Ch 2 · Lesson 4Esperanto · Chapter 2 · Lesson 4 · Grammar primer
Nouns, adjectives and agreement
The -j and -n echo: an adjective takes whatever its noun takes, so , , . One rule, and you can read any noun phrase in the language.
The short version
Whatever the noun wears, the adjective wears
.
Why?Hide
Four forms, and they are the entire noun-and-adjective paradigm of the language: , , , . English adjectives have not inflected for anything for centuries, so the -ajn -ojn cluster is the part your fingers refuse to type. Say it aloud until the rhyme does the grammar for you. The echo is what pays for free word order: the endings, not the positions, say who did what.
An Esperanto noun ends in -o, an adjective in -a, and the adjective copies whatever its noun wears: -j for more than one, -n for the object. No gender, no declension classes. Four forms make the whole paradigm, and here they are.
| Subject | Object | |
|---|---|---|
| one | | |
| several | | |
The same four in sentences:
| Form | Esperanto | English |
|---|---|---|
| one, subject | . | The beautiful dog is sleeping. |
| several, subject | . | The beautiful dogs are sleeping. |
| one, object | . | I saw the beautiful dog. |
| several, object | . | I saw the beautiful dogs. |
-o and -a: the whole system
Every noun wears -o and every adjective wears -a. The ending is the label:
| Noun | Adjective |
|---|---|
| |
| |
| |
.- The water is warm.
There is no gender to learn with a noun, and the adjective never changes for one. is the same beside a man and a woman:
Swap the ending and the root changes job: is beautiful, beauty (a beautiful thing), beautifully. Word endings has all four.
The four forms: walk the paradigm
Two endings can attach to the noun: -j for the plural and -n for the accusative, the object. The adjective copies both, and they always come in that order, -jn, never -.
Whatever the noun wears, the adjective wears. English adjectives have not changed for number or case for centuries, so the instinct is that has said its piece. It has not:
.- She is reading a good book..- We bought new books.
Agreement is what pays for Esperanto's free word order. The endings, not the positions, say which adjective belongs to which noun and who did what:
.- The big man saw the small boy..- The big man saw the small boy. (the boy fronted)
Both say the same thing: -n on marks the one who was seen, wherever it stands.
Position: bela hundo, hundo bela
The default is adjective first, as in English. Adjective after is fully grammatical and marked: a small spotlight on the quality, common in poetry and song.
| Order | Esperanto | English |
|---|---|---|
| neutral | | a beautiful dog |
| marked | | a dog, and a beautiful one |
| marked, prose | . | That was a truly beautiful day. |
Position never touches the endings:
.- I saw beautiful dogs.
Write by default; when you write , mean it. Word order and style covers what marked orders signal.
Going further: Predicative vs attributive: where -n never goes and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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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 4 of 43 in this chapter