Tricky Esperanto Prepositions: je, po and Direction -n

Four corners of the preposition system need a closer look. Je has no meaning of its own, po shares out a number, anstataŭ and krom can leave unclear whose role they replace, and -n after a place word means movement.

je: the preposition with no meaning

Rule 14 of the Fundamento gives every preposition one fixed meaning, then adds je for when none of them fits. Je means nothing by itself; usage has settled it on a short list:

My arm is the part caught, so je. His arm, the tool he caught me with, takes per: Li kaptis min per la brako. - He caught me with his arm.

The same rule lets a bare -n replace je where the meaning survives. It is common for times and measures:

• la trian horon - at three o'clock
• du jarojn pli juna - two years younger

Not every je can go. Mi kredas je vi is I believe in you; mi kredas al vi is a different claim, I believe you (what you say).

po: so many each

Po shares a number out: the number applies to each member of a group, not to the group as a whole.

12

1. 1du pomoj
2. 2ses pomoj

Tri infanoj ricevis po du pomoj: two apples each, six apples in all.

• Tri infanoj ricevis du pomojn. - Three children got two apples (two in all).
• Tri infanoj ricevis po du pomoj. - Three children got two apples each (six in all).

Po goes straight before the number or other amount (po du, po iom), never before the unit:

The second is the classic slip: English ten dollars a metre puts its distributive word before metre. In Esperanto the repeated amount takes po, and the unit usually takes por, or another fitting word such as en.

• Mi legos po dek paĝoj en ĉiu tago. - I will read ten pages a day.

The -n after po

Does the noun after po take -n when it is the object? The movement has never agreed:

PMEG says both uses are correct. This site writes po du pomoj, and marks nobody wrong for the other.

anstataŭ: whose place?

Anstataŭ (instead of) says that something else took the role, but not which role. With a subject and an object both in play, -n can show that the replaced person was the object:

• Li skribis la leteron anstataŭ mi. - He wrote the letter instead of me (I would have written it).
• Ŝi invitis lin anstataŭ min. - She invited him instead of me (I would have been invited).

Zamenhof's own pair, quoted in PMEG:

• Petro batis Paŭlon anstataŭ Vilhelmo. - Petro, not Vilhelmo, hit Paŭlo.
• Petro batis Paŭlon anstataŭ Vilhelmon. - Petro hit Paŭlo, not Vilhelmo.

Another preposition can do the same job: Li faris tion pro ŝi anstataŭ pro mi. - He did it for her sake instead of mine. Where nothing is unclear, plain anstataŭ is all you need: Anstataŭ kafo, mi trinkis teon.

krom: except or besides

Krom means both except and besides. The rest of the sentence decides:

When it must be unmistakable, use the long forms: escepte de li is only except him, aldone al li only besides him.

A -n after krom is possible for an object (krom lin), but PMEG calls it practically always superfluous, though not wrong: context almost never leaves doubt.

Direction -n: into, onto

After a place preposition, -n turns where it is into where it goes:

12

1. 1Li iras en la domon.
2. 2Li estas en la domo.

Li iras en la domon, he goes into the house: movement, so -n. Li estas en la domo, he is in the house: no -n.

Al and el already mean direction, so they never take it: Mi iras al la urbo. The accusative has the full set of jobs for -n.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Say what time you get up, eat and go to bed, with je.
2. Share out something in your house with po.
3. Then read prepositions again: every other one has a single meaning.

See also

• Prepositions - the full system, da and de, and the tio, ke pattern.
• The accusative - every job of -n, direction included.
• Adverbs - hejmen and kien, built from the same -n.
• Time expressions - je la tria in the wild, and the bare accusative.