Breakdown of Ni havis nenian problemon.
havi
to have
ni
we
problemo
the problem
nenia
no kind of; no ... whatsoever
Questions & Answers about Ni havis nenian problemon.
What does the ending -is in havis mean?
-is is the Esperanto past-tense ending.
- havi = to have
- havis = had
So Ni havis... means We had...
Why does problemon end in -n?
The -n marks the direct object.
Here, problemon is the thing that was had, so it takes the accusative ending:
- Ni havis problemon = We had a problem
Esperanto often marks the direct object with -n, even when English does not show anything special.
Why does nenian also end in -n?
Because nenian describes problemon, and adjective-like words in Esperanto must agree with the noun they modify.
Since problemon is:
- singular
- accusative
nenian must also be:
- singular
- accusative
So:
- nenia problemo = no problem
- nenian problemon = no problem, as a direct object