Breakdown of Ni havas amikojn en la lernejo.
amiko
the friend
havi
to have
la
the
en
in
ni
we
lernejo
the school
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Questions & Answers about Ni havas amikojn en la lernejo.
Why does 'amikojn' have an 'n' at the end?
In Esperanto, nouns undergoing a direct action from the verb take the -n ending, known as the accusative case ending. In this sentence, 'amikojn' is the direct object of 'havas' (to have), hence the -n.
Why do we say 'Ni havas amikojn' instead of 'Ni havas amikoj'?
Because 'havas' is a transitive verb and needs a direct object in the accusative. Adding -n to 'amikoj' indicates that 'amikojn' is the direct object. Without the -n, the sentence would be grammatically incomplete (or imply a different meaning).
What is the role of 'la' before 'lernejo'?
'La' is the definite article in Esperanto, similar to 'the' in English. It specifies that we are referring to a particular school. If we removed 'la', it could mean 'in a school' more generally, rather than a specific one.
Could we say 'en lernejo' instead of 'en la lernejo'?
Yes, you could say 'ni havas amikojn en lernejo' to mean 'we have friends in a (nonspecific) school'. Whenever you omit 'la', you're making it indefinite, much like removing 'the' in English.
What is the difference between 'Ni' and 'Ni havas'?
'Ni' on its own means 'we'. 'Ni havas' means 'we have'. In Esperanto, many pronouns mirror English closely; 'ni' is always the subject form (there’s no separate object form like 'nin' unless 'ni' is being used as a direct object, in which case you’d add -n to get 'nin').