Kilo Lingo
Esperanto grammar Part of Chapter 15

CEFR B1

5 min read

Test yourself (27 questions)

Esperanto Transitivity: Which Verbs Take an Object

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

An either takes an object or it never does, and the sentence cannot change that. English burn does both jobs; Esperanto has one verb for each, and the suffixes -- and -- build the partner.

-ig- (adds an object)-iĝ- (takes it away)the person, after althe -n endingWhat do the colours mean?
KindEsperantoEnglish
takes an object .I close the door.
never takes one .The car stops.
-- adds one .I stop the car.
-- takes it away .The door closes.
person after .I like the book.
one object only .He gave me a book.

Quick check

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

Pick the right one

0/3

Is the thing doing it by itself, or having it done to it? Pick the verb.

  1. La domo . (the house is burning)

  2. La knabo la paperon. (the boy is burning the paper)

  3. Li la aŭton. (he stopped the car)

One root, one class

A transitive verb takes an object with the accusative -n; an intransitive verb takes none, in any tense. Many English verbs do both jobs; an Esperanto root does one:

  • . - The house is burning.
  • . - The boy is burning the paper.

A transitive verb may leave its object unsaid, and it is still transitive:

  • . - I am eating.
  • . - I am eating bread.

That never works the other way. has no object to leave out, so I stop the car needs .

The pairs English uses one verb for

-ig- (adds an object)-iĝ- (takes it away)What do the colours mean?

Some plain roots take no object, and -- builds the verb that does:

EnglishIt happensYou do it to it
burn
stop
boil
drown
grow
last, go on
die, kill

Other plain roots take an object, and -- builds the verb that does not:

EnglishIt happensYou do it to it
begin
end
break
move
turn
change
open
close
wake

No ending predicts the side. Learn each root once, and the class holds in every tense and form:

  • . - I begin the work.
  • . - The work begins.

A few object-taking roots, , and among them, do turn up without an object in real texts ( , the work began). That use is old and widespread but discouraged; is the standard form, and the one to write.

Reading tr and ntr

-ig- (adds an object)-iĝ- (takes it away)What do the colours mean?

Dictionaries mark every verb with its class:

MarkMeansThe partner verb
trtransitiva: takes an object,
ntrnetransitiva: takes none,

Bilingual dictionaries may use their own marks, such as vt and . With no mark at all, read the entry's example: an object with -n (the noun that answers what?) after the verb means it takes one.

  • . - She closed the window. ( takes an object)

The verbs that put the person after al

the person, after althe -n endingWhat do the colours mean?

does not mean to like; it means to be pleasing. The thing is the subject, and the person comes after :

Subject
Verb
The rest
.
.
  • . - I like the book.
  • . - I like the book. (The book pleases me.)

A short set of common verbs works the same way, and none of them ever takes an object:

VerbExampleEnglish
.She likes the town.
.I am short of money.
.That is enough for us.
.The house belongs to me.
?What happened to you?
.That seems strange to me.

It is a list, not a rule about feelings. and take an ordinary object:

  • . - The noise bothers me.
  • . - The book interests me.

To put the person first with an object, use (like) or (need): . - I need money.

The helpi class: object or al

the person, after althe -n endingWhat do the colours mean?

A few verbs take either an object or , and both are correct. Each pair below means the same: I help him, forgive me, obey the law.

VerbWith an objectWith
. .
! !
. .

With , the offence can be the object while the person takes :

  • . - She forgave me the mistake.

Two pieces of advice. Pick one habit for and keep it within a text. And do not generalise: is not on this list, so is the only form.

Never two objects

the person, after althe -n endingWhat do the colours mean?

A verb has at most one object. English give me a book has two bare nouns; Esperanto puts the receiver after :

One person holds out a smiling book towards a second person, who reaches out happily to take it; a curved arrow with a heart runs from the giver to the receiver.

Mi donas (I give), la libron (the book, the one object), al vi (to you). Mi donas la libron al vi: I give you the book.

VerbExampleEnglish
.He gave me a book.
.She showed us the house.
.I teach the children the language.

can take the learners as its one object instead: . - She teaches the children.

A second -n can still appear, because direction, time and measure also take -n. They are not objects, so they never clash with one:

  • . - He worked all day.
  • . - She carried the book into the house.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
. . takes no object
. . takes no object
. is.nobody shut it: --
. .the book does the pleasing
. .the money is what is missing
? ? takes no object
. .one object only

What to do next

  1. Take five verbs from the pair tables and write one sentence for each side.
  2. Write three sentences with and rewrite each with .
  3. Then read -ig- and -iĝ-, the suffixes that cross the line.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Sort into groups

0/8

Can the verb take an object?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Pick the right one

0/6

Is the thing doing it by itself, or having it done to it? Pick the verb.

  1. La domo . (the house is burning)

  2. La knabo la paperon. (the boy is burning the paper)

  3. Li la aŭton. (he stopped the car)

  4. La glaso . (the glass broke; nobody touched it)

  5. Ŝi la infanon. (she wakes the child)

  6. La pordo malrapide. (the door opened by itself)

Spot the mistake

0/4

Each sentence has one wrong word. Tap it.

Complete the story

0/5

Choose the verb that fits each gap.

A morning

La horloĝo min je la sepa. Mi malrapide. Aŭto antaŭ la domo, kaj mia amiko la pordon. Mia nova laboro tre al mi.

Gap 1 of 5

Translation drill

0/4

Translate into Esperanto.

  1. The glass broke.

  2. I stopped the car.

  3. He lacks time. (use manki)

  4. She teaches the language to the children.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I know whether an Esperanto verb is transitive?
Look it up once. Dictionaries mark it tr (transitiva, takes an object) or ntr (netransitiva, does not), and the mark holds for the life of the root. A rough guide while you wait: roots for something a thing does by itself (, , , ) tend to be intransitive, and roots for something done to a thing (, , , ) tend to be transitive. When unsure, look it up: a wrong guess gives you .
Is it or in Esperanto?
Both are correct and both are common: and mean the same. works the same way ( , ), and is used with an object or with . The list is short, though: , and are not on it. Pick one habit for and keep it within a text.
Why is wrong in Esperanto?
Because means to be pleasing, not to like. The thing does the pleasing and the person comes after : , the book pleases me, which is how you say I like the book. says you are pleasing, and gives an object it can never take. If you want the person as the subject, use : .
Can an Esperanto verb take two objects with -n?
No. A verb has at most one object, so English give somebody something and teach somebody something put the person after a preposition, nearly always : , . Other -n words can share the sentence, because direction, time and measure also take -n ( ), but those are not objects.
What do tr and ntr mean in an Esperanto dictionary?
Transitiva and netransitiva: the verb takes a direct object, or it does not. The mark also tells you which suffix builds the partner verb. A tr root gets its no-object partner with -iĝ- (, i); an ntr root gets its object-taking partner with -ig- (, ). With no mark, read the example sentence and look for a noun with -n after the verb.