Grammar
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
mi: I vi: you li: he ŝi: she ĝi: it ni: we ili: they
Possessive Pronouns
mia: my via: your lia: his ŝia: her ĝia: its nia: our ilia: their
Nouns
All nouns in in -o, or -ino if female sex, e.g.
tablo: table lernanto: student lernantino: female student patro: father patrino: mother
Plural takes the suffix -j. All adjectives, nouns, and pronouns, take this.
If the noun is taking action, then it takes the suffix -ist-:
instruisto = teacher hotelisto = hotel employee esperantisto = Esperanto speaker
Verbs
Infinitives “to… verb” take the ending -i.
lerni: to learn labori: to work esti: to be
Present tense ends in -as.
mi sidas: I sit vi sidas: you sit ili sidas: they sit ni sidas: we sit
Questions
The interrogative particle Ĉu is used to turn something into a question:
Ĉu vi sidas?: are you sitting? Ĉu ili skribas?: are they writing?
The interrogative Kiu functions as both who and which:
Kiu vi estas?: who are you? Kiu instruisto sidas?: Which teacher is sitting?
The affirmative particle jes is the same pronunciation and meaning as the English “yes”:
Jes, mi sidas: yes, I am sitting Jes, mi estas en la ĉambro: yes, I am in the room
The negative particle ne is its counterpart:
Ne, mi ne estas en la ĉambro: no, I am not in the room
Vocab
esti = to be mi = I vi = you mia = my amiko = friend la = the li = he lernanto = learner lerni = to learn kaj = and ne = no, not sportisto = sportsperson nun = now sidi = to sit en = in ĉambro = room sur = on tablo = table papero = paper libro = book skribi = to write ĝi = it lernolibro = textbook ĉu = whether; used to turn a statement into a yes/no question kiu = who, which jes = yes -IST = the suffix which is used to form the name of a person regularly engaged in some activity -AS = the verb ending for the present tense -O = ending for nouns -J = ending for plural