Spoken Esperanto: What People Actually Say

Spoken Esperanto runs on a short greeting ladder and three small habits. Saluton is safe with anyone, ĝis is the everyday goodbye, and one tag turns any statement into a question: Vi venos, ĉu ne? is you are coming, aren't you?

Saying hello

Saluton is the default: you cannot go wrong with it. Many younger speakers clip it to sal' among friends and in chat, the way English clips hello to hi. The formal rung changes with the time of day:

Every one of them ends in -n, because each is the object of an unspoken wish: (I wish you) a good day. The adjective agrees, so it takes -n too:

• Bonan tagon! - Good day!
• Saluton! - Hello! (a greeting)

The full story is in greetings. Then the question everyone asks:

• Kiel vi fartas? - How are you? (farti is to fare, to get on)

Saying goodbye

Ĝis is a preposition, until. Ĝis la revido is until the seeing-again, and plain ĝis! is the everyday goodbye. Put any time after it:

• Ĝis morgaŭ! - See you tomorrow!
• Ĝis baldaŭ! - See you soon!
• Ĝis lundo! - See you on Monday!

Adiaŭ is the one English speakers reach for, because it looks like the textbook word. It is farewell: it sounds as if you do not expect to meet again. Say ĝis unless you mean it.

Use it, or just recognise it

The Esperanto community has its own words, and they are not all for every situation. The slang article tells their stories; this is when to say them:

Samideano, a person of the same idea, belongs in a letter or a speech, as letter writing and register shows. In a group chat people say amiko, or your name.

• Ne krokodilu! - Don't crocodile! (Speak Esperanto!)

Ĉu ne?: one tag for every sentence

English builds a new tag for every sentence: isn't it, won't you, doesn't he. Esperanto has one, and it never changes:

Do not tack a bare verb on: ĉu ne estas? copies the English isn't it and is not Esperanto. The longer ĉu ne vere? and ĉu ne estas tiel? (isn't that so?) exist, but plain ĉu ne? does the job. More on ĉu in questions.

Nu and do

Nu opens a turn and buys a second while you think. It is well:

• Nu, mi ne scias. - Well, I don't know.
• Nu, ni komencu. - Well, let us begin.

Do is so, then. It draws a conclusion, or, after a command, presses it:

• Pluvas, do ni restu hejme. - It is raining, so let us stay at home.
• Venu do! - Do come! / Come on, then!

Both fit almost anywhere, which is the trap: a learner who discovers do puts it in every sentence. One per sentence, at a real join, is plenty. Nu has a second life in reasoning, set out in interjections.

Ja and nedankinde

Ja stresses what you say, where English leans on do or really:

• Mi ja konas lin. - I do know him.
• Tio ja estas bona ideo. - That really is a good idea.

Do not confuse it with jam, already: Mi jam konas lin is I already know him.

The answer to dankon is nedankinde, not worth thanking, built from pieces you know:

• Dankon! - Nedankinde! - Thank you! - You're welcome!

A conversation at the door

Here is the whole layer in one short visit. Notice how little of it is grammar:

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Greet with saluton and leave with ĝis for a week.
2. End three sentences a day with ĉu ne?.
3. Then read Esperanto slang for the community's own words.

See also

• Greetings - saluton, dankon and why they end in -n.
• Esperanto slang - mojosa, krokodili, kabei and their stories.
• Interjections - ho, ve, nu and the noises.
• Questions - ĉu, and the tag that does the work of a dozen English ones.
• Letter writing and register - where samideano belongs.
• The Esperanto congress - Pasporta Servo, and the week itself.