A spatial adverb answers “where?”; adding -n makes it answer “where to?” Thus hejme means “at home,” while hejmen means “homeward/to home.” This directional ending is highly productive with place adverbs and with the place series of Esperanto correlatives.
Place and direction form a regular pair
Adverbs ending in -e can take directional -n when they name a place. The resulting ending is -en: ekstere “outside” becomes eksteren “to the outside,” and supre “above/upstairs” becomes supren “upward/upstairs.”
| Place: where? | Direction: where to? |
|---|---|
| hejme — at home | hejmen — home/to home |
| ekstere — outside | eksteren — outward/outside |
| interne — inside | internen — inward/inside |
| supre — above/upstairs | supren — upward/upstairs |
| malsupre — below/downstairs | malsupren — downward/downstairs |
Mi laboras hejme hodiaŭ, sed morgaŭ mi iros hejmen pli frue.
I'm working at home today, but tomorrow I'll go home earlier.
La infanoj jam estas ekstere; ankaŭ la hundo volas iri eksteren.
The children are already outside; the dog also wants to go outside.
La lifto ne funkcias, do ni devos marŝi supren.
The elevator isn't working, so we'll have to walk upstairs.
These forms do not agree with a noun because they are adverbs, not adjectives. They do not take plural -j, and their -n is not object marking. It specifically turns a place into a direction.
The kie–tie–ie–ĉie–nenie series
Esperanto's place correlatives all end in -e. They can therefore take directional -n in a completely regular way.
| Location | Direction | Core meaning |
|---|---|---|
| kie | kien | where / where to |
| tie | tien | there / to there |
| ie | ien | somewhere / to some place |
| ĉie | ĉien | everywhere / in every direction |
| nenie | nenien | nowhere / to no place |
— Kie estas Lea? — Ŝi estas en la kuirejo.
— Where is Lea? — She is in the kitchen.
— Kien iris Lea? — Ŝi iris tien por fari teon.
— Where did Lea go? — She went there to make tea.
Mi ne volas resti ĉi tie, sed mi ankaŭ ne havas kien iri.
I don't want to stay here, but I also have nowhere to go.
La fumo disvastiĝis ĉien, kaj baldaŭ la tuta apartamento odoris je brulo.
The smoke spread everywhere, and soon the whole apartment smelled of burning.
Unlike the -u and -o correlatives, these -e correlatives never add plural -j. Their final -n has only the directional meaning. The case and number on correlatives page contrasts all of these patterns.
Do not add a second direction marker
Forms such as hejmen and tien already mean “to home” and “to there.” A preceding al is therefore unnecessary and nonstandard in careful usage. Choose either a directional adverb or an al-phrase.
Post la filmo ni iris hejmen per la lasta buso.
After the film we went home on the last bus.
Post la filmo ni iris al nia hejmo per la lasta buso.
After the film we went to our home on the last bus.
The alternatives are grammatically parallel, but not always equally idiomatic. Iri hejmen is the ordinary everyday expression. Iri al nia hejmo explicitly presents the home as a noun phrase and can contrast one home with another.
Direction with an adverb does not necessarily assert successful arrival as strongly as a directional noun phrase such as en la domon. It can indicate orientation or intended direction.
Ni ekiris tien, sed duonvoje la aŭto paneis.
We set off in that direction, but halfway there the car broke down.
This makes tien close to “that way” in suitable contexts. The destination is selected, even if the journey is interrupted.
Direction is not a direct object
Because English often puts an unmarked adverb after a verb, learners may mistake tien for an object form. Test the meaning, not the position. In Mi rigardis tien, the speaker directed their gaze that way; in Mi vidis tiun lokon, tiun lokon is the thing seen and is a true direct object.
Mi rigardis tien, sed mi vidis nenion nekutiman.
I looked that way, but I saw nothing unusual.
Ne lasu la seĝon tie; portu ĝin iom pli malproksimen.
Don't leave the chair there; carry it a little farther away.
Word order remains flexible, but meaning remains marked. Moving tien before the verb does not change it into an object or remove its -n.
Tien mi ne revenos sen bona kialo.
I won't go back there without a good reason.
Established extensions
Some common directional adverbs are historically less transparent than the basic place pairs but are fully established in ordinary Esperanto. Antaŭen means “forward,” pluen means “onward/farther,” and reen means “back.” In particular, reen is indispensable because ree means “again,” not “in a back location.”
Ni ne povas iri reen; la ponto estas fermita.
We can't go back; the bridge is closed.
Malgraŭ la pluvo, la grupo marŝis pluen ĝis la vilaĝo.
Despite the rain, the group walked onward as far as the village.
Forms such as renkonten “toward someone in order to meet them” and tiudirekten “in that direction” are also accepted, though less basic. They are most useful when direction itself is foregrounded.
Kiam mi alvenis, ŝi jam kuris renkonte al mi.
When I arrived, she was already running toward me to greet me.
Here renkonte without -n is also an established expression when followed by al. The construction illustrates that lexicalized adverbs do not always behave like a simple mechanical pair; learn the common phrase as a unit.
Common Mistakes
Asking “where to?” with the location form
❌ Kie vi iros post la laboro?
Incorrect for the intended meaning 'Where will you go?' — kie asks for a location, not a destination.
✅ Kien vi iros post la laboro?
Where will you go after work?
Asking about a location with the directional form
❌ Kien vi loĝas nun?
Incorrect — living describes the current location, so the question is kie.
✅ Kie vi loĝas nun?
Where do you live now?
Doubling the direction marker
❌ Mi devas iri al hejmen antaŭ la oka.
Incorrect — hejmen already means 'to home.'
✅ Mi devas iri hejmen antaŭ la oka.
I have to go home before eight.
Treating a direction as an object
❌ Mi vizitis tien pasintsemajne.
Incorrect — viziti needs the visited person or place as its direct object, not a directional adverb.
✅ Mi vizitis tiun lokon pasintsemajne.
I visited that place last week.
The English word “there” covers both tie and tien. Esperanto requires you to choose: tie locates an event; tien gives it a direction.
Key Takeaways
- Add -n to a spatial e-adverb to express direction: hejme → hejmen and ekstere → eksteren.
- Place correlatives form regular pairs: kie/kien, tie/tien, ie/ien, ĉie/ĉien, and nenie/nenien.
- Do not combine al with a directional adverb: use either hejmen or al la hejmo.
- Adverbial -n marks direction only; it never marks an object, a plural, or a static location.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- Direction toward a PlaceA1 — Use directional -n to distinguish movement into or onto a place from movement or position within it.
- Place AdverbsB1 — Express location and direction with productive -e forms, place correlatives, and directional -n.
- Kie: The Question/Relative Place CorrelativeA1 — Use kie for location, kien for destination, and relative kie for clauses anchored to a place.
- Case and Number on CorrelativesA2 — Learn exactly which correlative families accept plural -j, object -n, or directional -n, and which remain invariant.