Instrui means to teach, instruct, or impart knowledge and skill. It has two equally valid ways to organize the learner and the subject: instrui iun pri io makes the learner the direct object, while instrui ion al iu makes the taught content the direct object. This flexibility is normative Esperanto, not an error, but you must show the other participant’s role clearly.
The complete paradigm
The stem instru- is regular. The apparent sequence ui belongs to the stem plus ending and is pronounced with each vowel audible: in-STRU-i.
| Form | Core value | Typical translation |
|---|---|---|
| instrui | infinitive | to teach, to instruct |
| instruas | present | teach, teaches |
| instruis | past | taught |
| instruos | future | will teach |
| instruus | conditional | would teach |
| instruu | volitive | teach!, let … teach |
Mi instruas matematikon en mezlernejo.
I teach mathematics at a secondary school.
Kiu instruis vin? — Mia avo montris al mi la bazojn.
Who taught you? — My grandfather showed me the basics.
Instruis is the ordinary past, while instruus is conditional. Instruu is common in direct instructions and exhortations.
Mi instruus Esperanton en vespera kurso, se sufiĉe da homoj aliĝus.
I would teach Esperanto in an evening course if enough people enrolled.
Instruu al la lernantoj kontroli la fonton, ne nur memori la konkludon.
Teach the students to check the source, not merely memorize the conclusion.
Two ways to choose the direct object
Teaching involves at least three roles: teacher, learner, and content. Esperanto lets either the learner or the content become the single direct object with instrui.
| Frame | Direct object | Other role |
|---|---|---|
| instrui iun pri io | learner | subject with pri |
| instrui ion al iu | content | learner with al |
La volontuloj instruas novajn uzantojn pri reta sekureco.
The volunteers teach new users about online safety.
La volontuloj instruas retan sekurecon al novaj uzantoj.
The volunteers teach online safety to new users.
The two sentences describe essentially the same event but choose a different center of attention. In the first, novajn uzantojn are directly affected as learners. In the second, retan sekurecon is the content being conveyed. The Akademio, citing Zamenhof’s Lingvaj Respondoj, recognizes both patterns as correct.
Do not mark learner and content as two unrelated accusative objects: instrui la lernantojn retan sekurecon. Esperanto normally avoids two direct objects with different semantic relations to the same verb. Choose one frame and mark the other role with pri or al. The general restriction is covered under two objects and valency.
When only one participant is named
Context often makes either the learner or content unnecessary. Both Mi instruas infanojn and Mi instruas fizikon are complete sentences. The first answers whom you teach; the second answers what you teach.
Ŝi instruas plenkreskulojn, kiuj rekomencis studi post multaj jaroj.
She teaches adults who resumed their studies after many years.
Li instruas historion kaj geografion en la sama lernejo.
He teaches history and geography at the same school.
With a language name, the content is a direct object: instrui Esperanton. Add the learners with al.
Ni instruas Esperanton al komencantoj per rekta metodo.
We teach Esperanto to beginners through the direct method.
If you instead make the learners direct objects, use pri Esperanto when speaking broadly about the language: Ni instruas la komencantojn pri Esperanto. That may suggest teaching information about Esperanto, not necessarily training them to speak it, so instrui Esperanton al… is often clearer for language instruction.
Teaching someone to act
An infinitive can name the skill or intended action. PMEG records both instrui iun fari ion and instrui al iu fari ion. With the first pattern, the learner is the object of instrui; with the second, the infinitive functions as the taught content and the learner follows al.
Mia patrino instruis min kuiri sen strikte sekvi recepton.
My mother taught me to cook without strictly following a recipe.
La trejnisto instruis al ni fali sen vundi sin.
The coach taught us to fall without hurting ourselves.
The understood subject of kuiri is min; the understood subject of fali is ni in al ni. This is one of the established environments where an infinitive can have a semantic subject different from the main-clause subject.
English speakers may be tempted to add “how”: instrui al iu kiel fari is possible when kiel genuinely introduces a question about method, but the ordinary ability pattern needs only the infinitive. Ŝi instruis min naĝi is direct and idiomatic.
An embedded ke-clause is also possible when what is taught is a proposition: La kurso instruas, ke prevento kostas malpli ol riparo. In that frame the clause reports content as information, so it normally uses an indicative verb.
Instrui, montri, and lerni
Instrui describes purposeful teaching over an explanation, lesson, or training process. Montri “show” may be more natural for a single demonstration, while lerni describes the learner’s acquisition rather than the teacher’s action.
Ŝi montris al mi, kie premi, kaj poste instruis min uzi la tutan aparaton.
She showed me where to press, and then taught me to use the whole device.
Mi instruis la regulon, sed ankoraŭ ne ĉiuj lernantoj lernis ĝin.
I taught the rule, but not all the students have learned it yet.
Teaching does not guarantee learning. This distinction prevents a common English-language ambiguity in “I taught myself”: if you mean that you learned without a teacher, Mi mem lernis or Mi estas memlernanto is usually clearer than a mechanically reflexive expression.
Participles and the productive family
As a transitive verb, instrui has active instruanta, instruinta, instruonta and passive instruata, instruita, instruota. Because either learner or content can be the object, passive participles can describe either one: instruata lingvo is a language being taught; instruataj infanoj are children being taught. Context supplies the role.
La programlingvo estas instruata de du spertaj programistoj.
The programming language is taught by two experienced programmers.
Bone instruita teamo povas reagi rapide en krizo.
A well-trained team can respond quickly in a crisis.
The common family members are systematic but not interchangeable:
| Form | Meaning |
|---|---|
| instruo | an instruction, teaching, or lesson conveyed |
| instruado | teaching as an ongoing practice or field |
| instruisto | teacher; person who teaches professionally or regularly |
| instrua | instructive, educational |
| instruilo | teaching aid |
| meminstruado | self-instruction |
La instruisto preparis mallongan instruan filmeton por la nova tasko.
The teacher prepared a short instructional video for the new task.
Instruisto is a conventional profession word. Profesoro names a particular academic rank or role and should not be used as a universal translation of “teacher.” The suffix -ist- is productive, but here the derived word is firmly established.
Frequency and register
Instrui is neutral and frequent in educational, workplace, family, and practical contexts. Both alternative object frames are foundational and accepted. The content-object pattern instrui ion al iu is often particularly transparent for international communication, while instrui iun pri io naturally foregrounds the learners. Neither is inherently formal. Dense passive forms occur more often in (formal) educational descriptions than in casual conversation.
Common Mistakes
Using two different direct objects
❌ Ŝi instruas la infanojn la anglan lingvon.
Incorrect in the recommended standard pattern — learner and content have different roles.
✅ Ŝi instruas la anglan lingvon al la infanoj.
She teaches the children English.
Using al before content instead of the learner
❌ Li instruas al matematiko la lernantojn.
Incorrect — al marks the learner in the content-object frame.
✅ Li instruas matematikon al la lernantoj.
He teaches mathematics to the students.
Forgetting pri in the learner-object frame
❌ Ni instruas la dungitojn la novaj reguloj.
Incorrect — this also lacks case agreement and gives both roles no clear marking.
✅ Ni instruas la dungitojn pri la novaj reguloj.
We teach the employees about the new rules.
Putting a finite verb after instrui
❌ Ŝi instruis min veturas nokte.
Incorrect — the taught action is an infinitive.
✅ Ŝi instruis min veturi nokte.
She taught me to drive at night.
Confusing the teaching event with its result
❌ Mi instruis lin, do li certe lernis.
Faulty inference — teaching does not guarantee learning.
✅ Mi instruis lin, sed li bezonas ankoraŭ ekzerciĝi.
I taught him, but he still needs to practice.
Key Takeaways
Choose one of two standard frames: instrui iun pri io foregrounds the learner, while instrui ion al iu foregrounds the content. With a taught action, both instrui iun fari and instrui al iu fari are accepted. Keep learner and content from becoming two unrelated accusative objects, and recognize the regular family instruo, instruado, instruisto, instrua.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- Lerni: To LearnB1 — Use lerni for acquiring knowledge or skill, with noun, infinitive, and clause complements, and distinguish it from studi.
- Two Objects and ValencyA2 — How Esperanto distributes recipients, things transferred, and other participants between the accusative and prepositional phrases.
- Infinitive SubjectsA1 — Use an infinitive phrase as a clause subject, describe its action with an adverb, and identify its understood actor clearly.
- Verb-Preposition FramesB1 — Learn which Esperanto verbs take direct objects and which select al, pri, de, kun, or je—and how the frame changes meaning.
- AlA2 — Use al for movement toward a goal, recipients, orientation, and abstract targets without adding an unnecessary accusative ending.
- -ist-: Profession, Habitual Activity, Or IdeologyB1 — Use -ist- for people characterized by a profession, repeated activity, specialty, or doctrine without treating it as a simple equivalent of English -ist.