Kilo Lingo
Esperanto grammar Part of Chapter 18

CEFR B2-C1

4 min read

Test yourself (22 questions)

Esperanto Rhyme and Metre: Counting Syllables, Adasismo

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

is counted, not argued. Every vowel is a syllable and the stress always falls on the second-last one, so a line either fits its pattern or does not. The craft is in the line endings and in rhymes that reach into the root.

the stressed syllablerhyme carried by the roota shared grammatical endingWhat do the colours mean?
PointExampleEnglish
fixed stress, humanity (elided: )
weak endinga song: ends unstressed
strong ending'brotherhood: ends on stress
real rhyme / circle / world
adasismo / singing / loving

Quick check

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

Pick the right one

0/3

How many syllables? Count the vowels; j and ŭ do not count.

  1. Al la mond' eterne militanta

  2. Al la mondo eterne militanta

  3. Anoncu al ĉiu dormanto

This page builds on poetic Esperanto, which covers the apostrophe itself.

Counting syllables

Count the vowels: a, e, i, o, u. J and ŭ are consonants, so , oj, and add nothing:

WordSyllablesCount
2
-o4
2
2
1

Zamenhof's runs ten syllables a line. That is why its first stanza has an apostrophe:

With the line is eleven syllables; with it is ten. The elision is there to fit, nothing more. and in the later stanzas save a syllable the same way.

Strong and weak line endings

the stressed syllableWhat do the colours mean?

Because the stress is on the second-last syllable, every unelided word of two or more syllables ends on a weak beat:

  • , - weak ending (, )
  • ', - strong ending (, )

A line can end strong in two ways: on a one-syllable word (, ), or on an elided noun. Grabowski's o alternates strong and weak endings on purpose:

, ',

, !

,

:

LineSyllablesEnds on
111': strong
29: weak
311: strong
49: weak

In the long lines the stress falls on syllables 2, 5, 8 and 11: a-GOR- , -a . The last stress lands on the final syllable only because ' is elided. does the opposite: every line ends weak, on words like and .

Rhyme and adasismo

rhyme carried by the roota shared grammatical endingWhat do the colours mean?

Every Esperanto noun ends -o and every past-tense verb -is, so a rhyme on the ending alone is free. That kind of rhyme is called adasismo. Antoni Grabowski named it, and the Parnasa Gvidlibro of 1932, a poetics handbook by Kálmán Kalocsay, Waringhien and Roger Bernard, treats it as a fault.

The test: does the rhyme reach into the root?

PairVerdict
/ real rhyme
/ real rhyme
/ real rhyme
/ adasismo
/ adasismo

A shared ending is not the fault in itself. The rhymes on -az-, which is root, and the object - simply comes along:

  • / - a real rhyme that also shares an ending.

Adasismo is a judgement of style, not grammar. Nobody will call the poem wrong; they will say it was easy.

The word order verse can afford

object -nWhat do the colours mean?

The accusative -n marks the object wherever it stands, so a can move words to fit the line:

  • . - The boy sees the dog.
  • . - The same: the boy sees the dog.

splits an object round its own verb, and the -n on both halves holds it together:

/

It does not draw the human family towards the sword that thirsts for blood. and agree across . In prose, keep the plain order: see word order and style.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
(3)-o (4)every vowel is a syllable
an-ta-u (3) (2)ŭ is a consonant, so is one syllable
is / is / rhyming on a shared - alone is adasismo

What to do next

  1. Count the syllables of three lines of La Espero.
  2. Mark the strong and weak endings in La Tagiĝo.
  3. Find three real rhymes on root material, and one adasismo to avoid.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/5

How many syllables? Count the vowels; j and ŭ do not count.

  1. Al la mond' eterne militanta

  2. Al la mondo eterne militanta

  3. Anoncu al ĉiu dormanto

  4. hejmo

  5. familio

Sort into groups

0/5

Does the line end on a stressed syllable or a weak one?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Sort into groups

0/6

Does the rhyme reach into the root, or share only an ending?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Put the words in order

0/2

Put the words in order. The endings, not the order, say who sees whom.

  1. The boy sees the dog. Put the dog first.

    Your sentence is empty.

  2. I love you. Put you first.

    Your sentence is empty.

Matching

0/4

Match each term to what it means.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you count syllables in Esperanto?
Count the vowels: a, e, i, o, u. J and ŭ are consonants, so , oj, and are one syllable each: has four syllables (-o), but has two. Elision takes one syllable away: has two, has one.
Where is the stress in Esperanto poetry?
Where it is in prose: on the second-last syllable, and an elided word keeps it on the same vowel ( is ). Poets do not move it. That is what makes the countable: you know where every word's stress falls before you hear the line, so a line either fits its pattern or does not.
What is adasismo in Esperanto poetry?
Rhyming on nothing but a shared grammatical ending: with , is with is. Every past-tense verb ends -is and every noun -o, so such rhymes cost nothing. Antoni Grabowski gave the fault its name, and the Parnasa Gvidlibro (1932), the poetics handbook by Kalocsay, Waringhien and Bernard, treats it as a fault to avoid.
Is it adasismo if two rhyming words share an ending?
Not if the rhyme reaches into the root. and both end in the object -on, but the rhyme is carried by -az-, which is root material, so it is a real rhyme. The fault is a shared ending doing ALL the work, as in and .
Why can Esperanto poetry change word order so freely?
Because the endings, not the positions, say who does what. still means the boy sees the dog, since the -n marks the dog as the object. Zamenhof's splits an object round its verb, , and the matching -n endings hold it together.