The preposition de begins with the idea of a source or point of separation: movement starts de a place, a period starts de a time, and an object or idea is related back to an owner, creator, material, or agent. Because this relationship is extremely general, context often determines the best English translation.
Source and Movement Away
With a verb of movement, de marks the starting point. Its natural counterpart is often al, which marks the goal.
Mi veturas de Gento al Bruselo ĉiutage.
I travel from Ghent to Brussels every day.
La infano forkuris de la granda hundo.
The child ran away from the large dog.
— De kie venas tiu ĉi pakaĵo? — De mia fratino en Kanado.
— Where does this package come from? — From my sister in Canada.
The source can be a person as well as a place: a gift comes de its giver, and information can be learned de a teacher.
Mi ricevis la novaĵon de kolego hieraŭ.
I received the news from a colleague yesterday.
If ordinary de could be mistaken for possession, for de or disde makes physical separation explicit:
La polico forprenis la dokumentojn disde la suspektato.
The police took the documents away from the suspect.
This avoids reading la dokumentoj de la suspektato as “the suspect's documents.”
DE versus EL
Both can translate “from,” but they picture different sources. De marks a general starting point or separation; el marks movement out of an interior or membership selected from a whole.
Ŝi prenis la libron de la tablo.
She took the book from the table.
Ŝi prenis la libron el la sako.
She took the book out of the bag.
The table is a point or surface from which the book is removed. The bag is an inside that the book exits. The contrast is semantic, not a fixed translation list.
Possession and Broad Belonging
After a noun, de can show possession, part-whole relations, kinship, institutional connection, or another broad type of belonging.
La biciklo de Nora estas parkita antaŭ la biblioteko.
Nora's bicycle is parked in front of the library.
La tegmento de la domo bezonas riparon.
The roof of the house needs repair.
La filo de niaj najbaroj studas medicinon.
Our neighbors' son studies medicine.
Esperanto possessive adjectives are often lighter with pronouns: ŝia biciklo rather than la biciklo de ŝi. A de phrase remains useful for full nouns, coordinated possessors, or contrast.
Ĉu tiu ombrelo estas de vi aŭ de Amir?
Is that umbrella yours or Amir's?
Predicative de is grammatical, though apartenas al can be more explicit: La ombrelo apartenas al Amir.
Authorship, Depiction, and Topic
With a work, de can identify its creator.
Ni legis mallongan rakonton de Jorge Luis Borges.
We read a short story by Jorge Luis Borges.
The same form can sometimes be ambiguous. Portreto de Leila most naturally means a portrait depicting Leila, but it could mean one owned or created by her in the right context. When authorship must be unmistakable, expand the phrase:
La portreto pentrita de Leila montras ŝian avinon.
The portrait painted by Leila shows her grandmother.
Use pri, not de, for the neutral topic of a book, discussion, or lecture:
Mi aĉetis libron pri la historio de Esperanto.
I bought a book about the history of Esperanto.
Here pri introduces the topic; de Esperanto marks the history's relation to Esperanto.
Composition and Material
De can show what a collection, mass, or phenomenon consists of: bukedo de rozoj, reto de kanaloj, nubo de polvo. The construction treats the first noun as the head and identifies its composition.
Sur la tablo kuŝis bukedo de blankaj rozoj.
A bouquet of white roses lay on the table.
For the material from which an object is made, el is usually more explicit:
La librobreto estas farita el reciklita ligno.
The bookcase is made from recycled wood.
De remains possible in established composition and descriptive phrases, such as fumo de ligno “wood smoke” or muro de ŝtono “a wall of stone.” El emphasizes source material transformed into the object; de emphasizes composition or classification. For quantities, use da instead.
Ŝi trinkis tason da kafo el argila taso.
She drank a cupful of coffee from a clay cup.
Da kafo identifies the measured contents. Argila classifies the cup by material; taso el argilo would state that material composition explicitly.
DE versus DA
The distinction is not “possession versus substance.” It is relationship versus quantity.
La kelnero alportis glason da vino.
The waiter brought a glassful of wine.
Ni aĉetis aron de ses samformaj vinglasoj.
We bought a set of six matching wine glasses.
Da answers kiom? and introduces indefinite contents. De connects one identified entity or type to another. Compare multe da pano with iom el/de la pano: the article makes the bread a bounded whole, so plain quantity da no longer fits. See the focused da guide.
Starting Point in Time
De can mark when a continuing state or series begins, often paired with ĝis.
La oficejo estas malfermita de lundo ĝis vendredo.
The office is open from Monday to Friday.
Mi laboras de la oka matene ĝis la kvara posttagmeze.
I work from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon.
Here de la oka marks the beginning of a span. For one event at a single clock time, use je instead: La kunveno komenciĝas je la oka “The meeting starts at eight.”
Ekde makes “starting from” explicit and is especially useful for a state continuing to the present or future.
Ekde Januaro ŝi laboras hejme tri tagojn semajne.
She has worked from home three days a week since January.
This use shows a difference from English tense: Esperanto present laboras combines naturally with ekde Januaro when the work still continues.
Passive Agent
In a passive clause, de introduces the semantic doer—the participant that would be the active subject.
La propono estis aprobita de ĉiuj membroj.
The proposal was approved by all the members.
La stratoj estis kovritaj de neĝo.
The streets were covered with/by snow.
A natural force or substance can function as an effective causer. If de would be confused with source or possession, fare de identifies an agent explicitly. The dedicated agents with de page covers instruments with per and other difficult cases.
Cause and Separation in Verb Frames
The source idea extends metaphorically to cause and release from a state.
Li paliĝis de timo, sed baldaŭ retrankviliĝis.
He went pale with fear, but soon calmed down again.
Post la ekzameno ŝi finfine liberiĝis de la streĉo.
After the exam she finally freed herself from the stress.
For a freely added reason, pro is usually clearer: La flugo estis nuligita pro nebulo. With conventional verb frames such as liberiĝi de, diferenci de, dependi de, and resaniĝi de, learn the preposition with the verb. English “from,” “of,” and “on” do not predict the Esperanto choice reliably.
Form and Word Building
An ordinary de phrase takes no accusative -n: de la urbo, de miaj amikoj, de ŝi. The preposition already marks the relation.
As a prefix, de- keeps the separation idea in words such as demeti “take off/put down,” depreni “take away,” and deiri “leave/go away.” Related complex prepositions include ekde “starting from,” disde “apart from,” and for de “away from.” These are not interchangeable decorations; each makes a particular source relation clearer.
Common Mistakes
Adding accusative -N after DE
❌ Mi ricevis retmesaĝon de mian instruiston.
Incorrect — an ordinary prepositional complement does not take object -n.
✅ Mi ricevis retmesaĝon de mia instruisto.
I received an email from my teacher.
Using EL for a person as source
❌ Mi ricevis la novaĵon el mia kolego.
Incorrect — a colleague is the source person, not an interior from which the news exits.
✅ Mi ricevis la novaĵon de mia kolego.
I received the news from my colleague.
Using DE for an indefinite quantity
❌ Mi mendis tason de kafo.
Incorrect for a cupful of coffee; this treats the cup as merely associated with coffee.
✅ Mi mendis tason da kafo.
I ordered a cup of coffee.
Using DE as a neutral topic marker
❌ Ni parolis de la nova projekto dum horo.
Incorrect for the ordinary meaning ‘talked about.’
✅ Ni parolis pri la nova projekto dum horo.
We talked about the new project for an hour.
Confusing passive agent and instrument
❌ La pano estis tranĉita de akra tranĉilo.
Incorrect for an instrument; <em>de</em> presents an agent or causer.
✅ La pano estis tranĉita per akra tranĉilo.
The bread was cut with a sharp knife.
Key Takeaways
- De marks a source or starting point and extends to broad relationships traced back to an owner, whole, creator, material, time, or agent.
- Contrast general de with el “out of/from inside,” da for an indefinite quantity, and pri for a topic.
- Possession and authorship are common but can be ambiguous; expand the phrase when responsibility or depiction must be clear.
- Temporal de/ekde marks the beginning of a continuing span; passive de marks the semantic agent.
- The complement after de normally has no accusative -n.
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- DaA2 — Use da to connect a quantity or measure to the indefinite substance, people, or things that make up that quantity.
- ElA2 — Use el for movement from an interior, origin, material, components, and selection from a defined group.
- AlA2 — Use al for movement toward a goal, recipients, orientation, and abstract targets without adding an unnecessary accusative ending.
- ProB2 — Use pro for cause and motive, while distinguishing reasons from purposes and recognizing traditional exchange uses.
- 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.
- Agents with DeB2 — Use de to identify the semantic doer of a passive participle, while distinguishing agents from sources, instruments, and experiencers.