Version 24 August 2005
This page was copied October 16th, 2000 from:
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Lessons: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Return
Vocabulary Correlatives Endings Affixes
The course consists of 10 lessons, a vocabulary, list of Esperanto affixes and a table of correlatives.
What is Esperanto?Esperanto, the international language, is a language developed to make it easier for people of different cultures to communicate. Its author, Dr. L. L. Zamenhof (1859-1917), published his "Lingvo Internacia" in 1887 under the pseudonym "Dr. Esperanto". It is now spoken by at least two million people, in over 100 countries. There are thousands of books and over 100 periodicals published currently. But what makes it any more international than French, English or Russian?
Incorrectly termed "artificial" (the right word is "planned"), Esperanto is specifically intended for international/intercultural use, so those who use meet each other on an equal footing, since neither is using his or her native language. With national languages, the average person isn't able to express himself as well as a native speaker or the gifted linguist. Thanks to its simple, logical, regular design, anyone can learn Esperanto fairly rapidly.
A LIVING LANGUAGE
Esperanto is a living language, used for everything people use any other language for. But it's much easier to learn than a national language. Even people who can't remember a word of a language they studied for years in high school or college need only months of intensive study to become fluent in Esperanto. It is also more useful than national languages if your goal in learning a language is to get to know people from different places, since virtually everyone who speaks Esperanto has learned it for this reason.
ABOUT THIS COURSE
This course is based on ELNA's Free Postal Course, which is, in turn, based on a very popular postal course in use today in England. The course is a bit old-fashioned, and we are working on a more appealing version. In the meantime, you will have to bear with it. Upon successful completion of the ten lessons, you will receive a framable Certificate of Completion.
A note about the orthography: To facilitate distribution of this course over the net, we have chosen to represent the two diacritical marks (the circumflex or ^, and the breve, a "reversed circumflex" unavailable in standard character sets) by adding an x immediately following the character. Hence the combinations ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, (where x = ^) and ŭ (where x = [breve]) should be thought of as single characters.
Here are the addresses of national Esperanto associations in the major English-speaking countries. If your country isn't listed, ask us and we can find the address for you.
- - -
Australian Esperanto Association
Sinjoro Alan Turvey
143 Lawson Street
Redfern NSW 2016
sekretario @ esperanto.org.au
- - -
Esperanto Association of Britain
ST12 9DE - Britio
Tel: 0845 230 1887
Tel: +44 (0)1782 372141
eab @ esperanto-gb.org
- - -
Canadian Esperanto Association
P.O. Box 2159
Sidney, BC, V8L 3S6 - Canada
Tel: 250 656 1767
Fakso: 250 656 1765
esperanto @ canada.com
- - -
Bangalore Esperanto Centre
97, 24th Cross, 3rd Block East,
Phone 26632914 26482195
sspradhan01 @ indiatimes.com
- - -
Esperanto Association of Ireland
9 Templeogue Wood,
noviresp @ eircom dot net
- - -
New Zealand Esperanto Association
P.O. Box 8140,
- - -
Esperanto League for North America
P.O. Box 1129
El Cerrito, CA 94530, USA
+1 510 653 0998
+1 800 377 3726 = +1 800 ESPERANTO
info @ esperanto-usa.org
- - -
The World Association is:
Nieuwe Binnenweg 176
NL-3015 BJ Rotterdam
+31 10 436 1044 +31 10 436 1539
uea @ inter.nl.net
Language is all about things (nouns) and their actions (verbs) of energetic things:
Esperanto is "grammar-coded" -- you can tell what part each word plays in a sentence from the word endings:
To show when the action takes place, the verb tense (time) is changed by putting these endings on the verb roots:
describes it as it happens
Birdoj kaptis insektojn.
Birds caught insects.
Birdoj kaptos insektojn.
Birds will-catch insects.
Every noun and every verb follows the above rules without exception.
In Esperanto, things have no gender (they are not male or female, as in many other languages.) There is only one word for "the", no matter if the noun is singular or plural, subject or object. Therefore:
La birdoj kaptas la insektojn.
La birdo kaptis la insekton.
In Esperanto the word order matters less than in English.
All the following sentences describe the same action
(only the emphasis is changed):
Viro legas libron.
Viro libron legas.
Libron legas viro.
Libron viro legas.
Legas viro libron.
Legas libron viro.
A man reads a book.
Here are some words in Esperanto (the apostrophe indicates an incomplete word, a root):
fari, do, make
Each Esperanto letter has only one sound, always. Here is a guide to some of the sounds. The stress is always on the next-to-last syllable of a word.___________ extract from here ___________
c = ts (in lots)
oj = oy (in boy)
g = g (in go)
kn are always pronounced separately: k-nabo
Study Aid for Lesson One
Read Lesson 1 thoroughly, but before trying the exercises below, try these translations and check your answers with ours.
(We have supplied some words and endings to help you get started).
1. The friend will-sell milk.
2. Mother drinks coffee with milk and sugar.
Patrino -n kun kaj
3. The teachers forgot the tea.
4. The boys will-make the cake.
5. La knabinoj vidos la instruiston. [knabinoj = girls]
6. La instruisto vidis la knabinojn.
7. La filoj trinkas teon sen lakto. [sen = without]
8. La birdoj vidis la insektojn.
After checking these sentences, do the exercises of Lesson 1. If there is anything you do not understand, be sure to ask your tutor.
We will try to be prompt, but be patient, and most of all: Bonvenon al Esperanto (Welcome to Esperanto)!
Answers to the above exercises
1. La amiko vendos lakton.
2. Patrino trinkas kafon kun lakto kaj sukero.
3. La instruistoj forgesis la teon.
4. La knaboj faros la kukon.
5. The girls will see the teacher.
6. The teacher saw the girls.
7. The sons drink tea without milk.
8. The birds saw the insects.Ekzercoj, Leciono Unu (Exercises, Lesson One)___________ extract to here ___________
Take your time and translate the following sentences into Esperanto. Type your answers between the questions.
The men sold cakes.
La viroj vendis kukojn.
The man sold a cake.
La viro vendis kukon.
[Note: the word "a" does not exist in Esperanto; the simple noun is enough. Also, a dash indicates that the two English words are translated by one Esperanto word.]
1. Father makes a cake.
2. The boy will-have the sugar.
3. The son forgot the milk.
4. The boys drink tea.
5. The friend sold the bread.
6. The teacher sees a boy.
7. The son has a friend.
8. The brother made bread.
9. The boys will-have cake.
10. Father forgot the sugar.
11. The boys had friends.
12. The sons saw the bread.
13. The brothers sell sugar.
14. The teacher forgets the boy.
15. The friend will-drink milk.
16. The sons are-making cakes.
17. Father will-sell the cake.
18. The friend had bread.
19. The boys will-see the teachers.
20. The teachers drink coffee.Well, we hope we haven't scared you off in this first meeting with Esperanto. Just remember -- the language ability you used in the above exercises might take months to reach in secondary school French or Spanish.
The Free Esperanto Course begins simply, but by Lesson 10 you will understand sophisticated Esperanto with complex syntax.
Upon satisfactory completion of the series of ten lessons, you will receive a framable "Certificate of Completion".
While waiting for a reply from your tutor, you can learn some numbers and colors:
Pronounce ' ĝ ' as 'g' in "gem", "gentle")
Thanks for trying Lesson 1. By now you should have received corrections to the exercises of the first lesson. Here is the next lesson. Keep it up!
Let's review the "grammar-coding" for a second:
Two-thirds of the pattern so far deals with "things" (nouns). Now let's take a look at how to describe these things: good coffee, good tea (adjectives).
Something that describes, such as "good," is called an adjective. In Esperanto, adjectives are grammar coded with an "-a" ending.
As in some other languages (but not in English) the adjective ending ("-a") has to "agree" with the noun it describes. That is, if the noun is plural, the adjective must also be plural. If the noun is an object ("-n"), the adjective must also be an object.
(Note: "aj" is pronounced like the English word "eye".)
VOCABULARY: In each lesson we will introduce about twenty new words to you; learn these but remember to review the words in the previous lesson. Use the words below to practice what you've just learned. The exercises in this lesson are split into three parts.
___________ extract from here ___________Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto unu)___________ extract to here ___________
1. A healthy boy drinks warm milk.
2. The new shop sells dry cakes.
3. The big teacher met the new friends.
4. The good friends will-make a beautiful cake.
We haven't been able to give you enough vocabulary to let us vary these exercises very much, but in Esperanto the system of regular word building (with prefixes and suffixes) lets us expand our vocabulary with little effort. For example, the "mal-" makes words of opposite meaning:
and similarly the "-in-" makes words specifically female.___________ extract from here ___________
patro = father patrino = mother
and thus for all female living creatures:
kato = cat katino = female cat
The "vir" prefix is the original way to mark something as explicitly male: virkato. Most people avoid using the root form as a "male" form. It is rare that you have to mark sex - it is proper to say, for example, Sally estas instruisto, instead of saying Sally estas instruistino.
Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto du)___________ extract to here ___________
5. The small girl met the ugly sisters.
6. The old cup has new lemonade.
7. The new cup has old milk.
8. Mother will-wash the small cups.
9. The small boy carried the new bread.
10. Cold water washes a small boy.
"Ne" in front of any verb makes it negative, the action that doesn't happen, or didn't happen, or won't happen.
ne havas = doesn't (don't) have; ne faras = doesn't do
Here is just one verb ("to be") displayed in the usual way (all Esperanto verbs follow the same rule!):
General form (infinitive)
est' is the verb root and always appears wherever the verb is used. Does this verb even have a root in English? (am, is, are)___________ extract from here ___________
In the above verb display, note:
ŝi (she) is pronounced exactly like the English "she"
ĝi (it) is pronounced like the English "gee!", as in "Jeep"
vi (you) is both singular and plural, like the English "you."
(There is a word "ci", singular, but it is used much as the English singular "thou" - not very often!)
Note, too, that although pronouns do not end in -o when they are "subject things", they do take the -n when they are "object things":
La patrino lavas la knabon. Ŝi lavas lin.
The mother washes the boy. She washes him.
Now that we have learned the pronouns:
mi vi li ŝi ĝi ni vi ili oni
I you he she it we you they one
we can form the possessive adjectives:
mia via lia ŝia ĝia nia via ilia onia
my your his her its our your their one's
which are really adjectives because they identify (describe) the nouns they are attached to. Mia plumo = my pen. The ending "-a" on possessive adjectives follows the same rules about agreement as adjectives:
Mia amiko amas mian fratinon.
Miaj amikoj amas miajn fratinojn.
Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto tri)
11. I forgot my pen.
12. We don't have paper.
13. My daughter requested warm milk.
14. Her old friend didn't write.
15. You will meet their old friends.
16. She will have the warm water.
17. Your new teacher forgot your sugar.
18. The boys hate our new teacher.
19. They sell tea and (kaj) coffee.
20. We will sell her cake and his pens.
Note: kaj (and) is pronounced like the ki in kite.
It may seem like we packed a lot into Lesson Two, but here are the main things you have learned so far:
You don't have to write sentences in the above word order, but it is the most common form, and for English-speakers it's easier to learn just this pattern at first.___________ extract from here ___________
Once you realize that "grammar coding" tells you what part each word plays in a sentence (its function), you could, for poetry or emphasis, arrange the coded words in any other order without changing the original meaning.
Let's take a look at a couple of examples of different word order and answer a couple of questions (remember to pay attention to the endings of the words).Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto unu)___________ extract to here ___________
Mian fraton lavis mia patrino.
1. Who was washed?
Who did the washing?
Instruistinojn viajn fratinoj niaj vidis.
2. Who did the seeing?
Who was seen?
In this 10-lesson course we are going to stick to the subject-verb-object word order, but in well-written Esperanto texts other word orders are frequently used for reasons of emphasis and text coherence. If you use Esperanto you will rapidly acquire a feeling for word order. The best word order to use depends mainly on the context, so it is difficult to give precise "rules".Vocabulary, lesson three
Let's go on now, right to this lesson's word list below.
Note the difference between demandi (related to questions) and peti (related to requests or "petitions"). Both can be translated as "ask" in English.
Remember, j is pronounced like y, so jaro = YAH-row.
Adverbs: Adverbs are like adjectives, but instead of describing nouns, adverbs describe verbs and adjectives, usually telling how, when, or where. (Adverbs in English usually end in -ly).
In Esperanto, adverbs derived from other words always end in -e.
We can use the basic idea of a word in different ways by simply changing the grammar-coded ending:
li havas bonan sanon.
Adverbs usually precede the word they describe.
Note: The pronunciation of adverbs, ending in "-e", needs some attention. In general, every vowel makes up one syllable (sound unit) of an Esperanto word. Therefore, we must read the two-part sound of "sane" as "SAH-neh" and not as the one-part sound of the English word "sane".
Lesson four will concentrate more on the correct sounds of Esperanto. Right now, let's just say that Esperanto "e" should be pronounced as the "e" in "met". Due to different pronunciations throughout the English- speaking world, it is impossible to give exact Esperanto pronunciation in writing.
___________ extract from here ___________
Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto du)3. My brother will-stroll in-the-morning ("morningly").___________ extract to here ___________
4. His friend replied warmly.
5. The brown pen writes well ("goodly").
6. The grey teacher runs badly.
7. Our father smokes in-the-evening ("eveningly").
8. He loves her.
9. He loves her sister.
10. She loves him.Numbers (cardinal numbers are not grammar-coded: no endings)
Numbers (ordinal numbers have the ending "-a", like adjectives, and take the plural "-j" and object "-n", like adjectives)
Note: the "aŭ" is pronounced as "ow" in cow.___________ extract from here ___________
Note: the adverb form of the numbers is sometimes translated as: unue = in the first place; trie = in the third place, etc.Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto tri)___________ extract to here ___________
11. The first man loves the second woman.
12. The second woman hates the first man.
13. Two boys firstly asked for three cakes.
14. In-the-second-place they asked for lemonade.
15. The shop makes bad brown bread.
16. The shop makes brown bread badly.Intransitive verbs do not show action from a subject to an object; instead, intransitive verbs are used to show the state of the subject. Adjectives after intransitive verbs describe the subject.Li estas sana. Ŝi estas instruisto (or: instruistino).
He is healthy. She is a teacher.
The object "-n" is not used after such verbs.___________ extract from here ___________
Ekzercoj, Leciono Tri (parto kvar)
17. Sixty minutes are one hour.
18. Twenty-four hours are one day (and night).
19. Seven days are one week.
20. The third boy is my second son.
If you would like a pronunciation record or other material in Esperanto, write to your national Esperanto organization. The address is in the Welcome Letter. This is not mandatory for this lesson series, but hearing spoken Esperanto is a great help.
____________extract from here ___________
Now let's look at statements, questions, and answers:
La pano estas bruna.
The bread is brown.
Ĉu la pano estas bruna?
Is the bread brown?
(a) Jes, la pano estas bruna.
(b) Ne, la pano ne estas bruna, ĝi estas blanka.
Note: Every question is based on a statement; we identify that statement, placing the 'doubting' word ĉu (literally, 'whether') in front, and then we are asking "Is this true?" Also note that the word order in Esperanto is not changed; only the word 'ĉu' is placed in front of the statement.
Will the boys sell the cake?
(The boys will sell the cake.)
(La knaboj vendos la kukon.)
Ĉu la knaboj vendos la kukon?
All 'yes-or-no' questions are handled in the same way.
Ekzercoj, Leciono Kvar (parto unu)___________ extract to here ___________
Change the following statements into questions:
Mia filo forgesis la teon.
Lia patro faras panon.
La tago estas griza.In the first three lessons, you have learned how to write simple statements correctly, and now know how to make questions and give answers. As soon as you have learned all the sounds of Esperanto (detailed, as best as possible in writing, see below) we can start in on conversations, in Lesson Five. (Remember to complete the exercises at the bottom.)
The Esperanto 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
The names of the letters (used when spelling aloud, etc.) are:
a, bo, co, ĉo, do, e, fo, go, ĝo, ho, ĥo, i, jo, ĵo ko lo mo no o po ro so ŝo to u ŭo vo zo
That is, the consonants get an 'o' after them, and the name of each vowel is the sound of the vowel itself. Note that "ŭo" is pronounced sort of like English 'wo'.
There are 26 letters in the English alphabet; 28 in Esperanto. In Esperanto there is no q, w, x, or y. In Esperanto there are 6 letters not found in English (all 6 have accent marks): ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ [all circumflexes], and ŭ [a u-breve].
The Esperanto letters 'j' and 'ŭ' are not vowels and can combine with real vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) to make 'vowel glides' which must be learned as separate sounds (below).
Remember, in Esperanto: one letter - one sound. No exceptions.
Vowel Sounds (accented/emphasized vowels are capitalized)
a as in Ma, father: blANka, sAna, grAnda, vArma
e as in send, met: bEla, plEna, vErda, pEti
i as in me, three: vIvi, Ami, trInki, fIlo
o as in more, or: Ovo, dOmo, kIo (kio), nOva
u as in two, soon: Unu, plUmo, sUno, butIko
Consonant Sounds (mainly as in English, except:)
c as 'ts' in nests: dAnco, leciOno, bicIklo
ĉ as 'ch'in church: ĉAmbro, sandvIĉo, ĉokolAdo
g as 'g' in great: sagEto, gustUmi, geografIo
ĝ as 'g' in George: mAnĝi, lOĝi, sEĝo
ĥ as 'ch' in Bach: jAĥto, ĥOro, Eĥo
j as 'y' in yet: jEs, jAro, jUna
ĵ as 's' in leisure: ĵurnAlo, teatrAĵo, ĵalUzo
ŝ as 'sh' in shoe: ŝAti, pOŝo, ŝUo
ŭ is used most often in the combination 'aŭ' or 'eŭ' (otherwise it has a 'w' sound, as in weather).
Remember: All sounds presented in this Pronunciation Guide are approximations. They are the closest approximations for North American English-speakers.
Vowel Glides (diphthongs). The following combinations between a vowel (a, e, o, u) and 'j' or 'ŭ' make one sound:
aj as 'eye': mAjo, kAj, semAjno
oj as in 'boy': knAboj, vojAĝi, ĝOjo
ej as in 'they': plEj, mEjlo, lernEjo
uj 'oo-ee' (quickly) tUj, AnglUjo, monUjo
aŭ as in 'cow': nAŬ, Antaŭ, ĵAŬdo
eŭ as in 'wayward': EŭrOpo, neŭtrAla, EŭklIdo
In all the examples above, the vowel of the stressed (or accented) syllable has been capitalized. This follows the rule without exception that every word in Esperanto is stressed on the next-to-last syllable.
Here is a list of words (and translations) that represent sounds in Esperanto [not just those covered above]. Practice them carefully and your pronunciation will get better and better.
Best advice: practice! practice! practice!___________ extract from here ___________
Ekzercoj, Leciono Kvar (parto du)
(translate, but don't answer!)
1. Is father making a cake?
2. Did the son forget the milk?
3. Will father sell the cakes?
4. Does a healthy boy drink warm milk?
5. Will the daughter eat a sandwich?
6. Did the new teacher forget your sugar?
7. Do they sell tea and coffee?
8. Did the sick girl write badly?
9. Is he healthy?
10. Are seven days one week?
Answer in Esperanto. Use complete sentences, not just jes or ne.
11. Is milk white?
12. Is water dry?
13. Is the sun warm?
14. Is your mother a man?
15. Are you wearing an empty shoe?
16. Do two and two make four? [Use "estas"]
17. Do you eat water?
18. Is coffee blue?
19. Are seven days one week?
20. Do you drink cakes?
(Sorry about the silly questions, but the answers are easy.)
Saluton! (Hello! Greetings!)
Conversation: If two people can talk about themselves for 5 minutes each, then they can easily have at least a 10 minute conversation.
By the end of this 10 lesson course, you should have written down all your vital statistics and personal details (true or false!) and you should know them by heart.
After that, you should be able to give a brief talk about yourself in Esperanto, even if you have to prompt yourself with a 'cheat-sheet' in English.
Let's take a look at an example about John Brown:
Mia nomo estas Johano Bruno. Mi loĝas en Usono. Mi komencis lerni Esperanton antaŭ kvar semajnoj. Ĝi estas tre facila lingvo. Mi loĝas en domo kun mia edzino kaj niaj infanoj. Ni havas unu filinon kaj du filojn. Mi havas korespondantojn en tri landoj.
There are 45 very useful words which are a part of a regular system of correlated words (known technically, therefore, as "correlatives"). The meaning of any correlative is the combined meaning of the root (beginning) and the ending: (simple, isn't it?)
tio = that thing
iam = sometime
nenie = no where
Typical correlatives and their equally typical English equivalents:
(in) what manner
Pay attention to the accent: ne-NI-e, KI-u, TI-al, etc.___________ extract from here ___________
Note that in English prepositions may be included in the meaning of the Esperanto correlative.
The endings "a" and "u" take the grammar coding "-n" and/or "-j" where appropriate. The ending "o" takes the grammar coding "-n" where appropriate.
If a question contains a question word such as "kio" or "kie", one does not use the yes/no question word "ĉu":
What is that? = Kio estas tio?
Where is that? = Kie estas tio?
Are you drinking? = Ĉu vi trinkas?
Ekzercoj, Leciono Kvin. Translate into Esperanto.kio = what thing; e.g., plumo, taso, limonado, etc.
1. What (thing) is that (thing)?
2. Where is my cup?
3. Which is my book? *
4. Who ate my cake? *
5. When will you eat?
6. Everything is wet.
7. I forgot everything.
8. My pen is somewhere.
9. Then I drank my tea.
10. How much (do) you have? [do is not to be translated]
11. How (does) she run?
12. Why are you smoking? [use simple verb form]
13. Nobody's coffee has milk.
14. How (did) you make it?
15. I am not that-kind-of girl.
16. We have all-kinds-of cups.
17. What kind of sandwich do you have?
18. What did you ask for?
19. Is everyone dry?
20. Who is that?
* Note the difference between kio and kiu.
kiu = which thing; e.g., la nigra plumo, la unua domo, etc.
kiu also means who. Kiu vi estas?