Ch 1 · Lesson 5Esperanto · Chapter 1 · Lesson 5 · Grammar primer
Typing the hats on a phone
Android is the easy one: add Esperanto to Gboard and long-press. iPhone is the bad one, fixed in two minutes with Text Replacement: cx becomes ĉ.
The short version
On a phone: Gboard on Android, Text Replacement on iPhone
cx -> ĉ, sx -> ŝ, ux -> ŭ
Why?Hide
Android is the easy one: add Esperanto as a Gboard language and long-press the plain letter, c for ĉ, and you get prediction that knows Esperanto too. iPhone ships no Esperanto keyboard and long-press offers none of the six, so add six Text Replacement entries: cx becomes ĉ, sx becomes ŝ, and so on.
Android
The easy one. Add Esperanto as a Gboard language: Settings, System, Languages and input, the on-screen keyboard, Gboard, Languages, Add keyboard. Then long-press the hatless letter: hold c for ĉ, u for ŭ.
You also get prediction and autocorrect that know , which matters more than the keystrokes: the phone stops fighting you.
iPhone and iPad
The bad one. iOS ships no Esperanto keyboard, and long-press reaches none of the six. The exact menus depend on which keyboard languages you have installed, but on an English keyboard:
| Hold | What iOS offers |
|---|---|
c | ç ć č, but no ĉ |
g | no ĝ |
h | no ĥ |
j | nothing |
s | ß ś š, but no ŝ |
u | several accents, but no breve |
The fix is Text Replacement: Settings, General, Keyboard, Text Replacement. Add one entry per letter:
| Phrase | Shortcut |
|---|---|
ĉ | cx |
ĝ | gx |
ĥ | hx |
ĵ | jx |
ŝ | sx |
ŭ | ux |
Two minutes, and the x-system is built into the phone. Third-party Esperanto keyboards exist on the App Store; try Text Replacement first.
Going further: The six letters, and where they live and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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8-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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Lesson 5 of 51 in this chapter