The preposition da connects a quantity expression to the indefinite material, people, or things that constitute that quantity: litro da lakto, multe da laboro, grupo da turistoj. It does not simply translate English “of”; its grammar depends on both sides of the phrase.
The Two Conditions for DA
Use da when both conditions hold:
- The expression before da answers kiom? “how much/how many?”
- The expression after da is indefinite and unbounded in the current context.
| Quantity or measure | DA | What makes up the quantity |
|---|---|---|
| kilogramo | da | pomoj |
| taso | da | kafo |
| multe | da | tempo |
| grupo | da | studentoj |
Ni bezonas du kilogramojn da pomoj por la kuko.
We need two kilograms of apples for the cake.
Ĉu restas iom da kafo en la poto?
Is there any coffee left in the pot?
La nova laboro postulas multe da pacienco.
The new job requires a lot of patience.
The measure may be exact, approximate, physical, or abstract. Da simply says what the measured quantity consists of.
The Quantity Phrase Is the Grammatical Head
The entire da phrase takes its sentence role through the quantity expression before da. The noun after da never receives accusative -n merely because the whole phrase is an object.
Ŝi aĉetis tri botelojn da akvo.
She bought three bottles of water.
Tri botelojn is the direct object, so boteloj takes -n. Akvo belongs inside the da complement and remains unchanged.
With invariant quantity words such as multe, iom, kiom, tiom, pli, and malpli, no accusative ending appears anywhere:
Mi ne havas sufiĉe da mono por taksio.
I don't have enough money for a taxi.
Kiom da gastoj vi invitis?
How many guests did you invite?
Although kiom da gastoj is the object of invitis, neither kiom nor the complement gastoj takes -n. This pattern is a frequent challenge for learners used to marking every object noun.
Which Quantity Expressions Take DA?
Measure and container nouns
Nouns can function as measures when the important information is their contents or amount.
Bonvolu alporti tason da teo kaj glason da akvo.
Please bring a cup of tea and a glass of water.
Ni mendis skatolon da freŝaj legomoj de loka farmo.
We ordered a box of fresh vegetables from a local farm.
The adjective freŝaj belongs to legomoj, but the whole indefinite set is measured by skatolo.
Quantity adverbs and correlatives
Common combinations include multe da, malmulte da, iom da, sufiĉe da, pli da, malpli da, tiom da, kiom da, and neniom da.
Ĉi-jare ni havas pli da aliĝintoj ol pasintjare.
This year we have more registrants than last year.
— Kiom da sukero vi volas? — Nur iom, mi petas.
— How much sugar do you want? — Just a little, please.
When the following noun is omitted, omit da too: Mi volas nur iom, not iom da. A preposition does not remain stranded without its complement in neutral Esperanto.
Noun-form numerals
Bare cardinal numerals attach directly to a noun: du libroj, cent homoj, tri mil eŭroj. Numerals with noun ending -o are quantity nouns and take da.
La urbo havas ducent mil loĝantojn.
The city has two hundred thousand inhabitants.
La regiono havas milionon da loĝantoj.
The region has a million inhabitants.
Likewise: deko da ovoj, cento da paĝoj, miliardo da steloj. The contrast is morphological, not based on English punctuation.
DA versus DE: Quantity or Relationship?
A da B presents B in the quantity expressed by A. A de B presents A as an entity related to B. Sometimes the same noun permits both readings.
Ŝi mendis glason da vino.
She ordered a glassful of wine.
La kelnero metis sur la tablon puran vinglason.
The waiter put a clean wine glass on the table.
Traditional grammar contrasts glaso da vino with glaso de vino “a glass associated with or intended for wine,” though modern speakers usually prefer the compound vinglaso for the vessel type.
Another useful contrast is:
La granda grupo da studentoj plenigis la tutan halon.
The large group of students filled the whole hall.
La grupo de studentoj elektis novan estraron.
The student group elected a new board.
The first emphasizes how many students there were; semantically, the students filled the hall. The second identifies a particular organized group. Real contexts can support either construal, so there is no mechanical rule tied to the noun grupo itself.
For a fuller three-way decision among source, partitive, and quantity meanings, see de, el, or da.
Definite Complements Take DE or EL
The expression after da must be indefinite. A phrase with la, tiu, a possessive, or a personal pronoun denotes a bounded set or substance. To select a portion of it, use de or el.
Mi manĝis iom el la pano, kiun vi bakis.
I ate some of the bread that you baked.
Nur du el miaj kolegoj laboras hodiaŭ.
Only two of my colleagues are working today.
Compare iom da pano “some bread, indefinite” with iom el la pano “some out of that identified bread.” De la pano is also possible for a partitive relation; el makes selection from the whole especially vivid.
Ni uzis iom de ĝi por la saŭco.
We used some of it for the sauce.
Because ĝi is definite, iom da ĝi is not the neutral standard construction.
What Does Not Count as a Quantity
English uses “of” after many nouns that do not answer kiom? Esperanto uses de, pri, or another relation.
| Meaning | Standard form | Why not DA? |
|---|---|---|
| kind of fish | speco de fiŝo | speco classifies; it does not measure |
| lack of water | manko de akvo | manko names absence, not an amount present |
| full of water | plena de/je akvo | plena is an adjective describing state |
| many people | multaj homoj | the quantitative adjective directly modifies the noun |
La rezervujo estas plena de pluvakvo.
The tank is full of rainwater.
Do not insert da simply because English has “of.” Esperanto da has a narrow and stable quantity function.
Register and Unusual Patterns
The rules above describe neutral modern usage across registers. Older and literary texts sometimes front the da complement—Da homoj estis multe—or show looser patterns. These are valid reading knowledge but poor learner defaults. Use Estis multe da homoj.
Likewise, forms such as Kiom da vi volas? with the noun omitted occur in informal speech but are structurally unclear because vi appears to be the complement of da. Neutral usage says Kiom vi volas? or Kiom multe vi volas?
Common Mistakes
Marking the noun after DA as an object
❌ Mi aĉetis kilogramon da pomojn.
Incorrect — the noun after <em>da</em> never takes object -n from the main clause.
✅ Mi aĉetis kilogramon da pomoj.
I bought a kilogram of apples.
Using DA after a bare number
❌ Ni bezonas tri da seĝoj.
Incorrect — a bare cardinal number directly modifies the noun.
✅ Ni bezonas tri seĝojn.
We need three chairs.
Putting DA before a definite phrase
❌ Mi legis kelkajn da tiuj artikoloj.
Incorrect — <em>tiuj artikoloj</em> is a bounded, definite set.
✅ Mi legis kelkajn el tiuj artikoloj.
I read some of those articles.
Using DA after an adjective
❌ La ĉambro estis plena da homoj.
Nonstandard — <em>plena</em> describes a state rather than naming a quantity.
✅ La ĉambro estis plena de homoj.
The room was full of people.
Leaving DA without its complement
❌ Ĉu vi havas sufiĉe da?
Incorrect in neutral usage — omit the preposition when its complement is absent.
✅ Ĉu vi havas sufiĉe?
Do you have enough?
Key Takeaways
- Da links a quantity expression to the indefinite material or set that constitutes it.
- The expression before da must answer kiom?; the expression after it must be indefinite and unbounded.
- Case belongs to the quantity phrase, never to the noun after da.
- Bare numerals and quantitative adjectives directly modify nouns; noun-form numerals such as miliono take da.
- Use de or el for a definite whole, and use de, je, or another preposition when no quantity is being expressed.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- DeA2 — Use de for movement or development away from a source and for relationships such as possession, authorship, composition, time, and passive agency.
- ElA2 — Use el for movement from an interior, origin, material, components, and selection from a defined group.
- JeB1 — Use je for conventional clock-time, measure, body-part, and abstract relations when no more specific preposition expresses the intended role.
- 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.
- Count and Mass MeaningsA1 — How Esperanto distinguishes countable individuals from unbounded substances and shifts nouns between those meanings.
- Quantity ComparisonB2 — Compare amounts and counts with pli da, pli multaj, tiom… kiom…, and numerical thresholds while keeping degree and addition distinct.