Esperanto Grammar Guide

Welcome to the Elon.io Esperanto Grammar Guide. 604 topics across every area of Esperanto grammar, tagged by CEFR level so you can find the right page for your level.

A174 pagesA2184 pagesB1165 pagesB295 pagesC167 pagesC219 pages

Start Here (A1)

New to Esperanto? These are the foundation topics every beginner needs.

A1 Esperanto Grammar Path — Follow a complete beginner sequence from sound and word endings to short conversations, cumulative review, and an A1 capstone.
Adjectives and the -A Ending — How the productive -a ending creates describing words and how adjectives agree, modify nouns, and function after esti.
Adjective Agreement in Number — Learn why Esperanto adjectives take -j when they describe plural people or things, in both noun phrases and predicates.
Adjective Agreement in the Accusative — Learn when Esperanto adjectives copy the accusative -n, how -ajn is built, and why predicative adjectives normally remain without -n.
Relational and Classifying Adjectives — How -a adjectives classify a noun by material, field, place, time, purpose, or another relation.
Evaluative Adjectives — How adjectives such as bona, grava, interesa, and absurda express judgment, degree, and speaker stance.
Possessive Adjectives — How possessive forms in -a combine adjective agreement with determiner, predicate, and standalone uses.
The Definite Article La — How invariant la marks a referent that the listener can identify, and when another determiner or zero article is required.
When Esperanto Uses Zero Article — How bare noun phrases express new, indefinite, generic, mass, predicative, and name-based meanings without an article.
Previously Mentioned Referents — Use la to return to an already introduced person or thing, and zero article to introduce a new one.
No Indefinite Article — How bare Esperanto noun phrases express English a, an, and some without inventing a new article.
Demonstrative Determination — How tiu, ĉi tiu, and tia identify an individual or a type without combining with la.

Learner Paths

CEFR Paths

A1 Esperanto Grammar PathA1 — Follow a complete beginner sequence from sound and word endings to short conversations, cumulative review, and an A1 capstone.
A2 Esperanto Grammar PathA2 — Extend A1 foundations into connected narration, precise reference, route and time language, clause combining, and an A2 capstone.
B1 Esperanto Grammar PathB1 — A prerequisite-aware B1 roadmap for turning core Esperanto grammar into connected narration, explanation, interaction, and independent self-correction.
B2 Esperanto Grammar PathB2 — A complete B2 roadmap for controlling information structure, reporting, participial perspective, conventional word formation, and register across sustained communication.
C1 Esperanto Grammar PathC1 — A prerequisite-aware C1 roadmap for controlling complex clauses, register, discourse, variation, and evidence in sustained Esperanto.
C2 Esperanto Grammar PathC2 — A C2 roadmap for editorial control, source-sensitive analysis, deliberate variation, and expert revision across Esperanto registers.

Adjectives

Foundations

Adjectives and the -A EndingA1 — How the productive -a ending creates describing words and how adjectives agree, modify nouns, and function after esti.
Adjective Agreement in NumberA1 — Learn why Esperanto adjectives take -j when they describe plural people or things, in both noun phrases and predicates.
Adjective Agreement in the AccusativeA1 — Learn when Esperanto adjectives copy the accusative -n, how -ajn is built, and why predicative adjectives normally remain without -n.
Attributive and Predicative AdjectivesA2 — Distinguish adjectives inside noun phrases from adjectives that assert a subject's or object's state, and choose agreement endings accordingly.
Adjective PositionA2 — Learn the neutral and marked positions of Esperanto adjectives, and use word order to control emphasis, clarity, and scope.
Multiple AdjectivesB1 — Combine Esperanto adjectives clearly, coordinate them with or without kaj, and use agreement and order to show scope.
Adjectives with Compound Noun PhrasesB1 — How adjectives agree with a compound noun as a whole and how phrase structure controls their scope.
Adjectives after EstiB2 — How predicative adjectives after esti describe the subject, agree in number, and remain outside the accusative.

Meaning and Use

Relational and Classifying AdjectivesA1 — How -a adjectives classify a noun by material, field, place, time, purpose, or another relation.
Evaluative AdjectivesA1 — How adjectives such as bona, grava, interesa, and absurda express judgment, degree, and speaker stance.
Possessive AdjectivesA1 — How possessive forms in -a combine adjective agreement with determiner, predicate, and standalone uses.
Adjective ComplementsA2 — How Esperanto adjectives complete their meaning with prepositional phrases and clauses while preserving agreement and clear attachment.
Adjectives with InfinitivesA2 — How adjectives such as preta and kapabla combine with infinitives, and when an impersonal evaluation requires an adverb instead.
Adjectives and DegreeA2 — How invariant degree words strengthen, weaken, limit, negate, and compare the properties expressed by Esperanto adjectives.
Non-Gradable AdjectivesB1 — How classifying, binary, identity, and endpoint adjectives resist ordinary degree—and how context can deliberately reinterpret them.
Adjective ScopeB1 — How word order, agreement, phrase boundaries, degree words, and rewriting show exactly what an Esperanto adjective describes.
Lexicalized Adjective-Noun CombinationsB2 — Understand conventional Esperanto adjective–noun combinations whose established meanings go beyond a literal description.

Adverbs

Forms

Adverbs and the -E EndingA2 — Build Esperanto adverbs with -e and use them to modify actions, qualities, circumstances, and whole clauses.
Primitive AdverbsA2 — Use Esperanto's endingless adverb-like particles for time, place, degree, focus, and logical connection.
Manner AdverbsA2 — Describe how actions happen with Esperanto -e adverbs, and distinguish manner from participant states and sentence commentary.
Time AdverbsB1 — Place events in time with Esperanto primitive particles and productive -e forms, including precise contrasts such as ĵus, tuj, and lunde.
Place AdverbsB1 — Express location and direction with productive -e forms, place correlatives, and directional -n.
Degree AdverbsB2 — Scale qualities, manners, and actions precisely with tre, tro, sufiĉe, pli, and productive -e forms.

Placement and Scope

Adverb PositionA2 — Place adverbs for clear scope, natural information flow, and deliberate focus in Esperanto clauses.
Adverbs with VerbsA2 — Modify actions and states with manner, time, place, frequency, and degree adverbs without agreement.
Adverbs with Adjectives and AdverbsA2 — How derived -e words and primitive adverbs modify properties and manners, with scope shown by close placement.
Adverbs Modifying Whole ClausesB1 — How sentence adverbs express probability, evaluation, viewpoint, and speaker stance toward an entire proposition.
Tre, Multe, and MultaB1 — Choose tre for degree, multe for amount or extent, and multa for a quantity expressed as an adjective.
Jam, Ankoraŭ, and Ne PluB2 — Use jam for a reached change, ankoraŭ for continuing prior reality, and ne plu for a state that has ended.
Nur and EĉB2 — Place nur before what is restricted and eĉ before what is presented as an unexpected extreme.
Adverb Scope and AmbiguityC1 — Control which word, phrase, or proposition an Esperanto adverb modifies through placement, punctuation, and explicit restructuring.

Annotated Texts

Progressive Readings

A First MeetingA2 — An annotated beginner dialogue for greeting someone, exchanging names, asking a yes–no question, and sharing where you come from and live.
At a CaféA2 — An annotated beginner café dialogue using polite requests, counted servings, da-quantities, accusative objects, and a price.
Finding the StationA2 — Read and analyze a natural direction dialogue using kie, spatial prepositions, route language, and directional -n.
A Weekend PlanA2 — Analyze an everyday planning conversation contrasting future -os, voli, povi, and precise time expressions.
A Short Personal MessageA2 — Read an informal message whose salutation, past-tense narrative, and linking words create natural personal cohesion.
A Weather ForecastA2 — Analyze a concise forecast using subjectless weather verbs, place correlatives, and future -os.
Proverb: Pli Bone Malfrue Ol NeniamB1 — Unpack a traditional Esperanto proverb through its ellipsis, adverbial comparison, pragmatic force, and modern use.
Proverb: Ne Ĉio Brilanta Estas DiamantoB1 — An annotated reading of a Zamenhof proverb showing not-all negation, an active participial adjective, predicative classification, and generic reference.
Travel Diary EntryB1 — An annotated B1 travel diary showing narrative sequence, ek- and -ad- aspect, adverbial participles, comparison, and personal evaluation.
Community MeetingC1 — An annotated multiparty meeting dialogue showing proposals, reasoned disagreement, compromise, volitives, and collective decisions.
A Short News ReportC1 — An annotated B1 news report showing lead-first information order, attribution, quotations, agentless passives, and intransitive -iĝ- alternatives.
Fundamento Exercise ReadingC2 — A source-faithful annotation of a short Fundamento sentence showing a fronted al-phrase, generic reference, negative volitive, and accusative object.
Zamenhof Letter ExcerptC2 — A close reading of a 1908 letter in which Zamenhof explains how tense choice can express a difference of viewpoint.
Magazine Opinion ColumnC2 — An annotated opinion column showing how concession, stance, and reference chains organize a balanced argument in Esperanto.
Scientific ExplanationC2 — An annotated scientific explanation showing definitions, transparent compounds, process descriptions, and responsible impersonal style.
Congress Speech ExcerptC2 — A close reading of Zamenhof's 1905 congress address, with its vocatives, relative-clause chain, parallelism, and ceremonial word order.
Literary Prose ExcerptC2 — A close reading of a public-domain passage from Marta, analyzing presentational order, rhythmic framing, participles, and historical lexical choices.
Poem and Word OrderC2 — Analyze two public-domain stanzas of La Espero for inversion, elision, meter, discontinuity, and the limits of poetic word order.

Article and Determination

Article

The Definite Article LaA1 — How invariant la marks a referent that the listener can identify, and when another determiner or zero article is required.
When Esperanto Uses Zero ArticleA1 — How bare noun phrases express new, indefinite, generic, mass, predicative, and name-based meanings without an article.
Previously Mentioned ReferentsA1 — Use la to return to an already introduced person or thing, and zero article to introduce a new one.
Unique and Shared-Knowledge ReferentsA2 — Use la when a referent is uniquely identifiable from the situation, world knowledge, an associated object, or a complete description.
Generic ReferenceA2 — Refer to a whole class or species with zero-article singulars, zero-article plurals, and stylistically marked definite generics.
Abstract and Mass ReferenceB1 — Choose zero article or la with substances, activities, qualities, and other noncount meanings according to whether the reference is general or identifiable.
La with Proper NamesB1 — Learn why ordinary Esperanto proper names omit la, while descriptive names, title phrases, plural names, and certain traditional works may use it.
La with Languages, Places, and InstitutionsB2 — How name structure and conventional usage determine whether languages, geographical places, and institutions take la.

Other Determiners

No Indefinite ArticleA1 — How bare Esperanto noun phrases express English a, an, and some without inventing a new article.
Demonstrative DeterminationA1 — How tiu, ĉi tiu, and tia identify an individual or a type without combining with la.
Possessives as DeterminersA1 — How mia, via, lia, and the other possessive forms identify a noun phrase and agree with the possessed item.
Correlative DeterminersA2 — How the -u, -a, and -es correlatives determine identity, type, or possession before a noun.
Quantifiers in the Noun PhraseA2 — How numbers, quantity adjectives, and da-expressions combine with nouns, determiners, plural marking, and accusative case.
Both, Each, and EveryB1 — How ambaŭ, ĉiu, ĉiuj, and tuta distinguish a pair, separate members, a complete group, and a whole entity.
All, Some, and NoB1 — How Esperanto selects a complete set, an indefinite subset, or an empty set with ĉiuj, kelkaj, iuj, and neniu.
Determiner Order and CompatibilityB2 — Which Esperanto determiners replace la, which combinations are possible, and how to order determination, quantity, and description.

Choosing

Decision Guides

Adjective or Adverb?A2 — Choose -a to describe a noun-like participant and -e to describe an action, quality, clause, infinitive, or whole situation.
Accusative or Preposition?A2 — Choose between an accusative object and a prepositional complement by identifying the Esperanto verb frame and each participant's semantic role.
Directional -N or Static Preposition?A2 — Distinguish location from movement into a new spatial relation when choosing a static prepositional phrase or directional -n.
La or Zero Article?A2 — Choose la for an identifiable referent and zero article for new, nonspecific, classifying, mass, or generic reference.
Scii or Koni?A2 — Choose scii for facts, answers, and know-how, and koni for acquaintance or familiarity with people, places, works, and subjects.
Ŝati or Plaĉi?B1 — Choose ŝati when the experiencer is the subject and plaĉi when the pleasing person or thing is the subject.
De, El, or Da?B1 — Choose de for broad source and relation, el for emergence or selection from a whole, and da for an unbounded measured quantity.
Por or Pro?B1 — Choose por for intended goals, beneficiaries, and exchange, and pro for causes, motives, and reasons already producing an effect.
Ĉar or Tial?B1 — Use ĉar to introduce a cause clause and tial to point to that cause while presenting its result.
Ke, Ĉu, or a Ki-Word?C1 — Choose ke for a proposition, ĉu for an unresolved yes-or-no question, and a ki-word for an open information slot inside an embedded clause.
Esti-Passive or Iĝi-Passive?C1 — Choose the esti-passive for an affected subject with passive event structure, and an -iĝ- alternative for a change or disposition with no agent slot.
-IG- or -IĜ-?C1 — Choose -ig- when a causer changes someone or something, and -iĝ- when the changing participant itself is the subject.
Tiu or Ĝi?C1 — Use ĝi for neutral continuation of an established singular referent and tiu to select, point out, contrast, or disambiguate an individual.
Word Order: Neutral or Marked?C2 — Choose neutral Esperanto order for unobtrusive reporting and marked order only when discourse structure, focus, presentation, or rhythm motivates it.

Clauses and Conjunctions

Adverbial Clauses

Time ClausesA2 — Connect events in time with kiam, dum, ĝis, antaŭ ol, post kiam, de kiam, and related clause introducers.
Cause ClausesA2 — Explain reasons and motives with finite ĉar clauses while distinguishing them from pro phrases, tial, and coordinating links.
Purpose Clauses with Por KeA2 — Express intended outcomes with por ke and the volitive, and choose correctly between a finite purpose clause and por plus an infinitive.
Result ClausesB1 — Build factual and hypothetical result clauses with tiel, tiom, tia, and ke while separating result from purpose and inference.
Condition Clauses with SeB1 — Form open and real conditions with se, choosing each clause’s tense independently and distinguishing conditions from embedded questions.
Counterfactual ConditionalsB1 — Express imagined, unlikely, and contrary-to-fact conditions with se and -us, including clear present, future, past, and mixed-time patterns.
Concession ClausesB2 — How kvankam, eĉ se, and related patterns present a fact or possibility that does not prevent the main result.
Comparison ClausesB2 — How finite and shortened clauses with kiel, ol, and kvazaŭ compare degrees, actions, situations, and imagined scenes.
Manner ClausesC1 — How kiel- and kvazaŭ-clauses describe the way an action is performed, including real, instructed, and imagined manner.

Complement Clauses

Ke-ClausesA2 — How finite clauses introduced by ke function as statements, subjects, objects, complements, and content descriptions.
Ĉu-Clauses as Embedded QuestionsA2 — How ĉu introduces a finite yes/no question functioning inside a larger sentence, distinct from ke statements and se conditions.
Ki-Correlative Embedded QuestionsB1 — How kiu, kio, kia, kies, kie, kiam, kial, kiel, and kiom introduce finite questions embedded inside larger clauses.
Reported StatementsB1 — Report speech, thought, perception, and written information with finite ke-clauses while preserving the original tense and adjusting viewpoint clearly.
Reported QuestionsB2 — Embed yes-no and content questions with ĉu or a ki-correlative while preserving finite clause structure, tense, case, and viewpoint.
Reported CommandsB2 — Report commands, requests, advice, and proposals with ke plus the volitive, or with controlled infinitive constructions where appropriate.

Coordination

Kaj: Addition and CoordinationA2 — Coordinate parallel words, phrases, and clauses with kaj while preserving their grammatical roles, tense, mood, and scope.
Aŭ: AlternativesA2 — Coordinate alternative words, phrases, and clauses with aŭ while controlling exclusivity, scope, ellipsis, and punctuation.
Sed: ContrastB1 — Use sed to coordinate contrasting phrases and clauses, correct a rejected alternative, and mark an obstacle or unexpected outcome.
Tamen: Concessive ContinuationB1 — Use movable tamen to continue despite an obstacle, reinforce concession, and distinguish ‘nevertheless’ from sed and temporal ankoraŭ.
Do: ConsequenceB2 — Use do for conclusions, consequences, and discourse emphasis while distinguishing it from tial, sekve, conjunctions, and English ‘so.’
Nek… Nek…B2 — How repeated nek coordinates two or more equally negated words, phrases, or clauses without an additional ne.
Kaj… Kaj… and Aŭ… Aŭ…C1 — How repeated kaj emphasizes that every alternative applies, while repeated aŭ presents an exhaustive choice among alternatives.

Relative Clauses

Relative Clauses with KiuA2 — How kiu, kiuj, kiun, and kiujn introduce finite clauses that identify or describe people and things.
Relative Case inside the ClauseA2 — How the case and preposition of kiu are determined inside the relative clause, independently of the antecedent’s role.
Kies in Relative ClausesB1 — Use kies to connect a person or thing with something belonging to it, including the subject or object behind an action noun.
Kie, Kiam, and Kiel as RelativesB2 — Build relative clauses of place, time, and manner with kie, kiam, and kiel, including directional and prepositional variants.
Nonrestrictive Relative ClausesC1 — Add supplementary information about an already identifiable referent while keeping relative marking, case, and punctuation clear.

Common Mistakes

English Transfer

Missing Accusative -NA2 — Diagnose and repair missing object marking by identifying the verb's participant roles instead of relying on English word order.
Missing Plural and Accusative AgreementA2 — Make nouns and their direct modifiers agree in plural -j and accusative -n without overmarking invariant words or predicates.
Overusing Subject PronounsA2 — Avoid English-style dummy and repeated subjects while retaining the overt subjects that ordinary Esperanto finite clauses require.
Using Esti like English “Be”A2 — Decide when English be corresponds to esti and when Esperanto instead uses a simple verb, impersonal construction, possession, or change-of-state form.
English Tense BackshiftA2 — Report speech and thought in Esperanto without mechanically shifting present and future forms into English-style past forms.
English Prepositions in Esperanto FramesA2 — Choose Esperanto objects and prepositions from each word's meaning and valency instead of translating English prepositions one by one.
Rigid English Word OrderB1 — Use Esperanto's case marking and information structure to choose clear neutral or marked word order instead of copying English position rules.
Confusing Adjectives and AdverbsB1 — Choose Esperanto -a or -e by identifying whether a form describes a noun-like referent, an action, or an entire situation.
Misusing Si and SiaB1 — Resolve Esperanto si and sia from the local third-person subject instead of copying ambiguous English reflexive and possessive pronouns.
Confusing Scii and KoniB1 — Diagnose English ‘know’ by distinguishing informational knowledge with scii from familiarity and acquaintance with koni.
Confusing Ŝati and PlaĉiB1 — Keep the experiencer and the pleasing thing in their correct roles when choosing between ŝati and plaĉi.
Inventing an Indefinite ArticleB1 — Replace English a and an with Esperanto zero marking, unu, iu, or certa according to the intended meaning.
Misusing LaC1 — Repair overuse and omission of la by testing whether the listener can identify the intended referent.
Building Correlatives IncorrectlyC1 — Repair malformed Esperanto correlatives by selecting one established initial and one semantic ending from the closed table.
Negating like EnglishC1 — Replace English do-support and not-any patterns with Esperanto's own system of ne, NENI-correlatives, and explicit scope.
Overusing Compound TensesC1 — Use Esperanto's simple tenses by default and reserve esti plus a participle for aspectual contrasts that genuinely matter.
Literal Translation of English IdiomsC1 — Translate an English idiom's communicative meaning, not its individual words, and choose an established Esperanto expression for the context.
Ignoring Conventional Word FormationC2 — Use Esperanto's productive morphology without confusing a logically possible coinage with the conventional word speakers already know.

Comparison and Degree

Core Comparison

Comparatives with Pli and MalpliA2 — Compare higher and lower degrees with the invariant particles pli and malpli, and choose correctly among degree, quantity, and equality patterns.
Superlatives with Plej and MalplejA2 — Identify the highest and lowest points on a scale with plej and malplej, and express the comparison set precisely.
The Comparison Particle OlB1 — Use the invariant particle ol to introduce standards of unequal comparison, with the correct case, preposition, and clause structure.
Equality with Tiel… Kiel…B1 — Express equal degree and manner with tiel… kiel…, distinguish equality from inequality and quantity, and control ellipsis and scope.
Quantity ComparisonB2 — Compare amounts and counts with pli da, pli multaj, tiom… kiom…, and numerical thresholds while keeping degree and addition distinct.
Comparing Actions and ClausesC1 — Compare whole actions and propositions with ol and kiel, manage ellipsis and scope, and make tense, case, and parallel structure explicit.

Nuance

Absolute Superlative MeaningA2 — Distinguish relative plej-ranking from absolute high degree, and choose clear intensifiers such as tre, ege, and kiel eble plej.
Ju… Des… Proportional ComparisonB1 — Express linked changes with ju plus a comparative for the conditioning scale and des plus a comparative for the resulting scale.
Degree Modifiers with ComparativesB2 — Refine Esperanto comparatives by stating the size, progression, emphasis, or exact measure of the difference.
Lexical Comparatives and ElativesC1 — Distinguish productive pli and plej comparisons from words that encode ranking, preference, endpoints, or an exceptionally high degree.

Correlatives

ĉi-Series

Ĉiu: The Universal Individual CorrelativeB2 — Use ĉiu for every individual separately and ĉiuj for all members viewed together, with full case and number marking.
Ĉio: The Universal Thing CorrelativeB2 — Use ĉio for the totality of things or matters, ĉion as an object, and postposed modifiers such as ĉio grava.
Ĉia: The Universal Kind Or Quality CorrelativeB2 — Use ĉia for every or any kind, with adjective-like agreement and a clear contrast with individual ĉiu and total ĉio.
Ĉies: The Universal Possessor CorrelativeB2 — Use ĉies for everyone's or belonging to every person, as an invariant definite determiner without la.
Ĉie: The Universal Place CorrelativeB2 — Use ĉie for every relevant place and ĉien for movement toward every place, while distinguishing not everywhere from nowhere.
Ĉiam: The Universal Time CorrelativeC1 — Use ĉiam for every relevant time or occasion, and distinguish habitual always, continuous duration, and permanent por ĉiam.
Ĉial: The Universal Reason CorrelativeC1 — Understand the rare but regular ĉial for every reason, and prefer clearer reason phrases in ordinary modern prose.
Ĉiel: The Universal Manner CorrelativeC1 — Understand the rare ĉiel for in every way, its manner-only force, and clearer everyday alternatives such as ĉiamaniere.
Ĉiom: The Universal Quantity CorrelativeC1 — Understand the rare ĉiom for the whole relevant quantity, its invariant form, and its contrasts with ĉio and ĉiuj.

i-Series

Iu: The Indefinite Individual CorrelativeB1 — Use iu for an unidentified individual, with full number and accusative marking and clear contrasts with io, ia, and unu.
Io: The Indefinite Thing CorrelativeB1 — Use io for an unnamed thing, fact, or matter, with accusative marking, postposed modifiers, and no ordinary plural.
Ia: The Indefinite Kind Or Quality CorrelativeB1 — Use ia for an unspecified kind or quality, with adjective-like agreement but determiner behavior and no indefinite-article function.
Ies: The Indefinite Possessor CorrelativeB1 — Use ies for an unidentified person's possession while handling definiteness, word order, scope, and invariant form correctly.
Ie: The Indefinite Place CorrelativeB1 — Use ie for an unspecified location and ien for movement toward one, with precise handling of polarity and prepositions.
Iam: The Indefinite Time CorrelativeB2 — Use iam for an unspecified time in the past or future, and distinguish it from frequency words, neniam, and free-choice iam ajn.
Ial: The Indefinite Reason CorrelativeB2 — Use ial for an unspecified cause or motive while distinguishing unknown reasons, withheld reasons, manner, and lack of reason.
Iel: The Indefinite Manner CorrelativeB2 — Use iel for an unspecified manner or an indefinable quality, and distinguish it from ial, iom, and free-choice expressions.
Iom: The Indefinite Quantity CorrelativeB2 — Use iom for a small but meaningful indefinite quantity or degree, with da phrases and without case or plural endings.

ki-Series

Kiu: The Question/Relative Individual CorrelativeA1 — Use kiu to ask or relate which individual, adding -j for plural individuals and -n when its role requires the accusative.
Kio: The Question/Relative Thing CorrelativeA1 — Use kio to ask about an unspecified thing or idea and to link relative clauses to thing-like or clause-like antecedents.
Kia: The Question/Relative Kind Or Quality CorrelativeA1 — Use kia to ask what kind or what quality, with adjective-like agreement and precise contrasts with kiu, kio, and kiel.
Kies: The Question/Relative Possessor CorrelativeA1 — Use invariant kies to ask or state whose something is, including possession and tightly related semantic roles.
Kie: The Question/Relative Place CorrelativeA1 — Use kie for location, kien for destination, and relative kie for clauses anchored to a place.
Kiam: The Question/Relative Time CorrelativeA2 — Use kiam to ask when and to introduce time clauses, while distinguishing time points from duration, exact clock time, and conditions.
Kial: The Question/Relative Reason CorrelativeA2 — Ask, report, and connect reasons with kial while distinguishing causes, purposes, and neighboring table words.
Kiel: The Question/Relative Manner CorrelativeA2 — Use kiel to ask about manner and degree, introduce manner clauses, and make comparisons without confusing it with kia or kiom.
Kiom: The Question/Relative Quantity CorrelativeA2 — Ask and relate amounts, numbers, measurements, and emphatic degrees with the invariant quantity word kiom.

neni-Series

Neniu: The Negative Individual CorrelativeC1 — Use neniu to exclude every individual in a relevant set, with correct case, number, determiner behavior, and negation scope.
Nenio: The Negative Thing CorrelativeC1 — Use nenio and nenion for no thing, fact, or content while controlling adjective order, scope, and double negation.
Nenia: The Negative Kind Or Quality CorrelativeC1 — Use nenia to exclude every kind or quality, with adjective-like agreement, determiner behavior, and precise contrast with neniu.
Nenies: The Negative Possessor CorrelativeC1 — Use nenies for possession attributable to no person, with correct definiteness, invariant form, and negative scope.
Nenie: The Negative Place CorrelativeC1 — Use nenie for location in no place and nenien for movement toward no destination, with clear negation and source marking.
Neniam: The Negative Time CorrelativeC1 — Use neniam for no time or no occasion, without an extra ne, and distinguish never, never again, and not yet.
Nenial: The Negative Reason CorrelativeC1 — Use the rare but regular nenial for no possible reason, while keeping it distinct from senkaŭze and from negative manner.
Neniel: The Negative Manner CorrelativeC1 — Use neniel for in no way or by no means, including emphatic denial, without adding a second clause negator.
Neniom: The Negative Quantity CorrelativeC1 — Use neniom for a zero quantity or degree, with da before a measured noun and no additional ne, -j, or -n.

System

The Table-Word SystemA1 — Learn Esperanto's 45 table words as a five-by-nine meaning system for questions, demonstrations, indefinites, universals, and negatives.
Correlative Endings and Their MeaningsA1 — Learn the nine fixed correlative endings that select identity, thing, kind, possessor, place, time, reason, manner, and quantity.
Case and Number on CorrelativesA2 — Learn exactly which correlative families accept plural -j, object -n, or directional -n, and which remain invariant.
Ĉi as a Proximity ParticleA2 — Use the separate invariant particle ĉi with demonstratives to mark physical or discourse proximity, with correct spacing and agreement.
Ajn for Free ChoiceB1 — Place ajn after a correlative to express unrestricted choice, indifference, or concessive ‘no matter’ meanings.
Correlative Compounds and BoundariesB1 — Keep table-word pieces closed, preserve whole correlatives in regular derivatives and compounds, and distinguish phrases from lexicalized forms.
Correlatives in Complex ClausesB2 — Learn how Esperanto correlatives introduce embedded questions and relative clauses, and how their form reflects their role inside the clause.

ti-Series

Tiu: The Demonstrative Individual CorrelativeA2 — Point out particular people or things with tiu, including its determiner, standalone, plural, accusative, and relative-pair uses.
Tio: The Demonstrative Thing CorrelativeA2 — Use tio to point to an unnamed thing, fact, statement, or situation while distinguishing it from tiu and ĝi.
Tia: The Demonstrative Kind Or Quality CorrelativeA2 — Use tia to point to a particular kind or quality, with the agreement and clause patterns that distinguish it from tiu and tiel.
Ties: The Demonstrative Possessor CorrelativeA2 — Use ties to point to the possessor associated with a demonstrated person or thing, without agreement or an article.
Tie: The Demonstrative Place CorrelativeA2 — Use tie for location at a demonstrated place, tien for direction toward it, and ĉi tie for a nearby location.
Tiam: The Demonstrative Time CorrelativeB1 — Use tiam to point to a known time, occasion, or condition, and distinguish it from poste, do, and other meanings of English then.
Tial: The Demonstrative Reason CorrelativeB1 — Use tial to point to an established reason, and distinguish it from ĉar, do, and expressions of purpose.
Tiel: The Demonstrative Manner CorrelativeB1 — Use tiel for a demonstrated manner or degree, and distinguish it from tia, tiom, and tial.
Tiom: The Demonstrative Quantity CorrelativeB1 — Use tiom for a demonstrated amount, number, or emphatic degree, with correct da-phrases and no case or plural ending.

Expressions and Collocations

Core Collocations

Collocations with FariA2 — Use fari naturally with action and result nouns while avoiding literal copies of English do and make expressions.
Collocations with HaviA2 — Use havi for possession, resources, relations, and abstract states without copying English have-expressions mechanically.
Collocations with Doni and PreniA2 — Use doni and preni in transfer, choice, meeting, transport, and abstract collocations while keeping their participant roles clear.
Time and Frequency ExpressionsB1 — Use Esperanto's productive frames for clock time, recurring events, duration, and temporal sequence without importing English prepositions.
Weather ExpressionsB1 — Describe conditions, forecasts, temperature, and changing weather through Esperanto's subjectless verbs and adverbial patterns.
Travel and Direction ExpressionsB2 — Ask for routes, give usable directions, and handle tickets and transport with Esperanto's destination, location, and means frames.
Conversation Management PhrasesB2 — Open, hold, repair, redirect, and close an Esperanto conversation with pragmatic frames suited to different levels of formality.
Proverbs and Conventional SayingsC1 — Recognize, quote, adapt, and evaluate Esperanto proverbs without treating literal English translations or historical collections as neutral modern usage.

Everyday Frames

Greetings and FarewellsA2 — Choose natural Esperanto greetings and farewells by time, relationship, medium, and expectation of meeting again.
Introducing YourselfA2 — Build a natural Esperanto self-introduction with clear frames for your name, origin, residence, work, languages, and interests.
Thanks and ResponsesA2 — Thank someone naturally in Esperanto, state the reason and recipient clearly, and choose an appropriate response.
Apologies and RepairsB1 — Apologize, express regret, correct a slip, and repair misunderstanding with precise Esperanto conversational frames.
Requests and OffersB1 — Choose direct, softened, and formal Esperanto frames for asking someone to act and offering your own help.
Agreement and DisagreementB2 — Agree or disagree in Esperanto while distinguishing shared opinion, factual correctness, consent, partial agreement, and opposition.
Likes and PreferencesB2 — Express liking, attraction, favorites, and choices with ŝati, plaĉi, preferi, and related everyday frames.
Needs and ObligationsC1 — Distinguish personal need, practical necessity, imposed duty, prohibition, and inference with bezoni, necesi, and devi.

Nouns

Advanced Uses

Substantivized AdjectivesA1 — Distinguish adjectives used with an omitted noun from true nouns formed from the same root, and mark number and case correctly in both patterns.
Substantivized ParticiplesA1 — Build Esperanto participant nouns with -ant-, -int-, -ont-, -at-, -it-, and -ot-, and use their voice, relative time, number, and case accurately.
AppositionA1 — How a second noun phrase renames the same referent, matches its case, and differs from an identifying name or predicate complement.
Vocatives and Direct AddressA2 — How Esperanto addresses people by name, title, or noun phrase without treating the address as a subject or object.
Nominalizations and Event NounsA2 — How Esperanto turns action roots and clauses into nouns for events, processes, results, and countable occurrences.
Gender-Neutral Person NounsA2 — How Esperanto uses neutral person, role, profession, and participant nouns without making the noun ending masculine.
Natural Sex and Lexical GenderB1 — How sex can be part of a root’s meaning or added explicitly without creating grammatical gender agreement.
Names, Titles, and Honorific NounsB1 — How personal names combine with regular Esperanto title nouns, articles, number, case, and direct address.
Noun EllipsisB1 — How Esperanto omits a recoverable noun while preserving number, case, and meaning on the words that remain.
Dense Noun PhrasesB2 — How Esperanto organizes determiners, quantities, adjectives, noun heads, and postmodifiers in information-rich noun phrases.

Foundations

Nouns and the -O EndingA1 — Build Esperanto nouns with -o, then add -j for plural and -n for accusative while respecting meaning and countability.
Singular and Plural NounsA1 — How Esperanto builds singular, plural, and accusative noun forms from a stable root using -o, -j, and -n.
Noun Phrase AnatomyA1 — How determiners, numbers, adjectives, an -o head noun, and postmodifiers combine into a complete Esperanto noun phrase.
Proper NamesA2 — How Esperanto proper names behave as definite noun phrases, take case and number, and interact with articles and titles.
People and Animate ReferenceA2 — How Esperanto names people and animals without grammatical gender while marking number, case, and relevant natural sex.
Objects, Materials, and SubstancesB1 — How Esperanto distinguishes countable objects, unbounded substances, material descriptions, and measured quantities.
Abstract NounsB1 — How Esperanto names qualities, feelings, actions, and ideas with transparent O-words and meaningful number choices.
Collective NounsB1 — How singular Esperanto nouns name groups, how -ar- builds collections, and when a collective itself becomes plural.

Number and Reference

Count and Mass MeaningsA1 — How Esperanto distinguishes countable individuals from unbounded substances and shifts nouns between those meanings.
Generic and Specific NounsA1 — How bare nouns, plurals, and la distinguish whole kinds from particular identifiable referents.
Plural Meaning without -JA2 — When a singular Esperanto noun can denote a group, kind, or undivided quantity containing more than one element.
Paired and Grouped ObjectsA2 — Learn when Esperanto treats a two-part object as singular, when a conventional plural is required, and how nouns such as paro and grupo package several members into one unit.
Nouns after NumbersB1 — Use singular and plural nouns, adjective agreement, the accusative, and da correctly after Esperanto numbers.
Nouns Used PredicativelyB2 — Use Esperanto nouns after linking verbs and as object complements to express class, identity, role, and result without an inappropriate accusative ending.

Numbers, Time, and Measures

Numbers

Cardinal NumbersA1 — Use Esperanto cardinal numbers to count, quantify noun phrases, identify items, and read basic dates, times, measurements, and decimal notation.
Building Large NumbersA1 — Build and use thousands, millions, and larger Esperanto numbers with correct spacing, noun behavior, scale values, and case marking.
Ordinal NumbersA1 — Form and use Esperanto ordinal numbers for sequence, labels, dates, clock hours, and ranked noun phrases.
FractionsA2 — Build exact fractions with the official suffix -on-, then use their noun, adjective, and adverb forms with quantities and units.
Multipliers and RepetitionsA2 — Distinguish multiplication with -obl- from repeated occasions with fojo, and form each pattern productively.
Collective and Group NumbersB1 — Describe groups of a stated size with -op-, distinguishing group structure from simple quantity, distribution, and multiplication.
Approximate NumbersB1 — Express estimates, bounds, ranges, and broad magnitudes while preserving the ordinary grammar of the numbered phrase.
Numbers as Nouns, Adjectives, and AdverbsB2 — Change Esperanto number words into nouns, adjectives, and adverbs while preserving the distinction between quantity, order, and manner.

Time and Measurement

Telling Clock TimeA1 — Ask and tell the time in Esperanto with ordinal hours, cardinal minutes, fractions, day-part expressions, and the correct time prepositions.
Dates and YearsA2 — Form, inflect, write, and read Esperanto calendar dates and years without importing ambiguous English date order.
Days, Months, and SeasonsA2 — Use Esperanto weekday, month, and season names with the right capitalization, article, preposition, adverb, and temporal case.
AgeA2 — Ask, state, compare, and describe age in Esperanto with aĝi, -jara compounds, measurement case, and formal age phrases.
Duration and FrequencyA2 — Express how long and how often events occur with measured accusatives, dum-phrases, recurring time expressions, and fojo-based forms.
Distance, Weight, and VolumeB1 — Measure dimensions, separation, weight, and capacity with unit nouns, accusative extent, je and de phrases, and da after quantities.
Money and PricesB1 — State prices, values, payments, ranges, discounts, and per-unit rates with correct currency nouns, case, and verb frames.
Decimals, Percentages, and Mathematical ReadingB2 — Read and write decimal commas, percentages, signed numbers, and common arithmetic expressions clearly in Esperanto.

Orthography and Input

Core System

The Esperanto AlphabetA1 — Learn Esperanto’s 28 letters, their names and order, and why the six diacritic letters count as letters in their own right.
One Letter, One SoundA1 — Understand Esperanto’s regular sound–spelling relationship without confusing a stable phoneme with mechanically identical pronunciation.
The Six Diacritic LettersA1 — Master ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, and ŭ as six independent Esperanto letters with distinct sounds and spelling roles.
Uppercase and LowercaseA2 — Use Esperanto letter case for sentences and names while recognizing genuine variation in derived names, months, respect, and editorial style.
Word Boundaries and HyphensA2 — Learn when Esperanto writes elements together, separately, or with an optional hyphen, and how spacing reveals grammatical structure.
Apostrophe and ElisionA2 — How Esperanto marks the limited omission of final vowels in nouns, the article, and a few established expressions.
Foreign Names in EsperantoA2 — How to choose among full adaptation, partial adaptation, and original spelling while keeping names recognizable and usable.
Alphabetical Order and DictionariesB1 — How Esperanto’s 28-letter alphabet determines dictionary order, lookup forms, and reliable digital sorting.

Typing and Encoding

Typing Unicode EsperantoA1 — Practical ways to enter, verify, and publish the six Esperanto letters with their correct Unicode characters.
The X-SystemA1 — How to encode Esperanto’s six diacritic letters with x, convert the result safely, and know when the fallback is appropriate.
The H-SystemA2 — How the Fundamento's fallback spelling represents Esperanto's six diacritic letters, and when modern writers should use it.
Converting Legacy Text SafelyA2 — A reliable workflow for converting H-system, X-system, and damaged Esperanto text into reviewed Unicode spelling.
Unicode Normalization and SearchA2 — Why visually identical Esperanto letters can behave differently in software, and how to store and search them reliably.
Keyboard Layouts on Major PlatformsB1 — Practical, maintainable ways to type Esperanto's six special letters on desktop and mobile systems.

Written Conventions

Abbreviations and InitialsA1 — How Esperanto shortens common expressions, titles, names, and organizations without losing clarity or correct spelling.
Capitalization in Titles and NamesA2 — Capitalize Esperanto titles and multiword names clearly without importing English title case or erasing accepted editorial variation.
Quotation Marks, Dashes, and ParenthesesA2 — Use Esperanto quotation marks, dialogue dashes, parenthetical dashes, and parentheses clearly across different editorial traditions.
Spelling Assimilated LoanwordsB1 — Recognize and form assimilated international words that obey Esperanto’s alphabet, pronunciation, endings, and productive derivation.

Participles and Voice

Advanced Constructions

Compound Active TensesB1 — Combine esti with active participles to express ongoing, completed, or prospective action relative to a chosen reference point.
Compound Passive TensesB2 — Combine esti with passive participles to present an affected subject during, after, or before an action.
Participial ClausesC1 — Build compact adjectival and adverbial clauses with participles while preserving voice, relative time, agreement, and subject control.
Detached Adverbial ParticiplesC2 — Use comma-detached -e participles to compress time, cause, condition, and background circumstances without losing subject control.

Participial System

The Six Participles: A System MapB1 — Map Esperanto's six participles by voice and relative time, then use them as adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and compound verb forms.
Active Present Participle -ANT-B1 — Learn how -ant- presents the doer of an action while that action is in progress or regularly repeated.
Active Past Participle -INT-B1 — Use -int- to present the doer of an action after that action has been completed relative to another point in time.
Active Future Participle -ONT-B2 — Use -ont- for the active participant before an intended, expected, or imminent action begins.
Passive Present Participle -AT-B2 — Use -at- for an affected participant while an action is in progress or regularly repeated.
Passive Past Participle -IT-C1 — Use -it- for an affected participant once an action is complete or its resulting state is relevant.
Passive Future Participle -OT-C1 — Use -ot- for an object whose action is still ahead relative to the reference point, without confusing prospect with obligation.
Relative Time in ParticiplesC2 — Interpret participial time relative to the described situation, separating ongoing, completed, and prospective action from calendar tense.

Participle Forms

Adjectival Participles in -AB1 — Build active and passive participles as agreeing adjectives that compress relative clauses without losing voice or relative time.
Adverbial Participles in -EB1 — Use invariable -e participles to add simultaneous, prior, or prospective circumstances while keeping their subject tied to the main clause.
Participles with Plural and AccusativeB2 — Apply -j and -n to adjectival and nominal participles while keeping adverbial -e forms invariable.
Participles with Explicit ComplementsB2 — Keep objects, prepositional complements, agents, and instruments correctly attached when Esperanto verbs become participles.
Negated ParticiplesC1 — Place ne and negative correlatives around participles to control voice, relative phase, and the exact scope of negation.
Participles and Aspectual InterpretationC1 — Interpret Esperanto participles through action phase, completion, repetition, result, and lexical aspect rather than English tense labels.
Lexicalized ParticiplesC2 — Recognize participles whose repeated use has developed conventional adjective, noun, title, and discourse meanings beyond one immediate event.

Voice

Active VoiceB1 — Use active clauses and active participles to present the doer, experiencer, or state-holder as the grammatical subject.
The Esti-PassiveB1 — Form the standard Esperanto passive with esti plus an agreeing passive participle, while keeping tense and event phase separate.
The Iĝi-PassiveB1 — Use -iĝ- verbs as middle-like alternatives that foreground an affected participant's change while leaving any causer outside the clause.
Choosing -AT- versus -IT-B2 — Choose -at- for an unfolding or repeated passive action and -it- for completion or its result, independently of the reference tense.
Agents with DeB2 — Use de to identify the semantic doer of a passive participle, while distinguishing agents from sources, instruments, and experiencers.
Agentless PassivesC1 — Use passive clauses without naming the doer, and distinguish ordinary subject-bearing passives from impersonal passives in -e.
Passive Infinitives and VolitivesC1 — Form passive nonfinite complements with esti and passive commands or requirements with estu plus an agreeing participle.
Avoiding Heavy Passive ChainsC2 — Recognize grammatical passive layers, then recast them with active agents, oni, simpler timing, or separate clauses when clarity improves.

Pragmatics and Discourse

Discourse

Topic Introduction and ShiftA2 — Introduce, maintain, change, and resume topics in Esperanto with clear topic frames and discourse markers.
Cause, Result, and Inference MarkersA2 — Distinguish causes, consequences, and conclusions with ĉar, pro, tial, do, sekve, and markers of inference.
Reformulation and ClarificationB1 — Restate, specify, repair, and check meaning in Esperanto without confusing equivalence, correction, and inference.
Stance and Evidential ResponsibilityB1 — Express opinion, probability, evidence, and information source while making clear how strongly and why you support a claim.
Emphasis and ContrastC1 — Control focus and contrast through particles, placement, fronting, prosody, and explicit contrastive frames in Esperanto.
Humor, Irony, and Playful Word FormationC1 — Create and interpret Esperanto humor through recoverable incongruity, ironic stance, productive morphology, and shared interactional context.

Interaction

Politeness without T-V PronounsA2 — Use neutral vi with every addressee and express respect through wording, titles, mitigation, reasons, and conversational sequencing.
Making Direct RequestsA2 — Form clear Esperanto requests with the volitive, bonvolu plus infinitive, explicit request clauses, and context-appropriate directness.
Softening Requests and AdviceA2 — Adjust Esperanto requests and advice with questions, conditional forms, reasons, options, timing, and proportionate mitigation.
Offering and InvitingB1 — Offer help, food, objects, and social participation in Esperanto while keeping the listener's choice clear.
Accepting and DecliningB1 — Accept, refuse, or qualify offers and invitations in Esperanto with clear scope, proportionate warmth, and honest reasons.
Apologizing and RepairingC1 — Match Esperanto apology and repair strategies to responsibility, harm, conversational trouble, and the remedy required.
Compliments and ResponsesC1 — Give and receive Esperanto compliments with specific praise, appropriate stance, and sensitivity to context and power.
Turn-Taking and InterruptionC1 — Enter, hold, yield, and redirect the conversational floor in Esperanto without confusing coordination, overlap, and interruption.

Prepositions

Individual Prepositions

AlA2 — Use al for movement toward a goal, recipients, orientation, and abstract targets without adding an unnecessary accusative ending.
AnstataŭA2 — Use anstataŭ to replace one person, thing, role, or action with another while preserving the contrasted role clearly.
AntaŭA2 — Use antaŭ for a position in front, an earlier place in a sequence, and a time before a reference point.
ApudA2 — Use apud for a nearby position at the side of a person, object, or place, normally without implying contact.
ĈeA2 — Use ĉe for general proximity, a person's place, an institution, or a situation treated as a contextual location.
ĈirkaŭA2 — Use ĉirkaŭ for surrounding position, movement around a center, and approximate times or quantities.
DaA2 — Use da to connect a quantity or measure to the indefinite substance, people, or things that make up that quantity.
DeA2 — Use de for movement or development away from a source and for relationships such as possession, authorship, composition, time, and passive agency.
DumA2 — Use dum before a time expression or clause to place one event within the duration of another.
EksterA2 — Use ekster for a position outside a boundary, with directional -n only when movement ends outside it.
ElA2 — Use el for movement from an interior, origin, material, components, and selection from a defined group.
EnB1 — Use en for location within a place, period, or state, and add directional -n when something enters a new interior or result.
ĜisB1 — Use ĝis for an endpoint in space, time, quantity, or degree, and as a conjunction meaning until.
InterB1 — Use inter for position, movement, choice, or relationships between two or among several entities.
JeB1 — Use je for conventional clock-time, measure, body-part, and abstract relations when no more specific preposition expresses the intended role.
KontraŭB1 — Use kontraŭ for facing or opposing direction, resistance and protection, contact, and what is exchanged for something else.
KromB1 — Use krom to set one item apart, then read polarity and ankaŭ to distinguish exception from addition.
KunB1 — Use kun for accompaniment and associated circumstances, while distinguishing companions from instruments, topics, and opponents.
LaŭB1 — Use laŭ for following a path, conforming to a rule or model, attributing information, and judging from a stated viewpoint.
MalantaŭB1 — Use malantaŭ for a position at the rear, movement into that position, and the people or forces operating behind something.
MalgraŭB1 — Use malgraŭ to present a fact or obstacle that could have prevented an outcome but did not.
PerB1 — Use per for an instrument, means, method, channel, or intermediary through which an action is carried out.
PoB2 — Use po before a repeated quantity to distribute equal shares, rates, or amounts across people, things, places, or occasions.
PorB2 — Use por for an intended beneficiary, purpose, use, result, exchange, or the goal toward which an action is directed.
PostB2 — Use post for a later time or following position, while distinguishing duration, sequence, and the now-rare spatial meaning.
PreterB2 — Use preter for movement past a landmark and for figurative bypassing, with optional directional -n only when it adds clarity.
PriB2 — Use pri to mark a topic, concern, or matter that an action, text, thought, or relationship is about.
ProB2 — Use pro for cause and motive, while distinguishing reasons from purposes and recognizing traditional exchange uses.
SenB2 — Use sen for absence, including common sen + infinitive constructions and careful handling of negative scope.
SubB2 — Use sub for a lower position, movement into that position, covering relations, and figurative dependence or control.
SuperB2 — Use super for a higher position normally without contact, movement into that position, covering, and figurative superiority or control.
SurB2 — Use sur for significant surface contact, support or attachment, movement onto a surface, and related abstract effects and burdens.
TraB2 — Use tra for a path through an interior or distributed area, continuation throughout a period, and transmission through a channel.
TransC1 — Use trans for a position on the far side and trans plus directional -n for movement across an extent to that side.

Pronouns

Case and Possession

Accusative Personal PronounsA1 — Add -n to a personal pronoun when it is a direct object, while leaving pronouns after ordinary prepositions unmarked.
Possessive Forms in -AA1 — Form Esperanto possessives by adding -a to personal pronouns and use them as determiner-like words before nouns.
Possessive AgreementA2 — Make possessive A-words agree in number and accusative case with the possessed noun, not with the possessor.
Possessives without a NounA2 — Use possessive A-words independently when the omitted noun is recoverable, retaining its number and accusative endings.
De-Phrases versus PossessivesB1 — Choose between compact possessive forms such as mia and fuller de-phrases, and avoid ambiguity about ownership, source, and authorship.
Pronouns after PrepositionsB2 — Use basic, reflexive, and directional pronoun forms accurately after Esperanto prepositions.

Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns: OverviewA1 — Learn Esperanto personal pronouns as a system of person, number, accusative marking, possession, and reflexive reference.
Mi and NiA1 — Use Esperanto first-person pronouns for the speaker alone or the speaker with others, including objects, possession, and inclusive or exclusive reference.
Vi for Singular and PluralA1 — Use vi for one or several addressees, clarify number through context and agreement, and form vin and via regularly.
Li and ŜiA2 — Use Esperanto's singular third-person pronouns for male and female people, with clear object, possessive, reflexive, and reference patterns.
Ĝi for Nonhuman and Contextual ReferenceA2 — Use ĝi, ĝin, and ĝia for singular nonhuman referents while distinguishing noun reference, reflexivity, and clause reference.
IliA2 — Use ili, ilin, and ilia for known plural people, animals, and things, with correct reflexive and possessive reference.
OniB1 — Use oni for generic or unidentified human agents, with precise contrasts to vi, ili, passives, and reflexive si.
Ri and Gender-Neutral ReferenceB1 — Understand the nonofficial but established pronoun ri, its regular forms, its uses, and audience-sensitive alternatives.
Subject Pronouns and OmissionB1 — Know when Esperanto requires an explicit subject, permits shared-subject ellipsis, or forms a genuinely subjectless clause.

Reflexives and Reference

The Reflexive Pronoun SiA1 — Use si and sin when a third-person subject refers back to itself, and distinguish reflexive reference from ordinary third-person pronouns.
The Possessive SiaA1 — Use sia for a third-person subject's own possession and make it agree with the possessed noun.
Clause Boundaries for SiA1 — Track si and sia within finite clauses so that reflexive reference stays with the correct local subject.
Si with InfinitivesA1 — Resolve si and sia by finding the understood subject of an infinitive, including control and omitted-agent constructions.
Si with ParticiplesA2 — Resolve reflexive reference with adjectival, adverbial, and nominal participles by identifying what each participle belongs to.
Reciprocal Unu la AlianA2 — Express ‘each other’ with unu ... la alia, choosing case and prepositions from the role of alia.
Mem for EmphasisA2 — Use invariant mem for identity and independent action without confusing emphasis with reflexive si.
Li, Ŝi, Ĝi, Ri, or Tiu?A2 — Choose a third-person form by animacy, gender relevance, definiteness, reflexivity, and the status of ri.
Pronoun Reference and AmbiguityB1 — Track pronoun antecedents through person, number, case, reflexive binding, and strategic repetition when context allows more than one reading.
Pronouns in Reported SpeechB1 — Shift personal and possessive pronouns according to the current reporter and listener while preserving clause-bound reflexive reference.
Generic You versus OniB1 — Use oni for people in general and reserve vi for the actual person or people being addressed.
Respectful and Historical CiB2 — Understand the extremely rare singular ci, why it is not a respectful modern pronoun, and why neutral vi is the safe form for every addressee.

Pronunciation

Connected Speech

Vowel Sequences and GlidesA1 — Distinguish adjacent full vowels from the consonantal glides j and ŭ, syllabify them clearly, and calculate stress correctly.
Assimilation and Natural SpeechA2 — Understand how neighboring Esperanto sounds influence one another without erasing phonemic contrasts or changing spelling.
Rhythm, Emphasis, and IntonationB1 — Shape clear Esperanto phrases with stable word stress, flexible sentence prominence, meaningful focus, and internationally intelligible intonation.

Consonants and Sequences

C, Ĉ, and ĜA1 — How to produce and distinguish Esperanto c [ts], ĉ [tʃ], and ĝ [dʒ] as three stable affricate consonants.
G, Ĝ, and JA1 — How to keep Esperanto g [g], ĝ [dʒ], and j [j] distinct regardless of neighboring vowels or English spelling habits.
H and ĤA1 — How to hear and pronounce Esperanto H at the glottis and the much rarer Ĥ at the soft palate.
J and ĴA2 — How Esperanto distinguishes the short semivowel J from the voiced fricative Ĵ in every position.
S, Ŝ, and ZA2 — How to preserve Esperanto's three-way contrast between S, Ŝ, and Z without importing English spelling rules.
The Semivowel ŬA2 — How Ŭ forms short glides after A and E, affects syllable counting, and differs from full vowel U.
R and LA2 — How to keep Esperanto R and L distinct across accents, consonant clusters, and word-final positions.
Consonant ClustersB1 — Pronounce Esperanto consonant clusters without silent letters or inserted vowels while allowing natural syllable grouping and fluent timing.

Foundations

Esperanto Pronunciation: A Practical MapA1 — Build an intelligible Esperanto accent from stable letter values, five clear vowels, written syllables, and penultimate stress.
The Five Pure VowelsA1 — Pronounce Esperanto a, e, i, o, and u as five distinct steady vowels in stressed and unstressed syllables.
Syllables and Penultimate StressA2 — How to count Esperanto syllables, place word stress on the penultimate vowel, and preserve clear vowels in connected speech.
Consonant Inventory and VoicingA2 — A practical map of Esperanto’s consonants, their voiced and voiceless contrasts, and acceptable variation in connected speech.
Reading New Words AloudB1 — A repeatable procedure for turning any unfamiliar Esperanto spelling into clear, correctly stressed speech.

Questions and Negation

Negation

Clause Negation with NeA1 — How to negate an Esperanto clause by placing ne before its finite verb, including commands, questions, and common scope contrasts.
Constituent NegationA1 — How placing ne before a phrase negates one participant, time, manner, or degree while leaving the rest of the clause asserted.
Negative CorrelativesA1 — The nine neni- table words for nobody, nothing, nowhere, never, no kind, no reason, no way, no amount, and nobody’s.
Negative ConcordA2 — Understand when one negative expression negates an Esperanto clause, when two negatives reverse each other, and when repetition merely intensifies.
Jes and Ne in AnswersA2 — Use jes and ne as complete response words, answer positive and negative questions clearly, and distinguish response jes from emphatic ja.
Ne… Sed… CorrectionsB1 — Replace a rejected word, phrase, reason, or proposition with the intended alternative using the parallel frame ne… sed….
Negation with Infinitives and ParticiplesB2 — Distinguish negating a finite verb from negating an infinitive or participial event, especially after modal verbs and in reduced clauses.

Questions

Yes-No Questions with ĈuA1 — Form yes-no questions with ĉu while keeping normal clause order, clear negation, and unambiguous answers.
Content Questions with Ki-CorrelativesA1 — Ask for people, things, qualities, places, times, reasons, manners, and quantities with Esperanto's systematic ki-correlatives.
Question Word OrderA1 — Place ĉu and ki-phrases correctly while preserving ordinary Esperanto clause order and clear grammatical roles.
Alternative QuestionsA2 — Offer two or more alternatives with ĉu and aŭ, distinguish genuine choices from yes-no readings, and answer them clearly.
Tag and Confirmation QuestionsA2 — Seek confirmation with sentence-final ĉu, ĉu ne, ne vere, and explicit follow-up questions without copying English tag agreement.
Indirect QuestionsB1 — Embed yes-no and content questions with ĉu or a ki-correlative while preserving Esperanto word order, case, and intended tense.
Echo QuestionsB1 — How Esperanto repeats a word or proposition to request confirmation, signal surprise, or repair a misunderstanding.
Rhetorical QuestionsB2 — How Esperanto uses question forms to assert, challenge, persuade, and frame conclusions without genuinely requesting information.

Register and Style

Editing

Clarity and International ComprehensibilityC1 — Edit Esperanto for readers with different first languages by controlling roles, scope, reference, idiom, and information density.
Conciseness versus Over-DerivationC1 — Choose between compact derived words and explicit phrases by preserving semantic scope, conventionality, and reader effort.
Cohesion and Paragraph RhythmC1 — Build Esperanto paragraphs whose references, logical links, information flow, and sentence rhythm guide an international readership clearly.
Editing for Unintended AmbiguityC2 — Diagnose and revise ambiguous Esperanto reference, scope, attachment, coordination, and word order while preserving intentional nuance.

Registers

Neutral International EsperantoB2 — Write clear, unmarked Esperanto that travels well across first-language backgrounds without flattening the language's expressive range.
Informal ConversationB2 — Use natural spoken Esperanto through short planning units, discourse particles, repair, ellipsis, and shared context without importing English slang.
Formal CorrespondenceC1 — Structure clear formal Esperanto letters and email with appropriate salutations, requests, references, closings, and institutional tone.
Academic ProseC1 — Build precise, internationally readable academic Esperanto through explicit argument structure, qualification, attribution, method, and cohesion.
Journalistic StyleC1 — Report news in clear, accountable Esperanto through informative leads, explicit attribution, calibrated claims, and readable paragraph rhythm.
Literary ProseC1 — Shape literary Esperanto through viewpoint, rhythm, word order, and lexical texture without confusing artistic choice with grammar.
Poetic LanguageC1 — Use rhythm, marked order, repetition, sound, and lawful elision in Esperanto poetry while preserving grammatical clarity.
Technical and Scientific WritingC2 — Write precise Esperanto definitions, methods, results, and technical terminology for an international specialist audience.

Syntax and Word Order

Advanced Order

Marked OSV and OVS OrdersA2 — Use object-first OSV and OVS order for established topics and deliberate contrasts while preserving accusative marking and clear phrase boundaries.
Verb-Initial ClausesA2 — Recognize and use presentational, subjectless, imperative, and emphatic verb-initial clauses without treating inversion as neutral.
Discontinuous ConstituentsB1 — Recognize when related words are separated across a clause, distinguish true discontinuity from postposition, and prefer intact phrases when separation creates ambiguity.
Avoiding Ambiguity in Free OrderB1 — Use Esperanto's flexible constituent order without obscuring grammatical roles, modifier attachment, particle scope, or information structure.
Parallelism and BalanceB2 — Build coordinated phrases and clauses with matching grammatical shapes so that their relationships remain clear and rhetorically effective.
Rhythm-Driven OrderingB2 — Use constituent order to create fluent pacing while preserving grammatical roles, scope, attachment, and discourse structure.
Word Order in PoetryC1 — Read and create poetic inversions by tracking case, agreement, constituent structure, meter, rhyme, and information focus.

Clause Foundations

Basic Clause StructureA2 — Build clear Esperanto clauses around a finite verb, with grammatical roles marked by endings and arranged in a neutral information order.
Neutral SVO OrderA2 — Use subject–verb–object as Esperanto's unmarked order, and depart from it only when context gives the new order a clear discourse purpose.
Subjects and PredicatesA2 — Identify what a clause is about, what is predicated of it, and when Esperanto requires—or genuinely lacks—an expressed subject.
Objects and ComplementsB1 — Distinguish accusative direct objects from prepositional, adverbial, clausal, and predicative complements selected by Esperanto verbs.
Copular ClausesB1 — Use esti and related linking verbs to connect a subject with an unmarked description, identity, location, origin, or other predicative expression.
Existential ClausesB2 — Present people, things, and situations with existential estas while keeping existence distinct from location and identification.
Coordination of PhrasesC1 — Coordinate parallel subjects, objects, complements, and modifiers while preserving case, scope, and clear constituent boundaries.

Information Structure

Topic and CommentA2 — Organize an Esperanto sentence around what the conversation is about and what new statement is made about it.
Focus and ContrastA2 — Place new or corrective information clearly with neutral end focus, focus particles, negation, and marked word order.
Postponing the SubjectB1 — Place a subject after the verb to present a new participant, preserve a scene-setting opening, or give the subject late focus.
End WeightB1 — Place long or structurally complex constituents later when doing so improves processing, rhythm, and attachment without obscuring grammatical roles.
Given and New InformationB2 — Arrange accessible information before newly introduced or contrastive material while using articles, pronouns, case, and word order to guide the listener.
Placement of Focus ParticlesB2 — Place nur, ankaŭ, eĉ, ĝuste, precipe, and similar particles directly before the constituent whose alternatives they limit, add, or highlight.
Word Order with PronounsC1 — Place Esperanto pronouns by grammatical role and information structure rather than treating them as fixed English-style subjects or unstressed clitics.

Phrase Structure

Noun Phrase Word OrderA2 — Arrange determiners, numbers, adjectives, a head noun, and heavier postmodifiers into clear Esperanto noun phrases.
Prepositional Phrase AttachmentB1 — Show clearly whether an Esperanto prepositional phrase belongs to a verb, noun, adjective, or whole clause.
Coordination and Shared DependentsB2 — Share subjects, objects, verbs, prepositions, and clause frames across coordinated structures without creating scope or attachment ambiguity.
Ellipsis and RecoverabilityC1 — Omit repeated or predictable material only when context, agreement, case, and clause structure make the missing content recoverable.

The Accusative

Beyond Objects

Direction toward a PlaceA1 — Use directional -n to distinguish movement into or onto a place from movement or position within it.
Direction with Spatial AdverbsA1 — Learn how -n turns place adverbs and place correlatives into expressions of movement toward a destination.
Time DurationA1 — Express how long an event lasts by marking a time measure with -n or by using an explicit duration phrase.
Distance and ExtentA2 — Use measure -n for distances traveled, physical dimensions, differences in extent, and offsets from a reference point.
Measures and PriceA2 — Mark bare measures of weight, size, value, and price with -n while distinguishing them from objects and prepositional phrases.
Calendar Dates in the AccusativeB1 — Learn why Esperanto calendar dates often take temporal -n, how to write ordinal dates, and when a date correctly remains unmarked.
Predicative Complements and the AccusativeB1 — Distinguish Esperanto predicative complements from accusative objects and attributive modifiers, especially in clauses that describe an object.

Core Object Marking

The Accusative -N: OverviewA1 — Understand how Esperanto uses final -n to mark direct objects, direction, time, and measurement without relying on word order.
Direct ObjectsA1 — Learn which Esperanto verb complements are direct objects, how -n marks them, and how object marking remains stable when word order changes.
Two Objects and ValencyA2 — How Esperanto distributes recipients, things transferred, and other participants between the accusative and prepositional phrases.
Objects before the VerbB1 — How fronted and preverbal objects use accusative marking to preserve roles while managing topic, contrast, and information flow.
Objects after InfinitivesB1 — How Esperanto infinitives retain their own objects, complements, and accusative marking inside larger verb phrases.
Coordinated ObjectsB1 — How objects joined by kaj, aŭ, nek, or paired conjunctions share a role while retaining the right case and agreement.
Object EllipsisB2 — When Esperanto may leave an object unspoken, when a visible substitute still needs accusative marking, and when omission becomes unclear.

Limits and Nuance

No Accusative after Ordinary PrepositionsA1 — Learn why ordinary Esperanto prepositions take unmarked complements and how to distinguish them from directional and exceptional combinations with -n.
Prepositions with Optional Directional -NA1 — Learn when local Esperanto prepositions combine with directional -n, when they describe a static location, and where accepted variation reflects different viewpoints.
Ambiguous TransitivityA1 — Learn how to decide whether an Esperanto verb takes a direct object, distinguish omitted objects from intransitive uses, and avoid English transfer.
Accusative with CausativesA2 — How igi and -ig- select the affected participant, and how Esperanto marks additional roles in causative constructions.
Accusative in Passive ClausesA2 — Why an active object loses -n when promoted to passive subject, and where other accusatives may still occur in a passive clause.
Accusative in Relative ClausesB1 — How kiu, kio, and their plural forms take case from their role inside a relative clause, independently of the antecedent.
Accusative and Free Word OrderB1 — How visible role marking permits varied clause order while topic, focus, weight, and clarity still guide real Esperanto usage.
Stylistic Omission and Nonstandard LossB2 — How to distinguish legitimate objects without visible -n from ellipsis, foreign-name conventions, predicatives, and genuine nonstandard case loss.

Variation and Usage

Norm and Community

The Fundamento and the Living LanguageC1 — Understand how Esperanto combines an immutable foundational standard with productive vocabulary growth, changing usage, and accepted modern variation.
Akademio RecommendationsC1 — Interpret Akademio decisions, Official Additions, recommendations, dictionary status labels, and consultation answers without overstating their force.
PMEG and Descriptive GrammarC1 — Use PMEG as a detailed evidence-based grammar while distinguishing its analysis and recommendations from the Fundamento and formal Akademio decisions.
Corpus Evidence from TekstaroC1 — Use Tekstaro searches to evaluate Esperanto attestation, frequency, period, genre, collocation, and variation without mistaking corpus hits for rules.
Historical Esperanto and Modern UsageC1 — Read older Esperanto accurately while distinguishing unchanged grammar, dated style, accepted modern alternatives, and later innovation.
Zamenhofian Style without ImitationC1 — Learn from Zamenhof's clarity, derivational economy, and sentence movement without copying historical surface features as modern rules.
Geographic Variation without National DialectsC1 — Describe geographic influences on Esperanto without inventing territorial dialects or ranking speakers by national background.
Age, Medium, and Community VariationC2 — Analyze how generation, communication medium, and social networks shape Esperanto without turning tendencies into rules.
Reforms, Ido, and Nonstandard ProposalsC2 — Distinguish ordinary Esperanto innovation from reforms, describe Ido as a separate language, and label nonstandard proposals accurately.
Accepted Variation and Personal StyleC2 — Distinguish stable grammar, accepted alternatives, register choices, individual style, and genuinely nonstandard forms in Esperanto.

Verb Reference

High-Frequency Verbs

Esti: To BeA2 — A complete reference to esti for identity, properties, location, existence, impersonal conditions, participial auxiliaries, and productive derivatives.
Havi: To HaveA2 — Use havi for possession, relationships, characteristics, experiences, and object-state complements without copying English perfect tenses.
Fari: To Do/MakeA2 — Use fari for making, performing, and causing results, and distinguish fariĝi, igi, and more specific Esperanto verbs.
Iri: To GoA2 — Use iri with destination, route, manner, and purpose complements, and distinguish ekiri, foriri, reiri, and other motion compounds.
Veni: To ComeA2 — Use veni for motion toward a relevant viewpoint, build source and goal frames with de, el, and al, and master reveni and related compounds.
Vidi: To SeeA2 — Use vidi with perception objects, object-plus-infinitive patterns, and ke-clauses, and distinguish seeing from deliberate looking.
Diri: To SayA2 — Use diri for spoken content, add recipients with al, and choose correctly among direct quotation, ke-clauses, and productive compounds.
Paroli: To SpeakA2 — Use paroli with pri, kun, al, and language expressions, and distinguish the activity of speaking from saying a particular message.
Scii: To Know FactsA2 — Use scii for facts, answers, embedded questions, and know-how, and distinguish informational knowledge from acquaintance with koni.
Koni: To Know Or Be Acquainted WithA2 — Use koni for familiarity with people, places, works, and systems, and distinguish acquaintance from factual knowledge with scii.
Povi: Can Or Be AbleA2 — Use povi with a same-subject infinitive for ability, circumstances, permission, and possibility, including epistemic and polite readings.
Devi: Must Or OughtA2 — Use devi for obligation, necessity, expectation, and strong inference, with the right tense, complement, and negative scope.
Voli: To WantA2 — Use voli with noun objects, same-subject infinitives, and volitive ke-clauses for another person’s desired action.
Ŝati: To Like Or AppreciateA2 — Use ŝati with direct objects and infinitives, and distinguish its experiencer-as-subject pattern from plaĉi.
Ami: To LoveA2 — Use ami for strong affection toward people, things, causes, and activities, with direct objects and productive forms such as ekami.
Bezoni: To NeedA2 — Use bezoni with noun objects, same-subject infinitives, and volitive ke-clauses, including the common passive adjective bezonata.
Doni: To GiveA2 — Use doni with a direct-object theme and an al-recipient, and build its regular paradigm, participles, compounds, and common collocations.
Preni: To TakeB1 — Use preni for taking possession, selecting, removing, and conventional activities, with clear object and source marking.
Meti: To PutB1 — Use meti with a direct object and a destination complement, including directional -n, result phrases, participles, and productive compounds.
Trovi: To FindB1 — Use trovi for successful finding and judgment, distinguish it from serĉi and troviĝi, and master its object-predicative pattern.
Lasi: To Leave Or LetB1 — Use lasi for leaving something behind or unchanged and for allowing an object to act, with clear contrasts to foriri and igi.
Teni: To Hold Or KeepB1 — Use teni for holding, keeping, maintaining a state, and reflexive posture or conduct.
Porti: To Carry Or WearB1 — Use porti for carrying, bearing, and wearing, and distinguish it from holding and goal-oriented bringing.
Alporti: To BringB1 — Use alporti when carrying culminates at a relevant goal, with clear object, recipient, and destination frames.
Loĝi: To ResideB1 — Use loĝi for having one's home in a place, with static location complements and the transitive causative loĝigi.
Vivi: To LiveB1 — Use vivi for being alive and leading a life, with manner, place, livelihood, and causative vivigi patterns.
Labori: To WorkB1 — Use labori for employment and purposeful activity, choosing por, pri, ĉe, or kiel according to the role you mean.
Lerni: To LearnB1 — Use lerni for acquiring knowledge or skill, with noun, infinitive, and clause complements, and distinguish it from studi.
Instrui: To TeachB1 — Use instrui with either the learner or the subject as direct object, marking the other role with pri or al.
Legi: To ReadB1 — Use legi with texts as direct objects and build precise meanings with al, pri, laŭtlegi, tralegi, and relegi.
Skribi: To WriteB1 — Use skribi for written text and messages, marking the recipient with al and recognizing compounds such as subskribi.
Aŭskulti: To ListenB1 — Use aŭskulti with a direct object, distinguish intentional listening from hearing, and master its regular forms and productive derivatives.
Rigardi: To Look At Or WatchB1 — Use rigardi for deliberate visual attention, distinguish it from vidi and spekti, and build its regular paradigm and derivatives.
Pensi: To ThinkB2 — Use pensi pri for a topic and pensi, ke for a proposition, and distinguish thinking from opinion, consideration, and invention.
Kredi: To BelieveB2 — Distinguish kredi ion, kredi al iu, kredi je iu or io, and kredi, ke, while mastering the verb's regular forms and derivatives.
Kompreni: To UnderstandB2 — Use kompreni with direct objects, factual and interrogative clauses, and distinguish understanding from realization and misunderstanding.
Memori: To RememberB2 — Use memori for retained memory, distinguish object and topic frames, and contrast it with eventive rememori and causative memorigi.
Forgesi: To ForgetB2 — Use forgesi with objects, topics, and infinitives, and control the two causative frames of forgesigi.
Demandi: To AskB2 — Use demandi with the person asked as a direct object and express question content through pri, embedded questions, or quotation.
Respondi: To AnswerB2 — Use respondi al for the person or prompt answered, and express answer content with an object, clause, quotation, or manner phrase.
Helpi: To HelpB2 — Use helpi with either a direct object or an al complement, and connect the beneficiary naturally to an infinitive action.
Atendi: To Wait For Or ExpectB2 — Use atendi directly with the person or event awaited, and distinguish physical waiting, prediction, and hope.
Serĉi: To Look ForB2 — Use serĉi directly with the sought person or thing, and distinguish the search process from the result expressed by trovi.
Uzi: To UseB2 — Use uzi directly with a tool or resource, and distinguish utila, uzebla, uzata, and uzita.
Manĝi: To EatB2 — Use manĝi with or without a food object, form meal verbs naturally, and handle food quantities correctly.
Trinki: To DrinkB2 — Use trinki with optional drink objects, build measure phrases, and distinguish containers, instruments, and alcohol-specific drinki.
Dormi: To SleepB2 — Use the intransitive verb dormi, express duration and sleeping circumstances, and distinguish ongoing sleep from ekdormi and dormigi.
Komenci: To BeginB2 — Choose transitive komenci for beginning an activity and komenciĝi when an event itself begins, with complete forms and common derivatives.
Fini: To FinishB2 — Use transitive fini for bringing work to completion, contrast it with finiĝi and ĉesi, and master its regular forms and derivatives.
Okazi: To Happen Or OccurC1 — Use intransitive okazi with event subjects, recognize postposed subjects, and distinguish an occurrence from causative okazigi.

Verbs

Foundations

Esperanto Verbs: The Complete SystemA1 — See how six invariant endings express infinitive, tense, conditionality, and volition without person or number conjugation.
The Infinitive in -IA1 — Use the invariant -i form to name an action or state without asserting tense, person, or mood.
The Present in -ASA1 — Use -as for actual situations in progress, current states, habits, and generally valid statements.
The Past in -ISA2 — Use -is for actual actions and states before the relevant present, regardless of whether they were completed, ongoing, habitual, or earlier than another past event.
The Future in -OSA2 — Use -os for actions and states expected after the relevant present, including in time and condition clauses where English uses a present form.
The Conditional in -USA2 — Learn how invariant -us marks imagined and counterfactual situations, polite distance, and conditions without encoding tense.
The Volitive in -UB1 — Learn how invariant -u expresses commands, requests, wishes, proposals, purposes, and desired actions in subordinate clauses.
No Person or Number AgreementB1 — Learn why every Esperanto verb ending remains unchanged across subjects and where person and number are expressed instead.
Expressing the SubjectB1 — Learn how Esperanto expresses subjects with noun phrases, pronouns, clauses, and controlled omission despite invariant verb forms.

Infinitives and Valency

Infinitives as ComplementsA1 — Build verb chains with an -i infinitive, assign its understood subject, and keep tense, negation, objects, and clause boundaries clear.
Infinitives after Modal VerbsA1 — Combine povi, devi, and voli with a same-subject infinitive while keeping tense, mood, objects, and negation in the right layer.
Infinitive SubjectsA1 — Use an infinitive phrase as a clause subject, describe its action with an adverb, and identify its understood actor clearly.
Infinitives after PrepositionsA2 — Choose the established preposition-plus-infinitive patterns and replace disfavored combinations with clauses, participles, or action nouns.
Subject Control with InfinitivesA2 — Identify the understood actor of an infinitive after same-subject, influence, perception, causative, and purpose constructions.
Transitive and Intransitive VerbsA2 — Learn which verbs license a direct object, which require another construction, and how Esperanto systematically changes valency.
Valency-Changing DerivationB1 — Use -ig- and -iĝ- to add a causer, remove a causer, and build precise causative and change-of-state verbs in Esperanto.
Verb-Preposition FramesB1 — Learn which Esperanto verbs take direct objects and which select al, pri, de, kun, or je—and how the frame changes meaning.
Impersonal VerbsB1 — Build subjectless Esperanto clauses for weather, ambient conditions, necessity, and topics without inserting English dummy it or there.
Weather and Environmental VerbsB2 — Describe rain, snow, storms, light, temperature, and environmental change with subjectless and subjectful Esperanto verb patterns.

Mood and Modality

Polite Requests with -USA1 — Learn how povus, bonvolus, volus, and impersonal -us forms create polite distance in Esperanto requests and service encounters.
The Volitive for CommandsA2 — Learn how Esperanto uses invariant -u for direct commands, prohibitions, instructions, and third-person directives with appropriate politeness.
The Volitive in Subordinate ClausesA2 — Learn when Esperanto uses -u in ke- and por ke-clauses to express a request, purpose, intended result, or other desired action.
Wishes and ExhortationsA2 — Use Esperanto -u for inclusive let's-exhortations, personal resolutions, third-person wishes, blessings, and hoped-for outcomes.
Epistemic ModalityB2 — Express certainty, probability, inference, possibility, and impossibility without confusing evidence judgments with obligation or mood.

Tense and Time

Narrative PresentA2 — Learn how Esperanto shifts past stories into -as for immediacy and how to keep the narrative viewpoint coherent.
Timeless and Generic StatementsA2 — Use present -as for definitions, general truths, recurring patterns, and claims about kinds rather than one moment.
Relative Time without Sequence-of-Tense BackshiftA2 — Preserve the original verb form in reported speech and thought instead of applying English-style tense backshift.
Tense in Subordinate ClausesB1 — Choose each subordinate verb from its own time and mood meaning rather than copying English tense patterns or mechanically matching the main verb.
Time Adverbials and TenseB1 — Coordinate tense with time words and phrases while distinguishing absolute, contextual, durational, and aspectual time reference.
Planned Future with the PresentB1 — Recognize marked colloquial present forms for future arrangements while using standard future -os accurately and idiomatically.
Historical and Dramatic Tense ShiftsB2 — Use the historical present and related tense shifts deliberately to change narrative viewpoint, immediacy, and event sequencing.

Word Formation

Affixes

mal-: OppositesA2 — Form direct opposites with productive mal-, distinguish opposition from simple negation, and interpret its scope in larger derived words.
re-: ReturnA2 — Use re- with actions to express return to an earlier place or state, restoration, response, and repetition.
ek-: Inchoative Or Sudden OnsetA2 — Use ek- to focus on the first moment of an action or package a brief sudden event.
eks-: Former StatusA2 — Use eks- for a role, relationship, condition, or institutional status that genuinely existed and has now ended.
ge-: Mixed-Sex GroupingA2 — Use traditional ge- for pairs and groups containing more than one sex, while recognizing modern gender-neutral extensions and their limits.
bo-: Relationship By MarriageA2 — Use bo- for kinship created through marriage, while distinguishing in-laws from blood, half-, and step-relations.
pra-: Remoteness In Ancestry Or TimeA2 — Use pra- for remote time, origins, and generations beyond ordinary grandparent or grandchild terms.
dis-: SeparationA2 — Use dis- to express movement apart, dispersal, distribution, or division into separate parts.
mis-: Error Or Incorrect ExecutionA2 — Use mis- when an action, judgment, form, or result is wrong, mistaken, or improperly carried out.
ĉef-: Chief Or Principal StatusA2 — Use ĉef- to identify the principal, highest-ranking, or institutionally central member of a class.
-in-: Female SexA2 — Use -in- to specify female sex while preserving neutral person and animal roots when sex is irrelevant.
-et-: DiminutionA2 — Use -et- to make meanings smaller, weaker, shorter, or more affectionate while keeping the base meaning recognizable.
-eg-: AugmentationA2 — Use -eg- to enlarge or intensify a base meaning, from physical size to degree, force, and emotional emphasis.
-ej-: Place Associated With An ActivityA2 — Form names for places intended for an activity, occupants, goods, or another recognizable purpose with -ej-.
-il-: Instrument Or MeansA2 — Use -il- to name an instrument, device, substance, document, program, or other means specialized for an action.
-ul-: Person Characterized By A QualityA2 — Use -ul- for a person characterized by a quality, habitual behavior, possession, or other defining feature.
-an-: Member, Inhabitant, Or AdherentA2 — Form nouns for members, inhabitants, and adherents with -an-, while learning where convention overrides mechanical word building.
-ist-: Profession, Habitual Activity, Or IdeologyB1 — Use -ist- for people characterized by a profession, repeated activity, specialty, or doctrine without treating it as a simple equivalent of English -ist.
-ar-: Collection As A WholeB1 — Use -ar- to present similar members as one organized or coherent collection, and distinguish that collective meaning from an ordinary plural.
-er-: Individual Particle Or UnitB1 — Use -er- to extract one small, repeatable constituent from a larger whole, while distinguishing units from pieces, parts, and merely small objects.
-aĵ-: Concrete Manifestation, Product, Or ObjectB1 — Use -aĵ- to name a thing, product, result, or manifestation related to a base, while distinguishing entities from qualities, states, and actions.
-ec-: Abstract Quality Or StateB1 — Use -ec- to name the quality, character, or state associated with a root while distinguishing it from things, actions, and neutral measurements.
-ad-: Duration, Repetition, Or Ongoing ActivityB1 — Use -ad- to foreground an action as prolonged, repeated, habitual, or an ongoing process rather than a single event or result.
-em-: Tendency Or DispositionB1 — Use -em- for a characteristic tendency, readiness, susceptibility, or recurring inclination toward the base action.
-ebl-: Passive PossibilityB1 — Use -ebl- to describe something as capable of undergoing the action of a transitive base verb.
-ind-: Worthiness Of An ActionB1 — Use -ind- to judge something worthy, deserving, or worthwhile as the object of the base action.
-end-: Obligation Requiring An ActionB1 — Use -end- to describe something that must undergo a required action, and distinguish necessity from possibility and worthiness.
-id-: Offspring Or DescendantB1 — Use -id- for a young offspring, human descendant, young plant, or established figurative descendant.
-uj-: ContainerB1 — Use -uj- for a container defined by its contents, and recognize its traditional plant and country-name extensions.
-ing-: Holder Or Socket For One ItemB1 — Use -ing- for a fitted holder, sheath, socket, or ring into which an item is partly inserted.
-estr-: Leader Or HeadB1 — Use -estr- for a person with leadership and decision-making authority over a group, place, institution, or activity.
-op-: Groups Of A Stated NumberB1 — Use -op- to turn a number into a group size, distinguishing members acting together from simple counting, distribution, repetition, and multiplication.
-obl-: Multiplicative QuantityB1 — Use -obl- for multiplication factors and multiple structure, while separating magnitude from repeated occasions, group size, and fractions.
-on-: Fractional QuantityB2 — Use -on- to divide a whole into a stated number of equal parts, with the denominator inside the word and any larger numerator outside it.
-foj-: Number Of OccasionsB2 — Use fojo and compact -foj- compounds to count occasions, distinguishing repetition from multiplication, duration, grouping, and ordinal sequence.
-iĝ-: Becoming, Spontaneous ChangeB2 — Use -iĝ- for entering a new state, action, or location and for intransitive change whose affected participant becomes the subject.
-ig-: CausationB2 — Use -ig- to make something acquire a quality, enter a state, or perform an action, while tracking how causation changes verb valency.
-aĉ-: Poor Quality or ContemptA2 — Use -aĉ- to present the base as shoddy, worthless, unpleasant, or contemptible while recognizing its strongly evaluative force.
-ĉj-: Affectionate Male NamesB1 — Use -ĉj- in familiar male names and kinship terms, with a socially conventional shortened base and ordinary noun endings.
-ism-: Doctrines, Systems, and Characteristic PracticeB2 — Use -ism- for doctrines, systems, movements, characteristic practices, dependencies, and other conventional patterns whose exact relation to the base must be learned.
-nj-: Affectionate Female NamesB1 — Use -nj- in familiar female names and kinship terms, with a conventional shortened base and ordinary noun endings.
-um-: Context-Dependent DerivationB1 — Understand established -um- words whose relationship to the base is conventional rather than fixed by one reusable rule.

Roots and Compounds

Roots and Grammatical EndingsA2 — See how Esperanto combines meaningful roots with noun, adjective, adverb, and verb endings to create usable words.
Root Character and CategoryA2 — Understand how a root's inherent meaning shapes its noun, adjective, adverb, and verb forms.
Building Word FamiliesA2 — Build related Esperanto words step by step from a shared root while preserving category, scope, and conventional meaning.
Compound Head OrderA2 — Interpret and build ordinary Esperanto compounds with the general head on the right and its modifier before it.
Transparent Noun CompoundsB1 — Build transparent Esperanto nouns by placing a specifying element before the semantic head, while keeping implicit relations and lexical convention clear.
Adjective and Adverb CompoundsB1 — Build compound adjectives and adverbs by identifying their semantic head, scope, and phrase-based source instead of copying English word order.
Verb CompoundsB1 — Build and interpret Esperanto verb compounds by tracking the action head, incorporated modifiers, valency, and conventional meanings.
Linking Vowels in CompoundsB1 — Choose when to retain -o-, -e-, -i-, or directional -en- inside an Esperanto compound for clarity, pronunciation, or essential meaning.
Shortening and ClippingB2 — Distinguish established clipped roots, written abbreviations, initialisms, poetic elision, and playful blends without treating arbitrary truncation as productive Esperanto.
Affix Stacking and ScopeB2 — Interpret and build multi-affix Esperanto words by applying each layer in order and keeping the semantic head and participant roles clear.
Lexicalization and ConventionalityB2 — Understand why structurally transparent Esperanto words develop conventional meanings that cannot be predicted from morphology alone.
Coining Understandable New WordsB2 — Create transparent Esperanto words by choosing a clear semantic head, explicit relation, economical structure, and a form that listeners can interpret without private guesswork.
International Roots and False FriendsC1 — Use international Esperanto roots through Esperanto morphology while avoiding familiar-looking English cognates whose meanings, boundaries, or word families differ.