Esperanto titles such as sinjoro, sinjorino, doktoro, profesoro, prezidanto, reĝo are regular O-words even when they stand before a personal name. Their roots remain visible, and they can take plural -j and accusative -n: doktor-o, doktor-o-j, doktor-o-n, doktor-o-j-n. The following name identifies which title-holder is meant.
Titles interact with la in a way that has varied naturally in Esperanto usage. A routine honorific may behave almost like part of the name and appear without la: doktoro Zamenhof. When the title is descriptive or carries an adjective, la is normal: la fama doktoro Zamenhof. In direct address, omit la: Doktoro, ĉu vi havas momenton?
A title is still an O-word
| Form | Structure | Use |
|---|---|---|
| profesoro | profesor-o | one professor |
| profesoroj | profesor-o-j | several professors |
| profesoron | profesor-o-n | one professor as object |
| profesorojn | profesor-o-j-n | several professors as object |
The title's stable root also supports related forms: profesora “professorial/relating to a professor,” profesori “to serve as professor,” where context and established usage support them. The -o in profesoro is the noun ending, not an inseparable final sound.
La profesoro jam alvenis, sed la studentoj ankoraŭ atendas ekstere.
The professor has already arrived, but the students are still waiting outside.
Here la profesoro is one identifiable person. No personal name is necessary because the context identifies the title-holder.
La universitato dungis du novajn profesorojn.
The university hired two new professors.
The title noun is countable. After du, it requires plural -j; as a direct object, it also takes -n. The adjective agrees: nova-j-n.
Titles before personal names
A title plus a name can be understood in two ways. If the title adds real descriptive information, ordinary definiteness favors la. If it is a routine polite formula or an integrated part of how the person is named, speakers often omit la. Both patterns are well attested.
Doktoro Zamenhof kreis Esperanton.
Doctor Zamenhof created Esperanto.
Doktoro Zamenhof treats the title as name-like. This is neutral historical naming, not a claim that doktoro has stopped being a noun.
La genia doktoro Zamenhof proponis lingvon por internacia komunikado.
The brilliant Doctor Zamenhof proposed a language for international communication.
The adjective genia makes the title descriptive, so la is natural. Compare the minimal contrast: bare doktoro Zamenhof as a routine title, but la genia doktoro Zamenhof as a fully described definite noun phrase.
Sinjorino Petrova telefonis antaŭ unu horo.
Ms. Petrova called an hour ago.
Sinjorino is a conventional gendered honorific (formal). Occupational titles such as doktoro and profesoro can refer to a person of any gender in neutral modern usage; an -in- form may be used when explicitly marking sex is relevant.
Case with names and titles
An Esperantized O-name takes -n directly: Karlo → Karlon. A vowel-final international name can likewise add -n, as in Maria → Marian. A consonant-final name can be adapted with -on, as in Zamenhof → Zamenhofon, while a foreign citation-form name may instead be left unchanged. A title provides a clear place to mark the phrase's role without altering that foreign name.
Mi renkontis profesoron Anna Keller post la prelego.
I met Professor Anna Keller after the lecture.
Profesoron carries object -n; the quoted foreign-style name remains unchanged. This is a practical, established pattern, especially when adding Esperanto endings to the name would be awkward.
Mi renkontis Karlon ĉe la stacidomo.
I met Karlo at the station.
The fully Esperantized O-name Karlo behaves as an ordinary O-word and becomes Karlon. Naming conventions have accepted variation, so clarity and consistency matter more than forcing every international name into one system; see Proper Names.
Ĉu vi jam parolis kun doktoro Ana Petrova?
Have you already spoken with Doctor Ana Petrova?
After kun, neither the title nor the name takes accusative -n. Prepositional role and direct-object role must not be confused.
Plural titles and shared names
When several people bear the title, mark the title plural. A shared title before coordinated names can be plural when the phrase groups them together.
La profesoroj Ana kaj Petro gvidos la seminarion kune.
Professors Ana and Petro will lead the seminar together.
Profesoroj announces that both named people are professors. In a more formal list, repeating the title can prevent ambiguity: profesoro Ana kaj profesoro Petro.
Ni dankis la doktorojn Silva kaj Okafor pro ilia rapida helpo.
We thanked Doctors Silva and Okafor for their quick help.
Doktor-o-j-n carries plural and object case. The names identify the two doctors and do not themselves need Esperanto endings in this construction.
English speakers sometimes treat a title-name sequence as an indivisible English proper name and forget Esperanto agreement. The title remains countable and inflectable.
Direct address has no article
A vocative calls to someone rather than identifying them as a subject or object. Do not use la merely because English writes the in some ceremonial formulas, and do not add object -n.
Sinjoro Prezidanto, ĉu mi rajtas fari demandon?
Mr. President, may I ask a question?
This is (formal) direct address. Capitalization of titles varies by editorial style; sentence-initial capitalization is of course required.
— Doktoro, ĉu la rezultoj jam pretas? — Jes, mi klarigos ilin tuj.
— Doctor, are the results ready yet? — Yes, I will explain them immediately.
The short exchange contrasts address Doktoro with an ordinary definite phrase such as la doktoro klarigos. A comma normally separates the address from the clause.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating -o as part of an unanalyzable title
❌ La radiko de ‘profesoro’ estas ‘profesoro-’.
Incorrect analysis: -o is the noun ending.
✅ ‘Profesoro’ konsistas el la radiko ‘profesor-’ kaj la finaĵo ‘-o’.
‘Profesoro’ consists of the root ‘profesor-’ and the ending ‘-o.’
2. Omitting plural and object endings
❌ La dekano intervjuis du nova profesoro.
Incorrect: two direct-object professors require plural and accusative agreement.
✅ La dekano intervjuis du novajn profesorojn.
The dean interviewed two new professors.
3. Adding la in direct address
❌ La doktoro, bonvolu veni ĉi tien!
Incorrect if speaking directly to the doctor: the phrase is a vocative.
✅ Doktoro, bonvolu veni ĉi tien!
Doctor, please come here!
4. Forgetting accusative on the title before an unchanged name
❌ Hieraŭ mi salutis profesoro Anna Keller.
Incorrect: the title carries the direct-object marking.
✅ Hieraŭ mi salutis profesoron Anna Keller.
Yesterday I greeted Professor Anna Keller.
Key Takeaways
Titles and honorifics are regular O-words with productive -o, -oj, -on, -ojn forms. Before names, la varies according to whether the title is descriptive or integrated as a routine honorific; direct address never takes it. Inflect an Esperantized name when appropriate, or let the title carry case before an unchanged foreign-style name.
Related Topics
- Proper NamesA2 — How Esperanto proper names behave as definite noun phrases, take case and number, and interact with articles and titles.
- Capitalization in Titles and NamesA2 — Capitalize Esperanto titles and multiword names clearly without importing English title case or erasing accepted editorial variation.
- 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.
- 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.