Esperanto Verbs and Prepositions: Which One Each Verb Takes

Which preposition a verb takes is vocabulary, not grammar: you think pri something, depend de it, and something pleases al you. Some verbs take a plain object where English has a preposition (atendi la trajnon), and many take either. When nothing fits, the Fundamento supplies je.

Pri: the topic

PMEG defines pri as the preposition that shows a topic: what an action is about or concerns. Read it as "the topic marker" and most of these need no memorising:

Paroli takes kun for the person you talk with: Mi parolis kun ŝi. - I talked with her. Konsenti does the same: pri for the question, kun for the person.

• Mi konsentas kun vi pri tio. - I agree with you about that.

Ridi takes pri, pro or je, all three in use: Ili ridis pri mia eraro. - They laughed at my mistake.

Al: the person reached

Al marks the party an action reaches. With a verb of giving, the thing takes -n and the person takes al:

123

1. 1mi
2. 2la libron
3. 3al vi

Mi donas la libron al vi: I give the book to you. The book takes -n; the person reached takes al.

Some verbs take no object at all, only the person reached:

Respondi takes al for whoever or whatever is answered, and an object for what you say: Ŝi respondis nenion al mia letero. - She gave no answer to my letter.

Plaĉi turns the English round: the thing liked is the subject. The other members of that set (manki al, sufiĉi al) are in impersonal constructions.

Danki takes the person as an object or after al, and the reason after pro or por:

• Mi dankas al vi pro la helpo. - I thank you for the help.
• Ŝi dankis min pro la donaco. - She thanked me for the present.

De, en, el and the rest

The rest of the common set, each with one job:

Konsisti el gives the parts; konsisti en gives the essence: La problemo konsistas en tio, ke... - The problem lies in the fact that...

Edziĝi and edziniĝi take kun or al. The Fundamento's own Ekzercaro has li edziĝis je ŝi, but the dictionaries give al and kun, and that is what writers use today.

Plain object: no preposition

These verbs take a plain object, the -n, where English puts a preposition. This is where English speakers go wrong most:

Timi also takes pri, with a different meaning: the thing you fear for.

• Mi timas pri via sano. - I am worried for your health.

Peti takes the person or the thing as its object, never both: Mi petis lin pri helpo. - I asked him for help.

Object or preposition: both correct

Many verbs take either a plain object or a preposition, and both are standard. The licence is in the Fundamento itself, in exercise 29 of the Ekzercaro:

El la dirita regulo sekvas, ke se ni pri ia verbo ne scias, ĉu ĝi postulas post si la akuzativon (t. e. ĉu ĝi estas aktiva) aŭ ne, ni povas ĉiam uzi la akuzativon. Ekzemple, ni povas diri "obei al la patro" kaj "obei la patron".

If you do not know whether a verb takes the accusative, you may always use it: obei al la patro and obei la patron are both right. The verbs where both forms are in common use:

Pick one form and keep it within a text. Two limits stop this being a licence to invent:

• No verb takes two objects. The same exercise: pardoni al la malamiko lian kulpon - to forgive the enemy his offence, never pardoni la malamikon lian kulpon.
• Some verbs never take an object. Plaĉi, aparteni and okazi put the person after al, never in the accusative: plaĉi min is wrong.

Transitivity covers which verbs take an object at all.

Kredi: three meanings

With kredi, the choice changes the meaning:

So mi kredas je vi is I believe in you: you will come through. Nobody will misunderstand a swap, but it is one of the few verbs where the preposition carries real meaning.

Je: when nothing fits

Rule 14 of the Fundamento gives every preposition a fixed meaning, then adds je for when the sense does not show which to use. Its examples are all verbs and nouns of feeling:

The Ekzercaro adds that je is best used as seldom as possible, and that the accusative may replace it:

• Mi sopiras je mia perdita feliĉo. - I long for my lost happiness.
• Mi sopiras mian perditan feliĉon. - the same, with the accusative.

Today ĝoji normally takes pri or pro: Mi ĝojas pro via helpo. - I am glad of your help. Use je where usage has settled on it, as in kredi je and je la tria horo; elsewhere a preposition with a meaning reads better. Tricky prepositions covers je in full.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. When you meet a new verb, learn it with what follows it: dependi de, not dependi.
2. Unsure? Pri for a topic, al for a person reached, or try the accusative.
3. Then read pri- verbs: pripensi, priskribi, where the preposition moves into the verb.

See also

• Pri- verbs - pensi pri io becomes pripensi ion, with a shift in meaning.
• Transitivity - which verbs take an object at all, and why no verb takes two.
• Prepositions - the survey: one fixed meaning each.
• Tricky prepositions - je and po in depth, and the accusative of direction.
• The accusative - the -n that can stand in for a preposition.
• Impersonal constructions - plaĉi al mi, mankas al mi, and sentences with nobody in them.
• The Fundamento and the Akademio - why a rule from 1905 still settles arguments.