Apud places something close to the side of a person, object, or place: “beside,” “next to,” or sometimes simply “near.” It normally suggests right-or-left proximity rather than front, back, contact, or enclosure. The exact distance depends on scale and context, but the stable idea is neighboring position.
Side-by-side proximity
The clearest use is a nearby position at one side:
Mi lasis mian dorsosakon apud la seĝo.
I left my backpack beside the chair.
En la trajno ŝi sidis apud maljuna sinjoro, kiu legis gazeton.
On the train she sat next to an elderly man who was reading a newspaper.
Apud does not require contact. The backpack may touch the chair or may simply be close to it. If contact or support matters, Esperanto uses a more specific preposition such as sur “on” or kontraŭ “against.”
La telefono estas sur la tablo apud la lampo.
The phone is on the table beside the lamp.
Sur la tablo gives contact and support; apud la lampo gives horizontal proximity. One object can participate in both relations at once.
How close is apud?
The relevant scale changes with the reference object. A chair beside another chair is only centimeters away; a village beside a large city can be kilometers away while still being a neighboring settlement.
Ni luis malgrandan apartamenton apud la universitato.
We rented a small apartment near the university.
Apud la vilaĝo troviĝas lago kun publika plaĝo.
Near the village there is a lake with a public beach.
These sentences do not provide exact distance. They say that the apartment and lake belong to the nearby surrounding area and are naturally understood as spatial neighbors.
Modifiers can refine the distance: tuj apud “right next to,” senpere apud “immediately beside,” tre proksime apud “very close beside.”
La apoteko estas tuj apud la bakejo; vi ne povas preterpasi ĝin.
The pharmacy is right next to the bakery; you can't miss it.
Apud versus ĉe
Both prepositions can express proximity, but their perspectives differ. Apud normally draws a spatial picture of neighboring side positions. Ĉe is more general: it can mean at a place, by an object, with a person, at someone's home, or in connection with an institution.
Mi atendas ĉe la dentisto, sed mia frato sidas apud mi.
I am waiting at the dentist's, but my brother is sitting beside me.
Ĉe la dentisto places the speaker at the dentist's premises or appointment; it does not say that the speaker is physically beside the dentist. Apud mi says exactly where the brother sits in relation to the speaker.
— Kie estas la aŭto? — Ĝi estas apud la norda enirejo.
— Where is the car? — It's next to the north entrance.
In a general answer, ĉe la norda enirejo could mean “at the north entrance.” Apud gives the more specific side-neighbor relation. See Ĉe for its broader social and situational uses.
Apud, antaŭ, malantaŭ, and sur
Esperanto selects a preposition according to the geometry that matters:
| Relation | Preposition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| near the side | apud | apud la domo |
| at the front side | antaŭ | antaŭ la domo |
| at the back side | malantaŭ | malantaŭ la domo |
| on and supported by | sur | sur la domo |
La bicikloj staras apud la domo, ne antaŭ la ĉefa pordo.
The bicycles are beside the house, not in front of the main door.
English “by the house” leaves the geometry vague. Esperanto encourages the speaker to choose the relation that is relevant, while ĉe la domo remains available when no side matters.
Static complement and directional -n
For a static location, the complement after apud is nominative:
La hundido dormas apud miaj piedoj.
The puppy is sleeping beside my feet.
Do not write apud miajn piedojn merely because the sentence contains a location. The preposition already marks the relationship.
Directional -n is possible when an entity moves from elsewhere into the nearby side position:
Mi movis la fotelon apud la fenestron por havi pli da lumo.
I moved the armchair next to the window to get more light.
Here fenestron highlights the new endpoint: the armchair comes into a position beside the window. Compare the resulting static description:
Nun la fotelo staras apud la fenestro.
Now the armchair stands beside the window.
Actual usage sometimes leaves the noun nominative after a placement verb because the speaker treats an understood floor position as the endpoint. The standard directional contrast remains useful: apud la fenestron explicitly means “to beside the window”; apud la fenestro simply locates the event or result there.
Movement while remaining beside something
A motion verb does not automatically make the complement directional. If the moving entity follows a path alongside the reference point, use ordinary nominative:
Ni promenis apud la rivero ĝis la malnova ponto.
We walked beside the river as far as the old bridge.
The walkers remain in the riverside zone; they are not moving toward a new position beside the river. This distinction prevents the common shortcut “motion verb equals accusative,” which is not how Esperanto directional -n works.
Figurative comparison
Apud can metaphorically place two people or things side by side for comparison:
Apud ŝia sperto, la mia ŝajnas tre modesta.
Beside her experience, mine seems very modest.
This is understandable in neutral writing and can sound (literary) when elaborated. It asks the reader to imagine the two cases standing next to each other. For explicit ordinary comparison, kompare kun is often clearer: Kompare kun ŝi, mi estas komencanto.
Apude, apuda, and apuden
When no complement follows, use apude:
La infanoj ludis en la ĝardeno, kaj ni laboris apude.
The children played in the garden, and we worked nearby.
Apuda turns the relation into an adjective: la apuda ĉambro is the neighboring room. Apuden adds directional -n to the local adverb and means “to a nearby position.”
Ni aŭdis bruon en la apuda ĉambro, do ni iris apuden por kontroli.
We heard a noise in the adjoining room, so we went over there to check.
In most everyday directions, a full phrase such as al la apuda ĉambro is clearer than isolated apuden. Regular word formation makes both possible, but context decides which is easiest to understand.
Do not mechanically add de: neutral Esperanto says apud la stacidomo, not apud de la stacidomo. The form apude de occurs, but it is longer and normally offers no advantage over the basic preposition.
Apud is not English “besides”
English beside expresses location, while besides often means “in addition to.” Esperanto keeps these separate:
Krom Ana, ankaŭ Petro venos al la pikniko.
Besides Ana, Petro will also come to the picnic.
Use apud Ana only if someone or something is physically beside Ana, or if a deliberate comparison is intended. Use krom Ana for addition or exception.
Norm, usage, and register
Side-proximity apud, the adjective apuda, and the standalone adverb apude are foundational and neutral in all registers. General-nearness uses are well established, especially with buildings, settlements, and events. The figurative comparison is accepted but less central than spatial use.
The pedagogical default is to choose apud when a neighboring position matters, ĉe for general presence or association, and a more specific preposition when contact, front, back, or containment matters. Je is unnecessary because apud already expresses a precise spatial relation.
Common Mistakes
Adding -n to a static location
❌ Ŝi sidis apud mian fraton dum la koncerto.
Incorrect — the sitting is static, so the complement remains nominative.
✅ Ŝi sidis apud mia frato dum la koncerto.
She sat beside my brother during the concert.
Copying “next to” as apud de
❌ La banko estas apud de la poŝtoficejo.
Incorrect in the neutral basic construction — apud directly introduces its complement.
✅ La banko estas apud la poŝtoficejo.
The bank is next to the post office.
Using proximity when contact is intended
❌ La afiŝo pendas apud la muro.
Incorrect for the intended meaning ‘on the wall’ — apud does not express contact or attachment.
✅ La afiŝo pendas sur la muro.
The poster is hanging on the wall.
Confusing “beside” with “besides”
❌ Apud la salato, ni mendis ankaŭ supon.
Incorrect for addition — this locates something physically beside the salad.
✅ Krom la salato, ni mendis ankaŭ supon.
Besides the salad, we also ordered soup.
Key Takeaways
- Apud means close at the side, usually without asserting contact.
- Contrast it with general ĉe, front-side antaŭ, back-side malantaŭ, and contact/support sur.
- Static apud takes a nominative complement; directional -n marks movement into a nearby-side position.
- Use apude without a complement and apuda before a neighboring noun.
- English “besides” meaning “in addition” is krom, not apud.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- ĈeA2 — Use ĉe for general proximity, a person's place, an institution, or a situation treated as a contextual location.
- AntaŭA2 — Use antaŭ for a position in front, an earlier place in a sequence, and a time before a reference point.
- MalantaŭB1 — Use malantaŭ for a position at the rear, movement into that position, and the people or forces operating behind something.
- SurB2 — Use sur for significant surface contact, support or attachment, movement onto a surface, and related abstract effects and burdens.
- 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.
- Prepositional Phrase AttachmentB1 — Show clearly whether an Esperanto prepositional phrase belongs to a verb, noun, adjective, or whole clause.