Kilo Lingo
Esperanto grammar Part of Chapter 11

CEFR A2-B1

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Test yourself (17 questions)

Esperanto Proverbs: 15 From Zamenhof's Proverbaro

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

Zamenhof's o (1910) holds about 2,600 proverbs, and each one is a grammar point you will not forget. Here are fifteen, grouped by what they teach, each with its literal English.

ki- (the question word)ti- (the answering word)object -nthe part that does the workWhat do the colours mean?
Grammar pointProverb
... , .
... , .
the object -n .
... , .
o o.
a participle .
the -u command .

Quick check

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

Pick the right one

0/3

Complete the proverb.

  1. Kiu ne riskas, ne gajnas.

  2. Kia patrino, filino.

  3. Pli bona pano sen butero, dolĉa kuko sen libero.

Where the proverbs come from

Markus Zamenhof, a language teacher, collected equivalent proverbs across Russian, Polish, French and German. His son, L. L. Zamenhof, had built a language, and rendered the collection into it:

FactDetail
published1910
sizeabout 2,600 proverbs
sourceMarkus Zamenhof's four-language collection
copyrightnone: Zamenhof died in 1917

The catch: nobody spent centuries polishing these in Esperanto. They are European proverbs, translated by one man. Speakers have used them for over a century since, which is how any becomes idiomatic.

Correlative pairs: kiu ... tiu

ki- (the question word)ti- (the answering word)What do the colours mean?

Many proverbs in the collection open with (who) and answer with (that one): the same row of the correlative table, first letter changed.

#ProverbLiterally
1 , .Who does not risk, that one does not win.
2 , .Who jumps too fast, that one soon stops.
3 , .Who sows wind will reap a thunderstorm.
4 , .What kind of mother, that kind of daughter.

Line 3 drops : when the subject is obvious, it can go. In line 4, asks what kind and answers it, with no verb at all: like mother, like daughter.

A friendly family tree drawn on a big green tree: the grandmother and grandfather at the top; below them their son (the father) with the mother beside him, and the father's brother (the uncle); at the bottom, the parents' two children, a smiling girl with a sparkle and her younger brother.

Kia patrino, tia filino: the mother (3) and her daughter (6). Like mother, like daughter.

The accusative at work

object -nWhat do the colours mean?
#ProverbLiterally
5 .Hope does not give bread.
6 .Do not shove your nose into a strange vase.
7 .Time is money.
  • Line 5 puts the object before the verb. The -n shows that bread is what is given, so the order is free for rhythm.
  • Line 6 uses -n twice: is the object, and takes -n after because the nose moves into the vase. It means mind your own business, and it rhymes.
  • Line 7 has no -n: after , is what is, not an object. is the poetic short form of (see poetic Esperanto).

Comparison: pli ... ol and plej

pli, plejolWhat do the colours mean?
#ProverbLiterally
8 , .Better bread without butter than sweet cake without freedom.
9 .Repetition is the best learning.
10 .After ugly weather shines the sun most bright.

(more) wants (than), never . (most) is the whole superlative: there is no -est to learn, as comparisons shows.

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.

Post vetero malbela lumas suno plej hela: after ugly weather (2, the rain) the sun shines brightest (1).

Line 10 also shows free order: the verb comes before its subject , and both adjectives follow their nouns, here for the rhyme.

Participles, affixes and compounds

the part that does the workWhat do the colours mean?
#ProverbLiterally
11 .Not everything shining is a diamond.
12 .Even a small fly is not without a mouth.

Look back at lines 3 and 9 too. The pieces:

WordPiecesWhat it adds
+ --shining, right now
- + the opposite: small
+ --repeating as a habit
+ lightning-thunder

says everything that shines in two words: that is what participles are for. In the last root is the thing and the first describes it, as in Esperanto compounds generally.

sia, and lines with no verb

object -nWhat do the colours mean?
#ProverbLiterally
13 .Everyone has their own taste.
14 , .First came, first took.
15 .A friend in joy and in tears.
  • Line 13: is the reflexive possessive, the subject's own. It takes -n to agree with .
  • Line 14 uses the adjective (first) as the subject, with no noun: first come, first served.
  • Line 15 has no verb at all: proverbs often leave the verb out.

Mistakes learners make

WrongRightWhy
no -n after
is the object
... ... after , than is
agrees with

What to do next

  1. Learn three proverbs, not fifteen, until you can say them without thinking.
  2. For each, name the grammar it carries.
  3. Read the congress article for the community that keeps these lines in use.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/4

Complete the proverb.

  1. Kiu ne riskas, ne gajnas.

  2. Kia patrino, filino.

  3. Pli bona pano sen butero, dolĉa kuko sen libero.

  4. Ne ĉio estas diamanto.

Spot the mistake

0/4

Each line is a proverb with one mistake in it. Tap it.

Build the word

0/4

Build the word the proverb uses.

  1. shining (brili + present participle, adjective)

    Accents optional - cx, gx, ux work for ĉ, ĝ, ŭ

    Your word is empty.

  2. repetition as a habit (ripeti + ongoing action)

    Accents optional - cx, gx, ux work for ĉ, ĝ, ŭ

    Your word is empty.

  3. small (the opposite of granda)

    Accents optional - cx, gx, ux work for ĉ, ĝ, ŭ

    Your word is empty.

  4. a thunderstorm (lightning + thunder)

    Accents optional - cx, gx, ux work for ĉ, ĝ, ŭ

    Your word is empty.

Matching

0/5

Match each proverb to the English one that says the same.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the o ?
A collection of about 2,600 proverbs in Esperanto, published in 1910. Its source was a comparative collection of Russian, Polish, French and German proverbs made by Markus Zamenhof, a language teacher. His son L. L. Zamenhof, who created Esperanto, rendered it into Esperanto. It is the standard source of Esperanto proverbs and long out of copyright.
Why should a learner read proverbs?
Because a is a whole grammar pattern in a line you remember without trying. , holds a correlative pair, a clause and a negation in six words. Once the line is in your head, the structure comes with it.
Do Esperanto proverbs come from anywhere real?
Yes: they are European proverbs, with Russian, Polish, French and German parallels, put into Esperanto by Zamenhof. They did not grow up among Esperanto speakers, because in 1910 there had not been time. A century of use has made the common ones idiomatic, which is how proverbs settle into any language.
Are the proverbs still used today?
The common few dozen are, as English speakers use a handful of proverbs and ignore the rest. , and are widely known. Many others are rural nineteenth-century wisdom and sound dated now, but they still make good grammar practice.
What does mean?
Literally: do not shove your nose into someone else's vase. It means mind your own business, and it rhymes. is the -u command, takes -n as the object, and takes -n after because the nose moves into the vase.