Alphabet

The Esperanto alphabet consists of 28 letters: a, b, c, ĉ, d, e, f, g, ĝ, h, ĥ, i, j, ĵ, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, ŝ, t, u, ŭ, v, z.

Note the following differences from English:

• a as in "father"
• c = ts as in "Betsy"
• ĉ = ch as in "church"
• e as in "there"
• g as in "give"
• ĝ as in "judge"
• h as in "hammer"
• ĥ = Scottish ch as in "Loch"
• i as in "machine"
• j = y as in "yes". aj, ej, oj, uj are diphtongs consisting respectivel of a, e, o, u plus a short i-sound. Thus
  • aj = i in "die"
  • ej = a in "face"
  • oj = oy in "boy"
  • uj = ui in "ruin", prnounced quickly.
• ĵ = zh as in "measure"
• o as in "north"
• r is always pronounced – ideally, rolled
• s as in "sense"
• ŝ = sh in "sharp"
• u as in "fool"
• ŭ = w as in "tower". aŭ, eŭ are diphtongs consisting respectively of "a" or "e" plus a short oo-sound. Thus
  • aŭ = ou in "mouth"
  • eŭ is as "eh-oo".

Pronunciation

Words are pronounced exactly as spelled, applying the equivalents mentioned above, e.g.

• amiko = ah-MEE-koh
• ĉambro = CHAHM-broh
• ĝi = jee.

Stress

Words of more than one syllable are stressed on the last syllable but one, e.g.

• te-le-FO-no (teh-leh-FOH-noh)
• ra-DI-o (rah-DEE-oh)
• kaj (kigh)
• a-MI-ko (ah-MEE-koh)
• ES-tas (ESS-tahss).
• NB: AN-kaŭ (because kaŭ is a single syllable).

Be careful over words like historio (hi-sto-RI-o, hee-stoh-REE-oh).

Article

The definite article is la (– *the). It is invariable (no change for gender, case or number). There is no indefinite article:

• la amiko – the friend
  • amiko – a friend
• la laboro – the work
  • laboro – work

Personal Pronouns

• mi – I
• vi – you
• li – he
• ŝi – she
• ĝi – it
• ni – we
• ili – they

The pronouns li, ŝi, ĝi are used in just the same way as English "he, she, it".

Possessive Pronouns

These are formed by adding the ending a to the simple pronouns:

• mia – my
• via – your
• lia – his
• ŝia – her
• ĝia – its
• nia – our
• ilia – their

Nouns

All nouns end in -O. There is no grammatical gender: where appropriate, feminine sex is indicated by a suffix.

• tablo – table
• lernanto – learner
• lernantino – learner (female)

Plural

The plural ending is j. Both nouns and adjectives take this ending, e.g.:

• tabloj – tables
• lernantoj – learners
• viaj lernantoj – your learners

Verbs

1. The infinitive ending is -i, e.g.
   • lerni – to learn
   • labori – to work
   • esti – to be.
2. The present tense ending is -as. It is the same for all persons and numbers:
   • mi sidas – I sit
   • vi sidas – you sit
   • ni sidas – we sit
   • ili sidas – they sit.

Ĉu?

This is an interrogative particle, used to turn a statement into a yes/no question:

• Ĉu vi sidas? – Are you sitting?
• Ĉu vi skribas? – Are you writing? Do you write?

Kiu?

This interrogative functions both as a pronoun ("who?") and as an adjective ("which?"), e.g.

• Kiu vi estas? – Who are you?
• Kiu instruisto sidas? – Which teacher is sitting?

The Suffix -ist

is used to form the name of a person regularly engaged in some activity, e.g.

• instruisto – teacher
• hotelisto – hotelier, hotel-keeper
• esperantisto – Esperantist, adherent of Esperanto

The Suffix -in

is used to form the feminine of a noun:

• patro – father
  • patrino – mother
• lernanto – pupil
  • lernantino – pupil (female)
• instruisto – teacher
  • instruistino – (woman) teacher

Affirmative Particle

jes has the same sound and meaning as the English "yes".

• Ĉu vi estas en la ĉambro?
  • Jes, mi estas en la ĉambro.

Negative Particle

ne corresponds to "no" (opposite of "yes") and to "not":

• Ne, mi ne estas en la ĉambro.