Kilo Lingo
Esperanto grammar Part of Chapter 1

CEFR A1

6 min read

Test yourself (28 questions)

How to Type Esperanto Letters: ĉ ĝ ĥ ĵ ŝ ŭ on Any Device

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 11 October 2026

Every Esperanto course teaches ĉ on page one and leaves you to work out how to type it. The first answer you find, the US-International keyboard, gives you this:

  • ^c ^g ^h ^j ^s - what US-International actually produces

Here is what works, per device, checked against the vendors' own documentation.

DeviceWhat worksLetters
WindowsPowerToys Quick Accent6 of 6
US-Internationalnothing: avoid0 of 6
ABC Extended, two dead keys6 of 6
Linuxthe epo layout, or Compose6 of 6
AndroidGboard with added6 of 6
iPhone and iPadText Replacement (cx to ĉ)6 of 6

Quick check

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

Pick the right one

0/3

The x-system. Pick the two-letter sequence that stands for each hatted letter on a keyboard that cannot produce it.

  1. ĉ

  2. ĝ

  3. ĥ

The six letters, and where they live

Esperanto has 28 letters, six of which English does not. Five wear a circumflex, the (hat), and one wears a breve. The alphabet page has the sounds; this is the plumbing.

LetterSmallCapitalAccent
ĉU+0109U+0108circumflex
ĝU+011DU+011Ccircumflex
ĥU+0125U+0124circumflex
ĵU+0135U+0134circumflex
ŝU+015DU+015Ccircumflex
ŭU+016DU+016Cbreve

All six are precomposed characters in Unicode's Latin Extended-A block: one character each, named the obvious way (U+0109 is latin small letter c with circumflex).

Each can also be built from two characters, a plain letter plus a combining accent. On screen the two look identical; to software they are not. Many search boxes and sorting routines handle only the single character properly. Everything below produces the single character.

Windows

Windows ships no keyboard layout. You can add Esperanto as a language in Settings, but no layout comes with it, which is where many people stop and assume they are done.

And the US-International layout does not work. Its circumflex dead key composes with vowels only, and there is no breve key: ^ then c gives the caret and the c side by side. Zero of six. If you tried this and concluded you were doing it wrong, you were not.

What works: PowerToys Quick Accent. Microsoft's own free utility, with Esperanto as a built-in character set. Install PowerToys, open Quick Accent, enable it and tick under Characters. Then hold a letter and tap Space (the default trigger; the Activation key setting also offers plain press-and-hold):

Hold, then SpaceYou get
cĉ
gĝ
hĥ
jĵ
sŝ
uŭ
Also on WindowsVerdict
Word's Alt+Xtype 0109, press Alt+X: ĉ. Mainly Word
Alt + numpad codesunreliable: most apps use a code page without them
Layout Creatordated (lists Windows XP); not needed
the old x-to-hats utility; untested on Windows 11

macOS

There is no input source on a Mac, but there is something better: ABC Extended, which Apple already ships. Add it in System Settings, under Keyboard, then Input Sources. Two dead keys cover all six:

PressThenYou get
Option+6c g h j sĉ ĝ ĥ ĵ ŝ
Option+Buŭ

A dead key produces nothing on its own: press it, let go, then press the letter (shifted for a capital). Option+6 is easy to remember because ^ lives over the 6. Do not rely on press-and-hold: it offers no circumflex on c and no breve on u. For a custom layout, Ukelele is the free editor people use.

Linux

The only desktop that ships an keyboard. The xkb layout epo (the command setxkbmap epo, or pick it in your desktop's keyboard settings) is the cleanest option on any system.

For everything else, set a Compose key (GNOME: Settings, Keyboard; KDE: Input Devices, Keyboard, Advanced), then:

SequenceGives
Compose ^ cĉ
Compose ^ sŝ
Compose u uŭ

The other circumflex letters work the same way, and capitals with the capital letter. As an escape hatch under IBus, Ctrl+Shift+U, then 109, then space gives ĉ.

Android

The easy one. Add Esperanto as a Gboard language: Settings, System, Languages and input, the on-screen keyboard, Gboard, Languages, Add keyboard. Then long-press the hatless letter: hold c for ĉ, u for ŭ.

You also get prediction and autocorrect that know , which matters more than the keystrokes: the phone stops fighting you.

iPhone and iPad

The bad one. iOS ships no Esperanto keyboard, and long-press reaches none of the six. The exact menus depend on which keyboard languages you have installed, but on an English keyboard:

HoldWhat iOS offers
cç ć č, but no ĉ
gno ĝ
hno ĥ
jnothing
sß ś š, but no ŝ
useveral accents, but no breve

The fix is Text Replacement: Settings, General, Keyboard, Text Replacement. Add one entry per letter:

PhraseShortcut
ĉcx
ĝgx
ĥhx
ĵjx
ŝsx
ŭux

Two minutes, and the x-system is built into the phone. Third-party Esperanto keyboards exist on the App Store; try Text Replacement first.

The web, and other people's computers

ToolWhat it does
TypeIt.typeit.org: buttons and Alt shortcuts
Iksumilothe Association of Britain's x converter
Browser extensionsconvert x-system as you type; volunteer projects

Nothing to install for the first two: type, then copy the result out.

Autocorrect, and how to disarm it

WhereWhat to do
Firefox, Chromethe LanguageTool extension checks
LibreOfficeinstall the spellchecker extension
Microsoft Wordno proofing exists: turn proofing off
Androidsolved by the Gboard language
iOSturn -Correction off while writing

The x-system is input, not spelling

Two substitute systems exist for a keyboard with no hats:

SystemLettersStatus
h-systemch gh hh jh sh uthe Fundamento's own
x-systemcx gx hx jx sx uxunofficial, and it won

The x won because it is not an Esperanto letter, so cx can only mean ĉ and converts back mechanically. The h is a real letter: (airport) has a real g then a real h, and no converter can tell that seam from a ĝ. That is why this site's URLs use x: //words/sxi cannot be misread.

But neither is a spelling. The Akademio's 2007 position is that, where the hats cannot be used, the Fundamento's h-system comes first, and any other substitute is a technical expedient for when it is impractical, not a change to the orthography:

  • ? - Will you come? (published)
  • Cxu ? - the same, typed with no hats: fine in a draft, not on the page

The Akademio's 2007 ruling on substitute letters (it names only the h-system) is in who decides what is correct Esperanto?, and why the h-system can mislead and the x-system cannot, in the ĥ question. To spell a word aloud, letter by letter, see letter names and spelling aloud.

What was dropped

These were checked and left out, because a wrong keystroke costs more than a missing one:

  • !, the Windows utility: its documentation stops at Vista.
  • A Windows 11 version of : the claim could not be confirmed.
  • Any Google Docs shortcut: nothing could be confirmed.
  • Several old web converters and one Android keyboard that could not be shown to be alive.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/6

The x-system. Pick the two-letter sequence that stands for each hatted letter on a keyboard that cannot produce it.

  1. ĉ

  2. ĝ

  3. ĥ

  4. ĵ

  5. ŝ

  6. ŭ

Matching

0/6

One device, one method that actually works. Match each to the answer this page verified rather than the one people repeat.

Spot the mistake

0/4

Type x, publish hats. Each sentence was published with one x-system word left in it. Tap it.

Fill in the blank

0/7

Complete each sentence about typing. Watch the endings - two of these are objects, and two are imperatives.

  1. Mi en Esperanto per mia komputilo. (Present tense. The verb this whole page is named after.)

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

  2. La ĉ ne estas sur ordinara klavaro. (Subject, singular, so no ending to add.)

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

  3. Vi devas la programon unue. (After devas you need an infinitive.)

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

  4. la ĝustan sistemon por via aparato. (An instruction, so the -u ending. To choose.)

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

  5. Ne vian pasvorton al aliaj homoj. (A negative instruction. To show.)

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

  6. Mi trovis la en la retejo. (Object of trovis, and there is one of it.)

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

  7. Ĉi tiu klavaro ne havas . (Object, plural. What the six letters wear.)

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

Pick the right one

0/5

Two claims about typing Esperanto, one of which is the thing people repeat and get wrong. Pick the true one.

  1. (about the US-International keyboard)

  2. (about Windows)

  3. (about the iPhone long-press)

  4. (about the x-system)

  5. (about the h-system)

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Esperanto · Free printables

Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. Table 1
  3. The six letters, and where they live
  4. Windows
  5. Windows
  6. macOS
  7. Linux
  8. iPhone and iPad
  9. iPhone and iPad
  10. The web, and other people's computers
  11. Autocorrect, and how to disarm it
  12. The x-system is input, not spelling

Other formats

  1. Listicle

Related grammar

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest way to type Esperanto letters on Windows?
Install Microsoft PowerToys and turn on Quick Accent. Esperanto is a built-in character set there: hold c, tap Space (the default trigger key) and you are offered ĉ, and the same for g, h, j, s and u. Avoid the advice you will hear first, switching to the US-International layout: its circumflex dead key takes vowels only and it has no breve, so it produces none of the six.
How do I type ĉ and ŭ on a Mac?
Switch on the ABC Extended input source in System Settings, under Keyboard, then Input Sources. Option+6 is the circumflex: press it, release, then c, g, h, j or s. Option+B is the breve: press it, release, then u. That is six of six from a layout Apple already ships; the press-and-hold popup will not help, because it offers no circumflex on c.
Why can I not type Esperanto on my iPhone?
Because iOS ships no Esperanto keyboard and the long-press menus reach none of the six letters: hold c and you get accents such as ç, ć and č but no ĉ, hold j and nothing appears. The free fix is Text Replacement, in Settings under General, then Keyboard: make cx expand to ĉ, gx to ĝ and so on. Third-party keyboards exist too, but try Text Replacement first.
Should I write cx and gx, or the real letters?
Type the x-system if it is quicker, then convert it before anybody reads it. Cx is a way of getting ĉ onto the screen, not a way of spelling the word: the Akademio's 2007 position is that substitutes are a technical expedient, not an orthography. Use x to type and to search, and the real letters in anything another person will read.
What is the h-system in Esperanto?
The Fundamento's own substitute for the hatted letters: ch, gh, hh, jh, sh, and a bare u for ŭ. It has official standing but lost to the x-system on computers, because h is a real Esperanto letter and x is not. (airport) contains a real g followed by a real h, so a converter cannot tell that gh from a ĝ; cx can only ever mean ĉ.