Questions & Answers about Metu po unu kovrilon sur ĉiun kaserolon.
What form is metu?
Metu is the volitive form of meti, meaning something like a command or instruction: put, place, or set.
Esperanto uses the -u ending for commands, requests, wishes, and similar meanings. So:
- meti = to put
- metu = put / place
This form does not show whether you are talking to one person or more than one person. It can mean put to one person, put to several people, or even a polite instruction in general.
Why is po used here?
Po shows distribution: so many for each one.
In this sentence, po unu means one each or one apiece. So the idea is not just that lids are being placed, but that each casserole gets one lid.
That is the key job of po:
- unu kovrilon = one lid
- po unu kovrilon = one lid for each item in the set
Why say po unu instead of just unu?