Ch 20 · Lesson 18Esperanto · Chapter 20 · Lesson 18 · Grammar primer
Capital letters: Esperanto, franco, lundo
Names, places, festivals and Esperanto take a capital; peoples, adjectives, weekdays and titles do not. Months are the one disputed case.
The short version
Capitals go on the place, not on the people
, 5- , Francio
Why?Hide
Names, places, countries, festivals and organisations take a capital: Francio, Parizo, . Peoples, national adjectives, weekdays, titles and derivatives do not: , , , Zamenhof, . A language name built from a people-adjective is lower case, , while one that is a noun in -o takes a capital, which is why Esperanto does. Months are the one disputed case: the writes , and PMEG still recommends it, but many now write .
Esperanto takes a capital;
.
Why?Hide
The name of the language is a name, so it keeps its capital: . Words made from it are ordinary words and usually lose it: , an Esperantist. The one common exception is the adjective, , which some writers capitalise to keep it apart from , hoping.
Weekdays are lower case; months are disputed
, 5-a !
Why?Hide
, and the rest are ordinary nouns, so they take no capital: ! Months are the one disputed case. The writes and with capitals, and PMEG still recommends that; many writers now write and , like the weekdays. Both are understood: pick one and keep to it.
capitalises far less than English. Names, places, festivals and the language's own name take a capital; peoples, adjectives, weekdays and titles do not.
| Kind of word | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| a s name | Zamenhof | Zamenhof |
| a country | Francio | |
| a festival | | Christmas |
| the language | | |
| a people | | a French person |
| an adjective | | French |
| a weekday | | Monday |
| a title | | Mr, sir |
PMEG says there are no binding rules for capitals. It describes a sparing style, which capitalises real names only, and a generous one; the sparing style is far more common, and it is the one taught here.
Capitals: names, places, festivals
A capital goes on a real name, and on the first word of a sentence:
| Kind | Examples |
|---|---|
| people's names | Zamenhof, Petro |
| places, countries | Parizo, Francio |
| festivals | |
-o language names | |
| organisations | - |
Parizo.- We celebrate Christmas in.
Lower case: peoples, adjectives, days
English capitalises all of these; Esperanto treats them as ordinary words:
| Kind | Esperanto | English |
|---|---|---|
| a people | | a French, English person |
| an adjective | | French, English |
| a language | | English |
| a weekday | | Monday, Sunday |
| a title | | Mr, Dr |
The split runs through one family: the place takes a capital, the people and the adjective do not.
Francio.- The French live in France.!- See you on Monday!Zamenhof.- I met Mr Zamenhof.
Lundo (Monday), mardo (Tuesday), merkredo (Wednesday), ĵaŭdo (Thursday), vendredo (Friday), sabato (Saturday), dimanĉo (Sunday): all lower case.
A capital on a people or a language name ( ) is also possible, but it is the generous style, and much less common.
Esperanto and esperantisto
The name of the language is a name, so it keeps its capital. Words made from it usually lose it:
| Word | English |
|---|---|
| |
| an |
| Esperantists |
.- I speak Esperanto..- She is an Esperantist.
The adjective is the exception many writers make: , the Esperanto movement. The capital keeps it apart from the present participle of esperi, to hope, which is spelt the same way: a real ambiguity and a good reason.
Going further: The months: both are met and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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