Kilo Lingo

Ch 2 · Lesson 5

After estas: where -n never goes

, never : an adjective linked by agrees in number but never takes -n. Plus , and .

The short version

After the adjective never takes -n

.

The dogs are beautiful.
Why?

, never : a predicate describes the subject, subjects take no -n, so nothing agreeing with one does either. After an object, though, both versions are correct and they say different things. means I located the beautiful one; means I formed an opinion of it. is redecorating a door that was already red; is the redness as the result.

Predicative vs attributive: where -n never goes

An adjective has two jobs. Attached to its noun it is attributive: . Linked to the subject through esti it is predicative: .

SubjectEsperantoEnglish
one .The dog is beautiful.
several .The dogs are beautiful.
Four faces: a girl grinning with sparkles and a heart (happy); a yawning boy with heavy eyelids under a moon (tired); a girl with a cold compress, a thermometer and a scarf (ill); a curly-haired boy frowning with steam puffing from his head (angry).
  1. .
  2. .
  3. .
  4. .

How someone is: estas plus a plain -a adjective, never -n.

-n marks objects, and a predicate adjective is not an object: it describes the subject, and subjects take no -n. The same holds after the other linking verbs:

VerbEsperantoEnglish
.The days became long.
.She seems happy.
.They stayed good.

The -n that changes the meaning: trovis la hundon bela

When an adjective follows a direct object, both -n and no -n are grammatical, and they say different things:

SaysEsperantoEnglish
which dog .I found the beautiful dog.
a judgement .I found the dog beautiful.
which door .She painted the red door.
the result .She painted the door red.

With -n, the adjective belongs to the noun and identifies which one: the dog that is beautiful, the door that was already red. Without -n, it says what the verb did to the object: your judgement of the dog, the redness as the result.

When adjectives do not agree at all

Agreement needs a noun or pronoun to agree with. With the weather, an infinitive or a clause as the subject there is none, and the -e adverb ending takes over:

  • . - It is warm.
  • . - Learning Esperanto is easy.
Four panels: a grinning sun over an ice cream for sunny and hot; a grey cloud with rain falling on a red umbrella for rainy; a white cloud, snowflakes and a snowman for snowy and cold; a puffing cloud blowing wind and leaves at a bending tree for windy.
  1. .
  2. .

Weather has no noun to agree with, so the -e ending: estas varme, estas malvarme.

With a real noun as the subject, the -a comes back:

  • . - The soup is warm.

The full boundary is in adverbs; and its friends are in quantity.

Going further: -o and -a: the whole system and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.

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Lesson 5 of 43 in this chapter

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