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Questions & Answers about Mi bezonas libron.
What does Mi mean in the sentence Mi bezonas libron.?
In Esperanto, Mi means I. It is the subject pronoun, indicating that the speaker is referring to themselves.
Why does the noun libro change to libron in this sentence?
The ending -n marks the accusative case in Esperanto, showing that libron is the direct object of the verb bezonas. Without the -n, the noun would be in the nominative case.
How is the verb bezonas conjugated, and does it change with different subjects?
In Esperanto, verbs do not change form according to the subject. Bezonas is in the present tense—indicated by the ending -as—and it remains the same regardless of whether the subject is Mi, Vi, or any other pronoun.
Why isn’t there an article like a in Mi bezonas libron. even though the English equivalent is “I need a book”?
Unlike English, Esperanto does not have an indefinite article (like a or an). It only uses la as a definite article when necessary. Therefore, saying Mi bezonas libron. conveys the idea of needing a book in general without specifying one.
What is the standard word order in this Esperanto sentence?
The sentence follows the typical Subject-Verb-Object word order. Mi is the subject, bezonas is the verb, and libron is the object. Although Esperanto allows some flexibility with word order for emphasis or stylistic reasons, this is the most common arrangement.
How would you modify the sentence to say “I do not need a book” in Esperanto?
To form a negative sentence in Esperanto, add ne before the verb. The negative version is: Mi ne bezonas libron. This structure clearly negates the action while maintaining the same word order.