Kilo Lingo
Esperanto grammar Part of Chapter 20

CEFR A2-B1

3 min read

Test yourself (17 questions)

Esperanto Capital Letters: Esperanto, franco, lundo

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

capitalises far less than English. Names, places, festivals and the language's own name take a capital; peoples, adjectives, weekdays and titles do not.

capitallower caseWhat do the colours mean?
Kind of wordExampleEnglish
a s nameZamenhofZamenhof
a countryFrancio
a festivalChristmas
the language
a peoplea French person
an adjectiveFrench
a weekdayMonday
a titleMr, sir

Quick check

Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Which spelling is the usual style mid-sentence?

  1. Ĝis ! (see you on Monday)

  2. Ŝi estas . (she is a Frenchwoman)

  3. Mi lernas . (I am learning Esperanto)

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

capitallower caseWhat do the colours mean?

A capital goes on a real name, and on the first word of a sentence:

KindExamples
people's namesZamenhof, Petro
places, countriesParizo, Francio
festivals,
-o language names,
organisations -
  • Parizo. - We celebrate Christmas in .

Lower case: peoples, adjectives, days

capitallower caseWhat do the colours mean?

English capitalises all of these; Esperanto treats them as ordinary words:

KindEsperantoEnglish
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.
A calendar strip of seven day cards, each with a coloured header and one activity: a book, a football, a shopping bag, music notes, a slice of pizza, a bicycle, and someone having a lie-in in bed.

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

capitallower caseWhat do the colours mean?

The name of the language is a name, so it keeps its capital. Words made from it usually lose it:

WordEnglish
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.

The months: both are met

capitallower caseWhat do the colours mean?

Months are the one disputed case. They are names (no in front), so the writes them with capitals, and PMEG still recommends that; many writers now write them like the weekdays:

RecommendedCommon todayEnglish
January
May
  • 5- - on the 5th of May

PMEG calls the lower case very common but not recommended. This site writes months in lower case; recognise both, and keep to one in a text.

Mistakes English speakers make

None of these is forbidden, since nothing about capitals is, but each one marks the writer as reading English:

UnusualUsualWhy
! !a weekday is not a name
. .a people is lower case
the language is a name
a derived word is lower case

What to do next

  1. Write one sentence with a country, its people and its language: Francio.
  2. Write today's date with the weekday in lower case.
  3. Then read language names for and .

See also

Practise: test yourself

Sort into groups

0/8

In the usual style, does it start with a capital?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Pick the right one

0/5

Which spelling is the usual style mid-sentence?

  1. Ĝis ! (see you on Monday)

  2. Ŝi estas . (she is a Frenchwoman)

  3. Mi lernas . (I am learning Esperanto)

  4. Li estas . (he is an Esperantist)

  5. Ni festas . (we celebrate Christmas)

Complete the story

0/4

Choose the usual spelling for each gap.

A Christmas card

Kara Petro, ni pasigos en Parizo. Mia edzino estas , kaj ŝiaj gepatroj loĝas en . Ni revenos . Amike, Anna

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Frequently asked questions

Are days of the week capitalised in Esperanto?
No. , and the rest are ordinary nouns, not names, so they are lower case: !, see you on Monday. English is unusual in capitalising them; French, Spanish and Italian do not either.
Are months capitalised in Esperanto?
Both are met. Months are names (they never take ), so the writes and with capitals, and PMEG still recommends that. Many writers now write and , in line with the weekdays; PMEG calls that very common but not recommended. Nobody will misread either, and this site writes them lower case. Pick one and keep to it.
Is Esperanto written with a capital E?
Yes, the name of the language takes a capital: . Words made from it usually do not: , an Esperantist. Some writers capitalise the adjective , as in , so that it cannot be read as the present participle of , to hope, which is spelt the same way.
Do you capitalise nationalities in Esperanto?
Usually not. The people and the adjective are lower case: (a French person), (French), (the French language). The country takes a capital, because it is a place: Francio. So one sentence can mix them: Francio.
Is there an official rule for capital letters in Esperanto?
No. PMEG says Esperanto has no binding rules for capitals, and describes two styles: a sparing one that capitalises only real names, and a generous one that also capitalises words made from them. The sparing style is far more common, and it is the one this page teaches.