air (a room, clothes, etc.).

[Words containing -um should be learnt as independent roots.]

Compound Words.

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.9 Ability 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:

CORRELATIVE WORDS.