Esperanto normally states the subject of a finite verb. Unlike Spanish, Italian, or Polish, its verb endings do not identify person or number: laboras can follow mi, vi, ŝi, ni, ili, or a noun. Subject omission is therefore limited to commands, shared material in coordinated clauses, highly recoverable conversational fragments, and verbs that genuinely have no subject.
Why the subject is normally explicit
Every finite verb has the same form for all persons. The pronoun supplies information that the verb does not.
| Person and number | Subject | Same present-tense verb |
|---|---|---|
| first singular | mi | mi laboras |
| second, singular or plural | vi | vi laboras |
| third singular | li/ŝi/ĝi; nonofficial ri | ŝi laboras |
| first plural | ni | ni laboras |
| third plural | ili | ili laboras |
Mi laboras hejme hodiaŭ, sed miaj kolegoj laboras en la oficejo.
I’m working at home today, but my colleagues are working in the office.
Ĉu vi memoras, kie ni parkis la aŭton?
Do you remember where we parked the car?
Ili ne venos, ĉar ili jam havas alian planon.
They won’t come because they already have another plan.
Without mi, vi, or ili, the verb itself cannot recover the intended participant. That is why ordinary Esperanto is not a “pro-drop” language.
Main-clause commands normally omit vi
The major regular exception is a direct command with a U-form. In an independent command, the understood subject is normally vi, so speakers leave it unspoken.
Fermu la fenestron, mi petas.
Close the window, please.
Ne forgesu kunporti vian pasporton.
Don’t forget to bring your passport.
Atendu momenton! — Bone, mi atendos ĉi tie.
Wait a moment! — All right, I’ll wait here.
The number of vi remains contextual: Venu! can address one person or a group. A predicative adjective may reveal conceptual number: Restu trankvila! to one person, Restu trankvilaj! to several.
Retain vi for contrast or emphasis:
Mi telefonos al la hotelo; vi rezervu la biletojn.
I’ll call the hotel; you book the tickets.
Tion faru vi, ne mi.
You do that, not me.
Here the explicit pronoun assigns responsibility or contrasts the addressee with someone else. The apparent exception therefore follows a recoverability principle: omit ordinary understood vi, state it when its identity is focused.
Embedded U-clauses require their subject
Do not extend command omission into a subordinate clause. After ke, a U-form often expresses a wish, request, purpose, or requirement, and its subject need not be the addressee. State it explicitly.
Mi petas, ke vi sendu la dokumenton hodiaŭ.
I ask you to send the document today.
La kuracisto rekomendis, ke ŝi ripozu dum kelkaj tagoj.
The doctor recommended that she rest for a few days.
Ĉu vi volas, ke ni atendu vin ekstere?
Do you want us to wait for you outside?
The subject forms contrast with object and possessive forms: vi sends, someone contacts vin, and the document may be via. A reflexive si cannot fill the subject position: ke ŝi lavu sin, not ke si lavu ŝin for “that she wash herself.”
One subject can serve coordinated predicates
When the same subject governs several coordinated verbs, Esperanto usually states it once. This is ellipsis of shared material, not free pronoun dropping.
Mi vekiĝis je la sepa, preparis kafon kaj ekiris al la stacidomo.
I woke at seven, made coffee, and left for the station.
Ŝi malfermis la retmesaĝon, legis ĝin kaj tuj respondis.
She opened the email, read it, and replied immediately.
Ĉu vi kontrolis la adreson kaj sendis la pakaĵon?
Did you check the address and send the parcel?
The single subject remains structurally available to all coordinated predicates. If the subject changes, name the new one:
Marta preparis la supon, kaj Leo bakis la panon.
Marta prepared the soup, and Leo baked the bread.
When a new subordinate-clause introducer is repeated, repeat its subject as well: ŝi diris, ke ŝi venos kaj ke ŝi restos. If the second ke is absent, a shared subject is easier: ŝi diris, ke ŝi venos kaj restos.
Genuinely subjectless clauses
Some Esperanto predicates have no semantic participant that could serve as subject. Weather verbs are the clearest examples: pluvas, neĝas, hajlas, fulmas, tondras. Impersonal estas can describe time, temperature, or a general evaluation.
Pluvas, sed morgaŭ estos sune.
It’s raining, but tomorrow it will be sunny.
Estas malvarme en la koridoro.
It is cold in the corridor.
Estas tempo foriri.
It is time to leave.
Temas pri eraro en la lasta fakturo.
It concerns an error in the last invoice.
These clauses do not omit a recoverable ĝi. They are complete without a subject. English inserts dummy “it,” but Esperanto does not. If a real entity appears, it can be a true subject: Ŝtonoj pluvis sur la tegmenton uses ŝtonoj as the things falling.
For the broader class, see Impersonal Verbs.
Infinitives are not finite subject omission
An infinitive has no finite tense ending and often gets its understood actor from a nearby verb or from general context. In Mi volas foriri, the understood subject of foriri is mi. In Estas bone ripozi, the person who rests is general or contextually supplied.
Ni promesis reveni antaŭ noktomezo.
We promised to return before midnight.
Estas malfacile koncentriĝi en tia bruo.
It is difficult to concentrate in such noise.
This is control or generic interpretation, not the same rule as dropping a subject before revenas or koncentriĝas. Finite clauses normally state their subject.
Conversational fragments and marked styles
In rapid (informal) speech, a main-clause subject can disappear when the preceding question makes it completely obvious. Proverbs and (literary) narration can do the same for compression or rhythm.
— Kion faris Ana? — Iris hejmen kaj tuj ekdormis.
— What did Ana do? — Went home and fell asleep immediately.
The full answer is Ŝi iris hejmen... The shortened reply is natural as an echo of the question but should not be generalized to neutral prose. Subordinate clauses are stricter: after ke, ĉar, se, kiam, ĉu, or a relative word, state the subject unless it is genuinely shared inside one coordinated structure.
Reflexive si never replaces a subject
Si points back to a third-person subject from another role in its clause. It cannot itself establish that subject.
Petro razas sin antaŭ la spegulo.
Petro shaves himself in front of the mirror.
La infanoj prenis siajn sakojn kaj foriris.
The children took their own bags and left.
In the first, Petro is explicit and sin is its object. In the second, one explicit plural subject governs both verbs, while siajn marks ownership by that subject. See The Reflexive Pronoun Si for clause-boundary details.
Common Mistakes
Dropping a subject because another language allows it
❌ Laboras hejme hodiaŭ.
Incorrect as a neutral standalone claim — laboras does not identify who works.
✅ Mi laboras hejme hodiaŭ.
I’m working at home today.
Omitting the subject of an embedded U-clause
❌ Mi volas, ke venu morgaŭ.
Incorrect — the subordinate U-clause needs an explicit subject.
✅ Mi volas, ke vi venu morgaŭ.
I want you to come tomorrow.
Using si as the subject
❌ Si vekiĝis malfrue kaj rapidis al la laboro.
Incorrect — si cannot be a subject.
✅ Li vekiĝis malfrue kaj rapidis al la laboro.
He woke up late and hurried to work.
Copying English dummy “it”
❌ Ĝi estas varme ĉi tie.
Incorrect — there is no referent for ĝi in this impersonal temperature statement.
✅ Estas varme ĉi tie.
It is warm here.
Key Takeaways
- Finite Esperanto verbs do not mark person or number, so their subjects are normally explicit.
- Omit understood vi in ordinary main-clause commands, but state it for contrast and in subordinate U-clauses.
- One explicit subject can govern several coordinated predicates.
- Weather and impersonal predicates can be genuinely subjectless; they do not take dummy ĝi.
- Informal fragments depend on immediate context, and si can never serve as the subject.
Related Topics
- Personal Pronouns: OverviewA1 — Learn Esperanto personal pronouns as a system of person, number, accusative marking, possession, and reflexive reference.
- No Person or Number AgreementB1 — Learn why every Esperanto verb ending remains unchanged across subjects and where person and number are expressed instead.
- Expressing the SubjectB1 — Learn how Esperanto expresses subjects with noun phrases, pronouns, clauses, and controlled omission despite invariant verb forms.
- Impersonal VerbsB1 — Build subjectless Esperanto clauses for weather, ambient conditions, necessity, and topics without inserting English dummy it or there.
- Ellipsis and RecoverabilityC1 — Omit repeated or predictable material only when context, agreement, case, and clause structure make the missing content recoverable.