Ch 15 · Lesson 9Esperanto · Chapter 15 · Lesson 9 · Grammar primer
Po: so many each
goes straight before a number and shares it out: , two apples each. Why it never sits before the unit, and the -n nobody agrees on.
The short version
.
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shares an amount out. is two apples in total and presumably an argument; is six apples, two apiece. The rule that prevents every classic mistake: goes before the number or amount and nothing else, so is wrong. Whether the noun then takes -n is a genuine long-running dispute, and PMEG accepts both: we write , and mark nobody wrong.
po: so many each
shares a number out: the number applies to each member of a group, not to the group as a whole.
Tri infanoj ricevis po du pomoj: two apples each, six apples in all.
.- Three children got two apples (two in all)..- Three children got two apples each (six in all).
goes straight before the number or other amount ( , ), never before the unit:
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| | |
| | the ten is what repeats |
The second is the classic slip: English ten dollars a puts its distributive word before . In Esperanto the repeated amount takes , and the unit usually takes , or another fitting word such as .
.- I will read ten pages a day.
The -n after po
Does the noun after take -n when it is the object? The movement has never agreed:
| As a preposition | As an adverb |
|---|---|
blocks -n | the object keeps -n |
| |
PMEG says both uses are correct. This site writes , and marks nobody wrong for the other.
Going further: je: the preposition with no meaning and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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