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Mi kutime ludas futbalon kun amikoj du fojojn en la semajno.

Mi kutime ludas futbalon kun amikoj du fojojn en la semajno.
I usually play football with friends twice a week.

Breakdown of Mi kutime ludas futbalon kun amikoj du fojojn en la semajno.

mi
I
amiko
the friend
la
the
en
in
kun
with
ludi
to play
du
two
kutime
usually
semajno
the week
fojo
the time
futbalo
football
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Questions & Answers about Mi kutime ludas futbalon kun amikoj du fojojn en la semajno.

Why is it “Mi kutime ludas” and not “Mi kutimas ludi”?

Both are grammatically correct, but they’re slightly different in feel.

  • Mi kutime ludas futbalon…
    Literally: I usually play football…

    • kutime is an adverb: usually, habitually.
    • ludas is the main verb: play (present tense).
      This sounds very neutral and natural, like ordinary English “I usually play…”.

  • Mi kutimas ludi futbalon…
    Literally: I am accustomed to playing football…

    • kutimas is the verb to be accustomed / to be used (to something).
    • ludi is the infinitive: to play.
      This is a bit more “formal” or explicit, more like saying I have the habit of playing football…

In everyday speech, “Mi kutime ludas …” is more common and closer to how people speak in both Esperanto and English about regular activities.

Can I change the word order and say “Mi ludas kutime futbalon…”?

You can move kutime, but you need to be careful about naturalness and emphasis.

In Esperanto, adverbs like kutime are fairly flexible:

  • Mi kutime ludas futbalon kun amikoj. (most natural)
  • Mi ludas futbalon kutime kun amikoj. (still possible, but the adverb feels a bit “heavier” or more emphasized)
  • Kutime mi ludas futbalon kun amikoj. (putting kutime first for emphasis: Usually, I play football with friends.)

“Mi ludas kutime futbalon…” is understandable, but the position (between the verb and its direct object) isn’t the most natural choice. Adverbs normally come:

  • before the verb (mi kutime ludas), or
  • at the beginning or end of the clause (Kutime, mi ludas… / …mi ludas, kutime.)

So the original order “Mi kutime ludas…” is the best default.

Why is it “futbalon” with -n and not just “futbalo”?

The -n ending marks the accusative case in Esperanto, usually used for the direct object of a verb.

  • Mi ludas futbalon.
    • Mi = subject (I)
    • ludas = verb (play)
    • futbalon = direct object (what I play) → accusative -n

Without -n, futbalo would look like a subject or a predicate noun, not an object. Compare:

  • La futbalo estas populara. – The football (sport) is popular.
  • Mi ludas futbalon. – I play football.

So here “futbalon” is correct and required.

Do I need an article, like “la futbalon”? Why is it just “futbalon”?

In Esperanto you don’t normally use the definite article la with sports or games in this kind of sentence:

  • Mi ludas futbalon. – I play football.
  • Mi ludas ŝakon. – I play chess.

You would use la when you mean something specific:

  • Mi ludas la ludon. – I play the game (a particular game we already know about).
  • Mi rigardas la futbalon en televido. – I watch the football (match) on TV.

Here we’re talking about the sport in general as an activity, so plain futbalon (without la) is correct and natural.

Why is it “kun amikoj” and not “kun amikojn”?

In Esperanto, prepositions (like kun = with) normally “take over” the job of the accusative -n, so the noun after a preposition usually stays in the nominative (no -n):

  • kun amikoj – with friends
  • en la domo – in the house
  • pri vi – about you

You would only add -n after a preposition in special, advanced cases (e.g. to show direction: en la domon = into the house), not here.

So:

  • Mi ludas futbalon kun amikoj. – correct
  • ✗ Mi ludas futbalon kun amikojn. – wrong in standard Esperanto
Why is it “kun amikoj” and not “kun miaj amikoj”? Don’t I need “my”?

In Esperanto, possessive pronouns (mia, via, lia, ŝia, nia, via, ilia) are used less often than in English when it’s clear from context.

  • kun amikoj = with (some) friends
    In most everyday situations, this is naturally understood as “my friends”, unless context suggests otherwise.
  • kun miaj amikoj = with my friends (explicit, maybe contrasting with someone else’s friends)

So “kun amikoj” is a normal, natural way to say “with friends” in general. You only add miaj if you really want to stress that they’re your friends in contrast to others.

Why is it “du fojojn” with -n? Isn’t that accusative too?

Yes, “du fojojn” is also in the accusative. Here, the accusative marks a measure of time/frequency, which is a standard pattern in Esperanto:

  • Mi restis du tagojn. – I stayed (for) two days.
  • Mi laboris la tutan tagon. – I worked (for) the whole day.
  • Mi ludas futbalon du fojojn en la semajno. – I play football two times per week.

So in this sentence:

  • futbalon – direct object of ludas
  • du fojojn – adverbial of frequency/duration, also using the accusative

Both are correct and common usages of -n.

Could I say “dufoje semajne” instead of “du fojojn en la semajno”?

Yes, and many speakers would actually find “dufoje semajne” a bit more compact and elegant.

All of these are correct and mean essentially the same:

  • Mi kutime ludas futbalon kun amikoj du fojojn en la semajno.
  • Mi kutime ludas futbalon kun amikoj du fojojn semajne.
  • Mi kutime ludas futbalon kun amikoj dufoje en la semajno.
  • Mi kutime ludas futbalon kun amikoj dufoje semajne.

Notes:

  • du fojojn = two times
  • dufoje = twice (adverb formed with -foje)
  • semajne = weekly / per week (adverb formed with -e)

Your original version “du fojojn en la semajno” is clear and idiomatic; “dufoje semajne” is just a shorter style.

Why is it “en la semajno” with la? Why not just “en semajno” or “semajne”?

You have a few options with slightly different flavors:

  1. en la semajno
    Literally “in the week”. The la makes it feel like “in the week (as a repeating unit)”. It’s common in the pattern:

    • du fojojn en la semajno – two times in the/each week

  2. en semajno
    This is less usual here; it tends to mean “in a week’s time” (after one week):

    • Mi revenos en semajno. – I’ll come back in a week.

  3. semajne
    This is an adverb: “weekly, per week”:

    • dufoje semajne – twice per week

So in your original sentence, “en la semajno” is perfectly fine. Many people also like the shorter “semajne”, especially together with dufoje.

Is there any difference between “futbalo” and “piedpilko”?

Both can mean football (soccer), but usage varies.

  • futbalo – an international root from “football”; widely used for the sport.
  • piedpilko – literally “foot-ball” (piedo + pilko); a more “internally formed” Esperanto word, but less used in practice.

In modern Esperanto, futbalo is very common and completely fine.
Sentence equivalents:

  • Mi kutime ludas futbalon kun amikoj…
  • Mi kutime ludas piedpilkon kun amikoj…

Both are understandable, but futbalo is the more typical choice.

If the sentence is about a regular habit, why use “ludas” (present) instead of some special “habit” tense?

Esperanto doesn’t have a special tense for habitual actions. The simple present (-as) covers:

  • actions happening now
  • general truths
  • habits and routines

So:

  • Mi ludas futbalon. – I play football. / I am playing football. / I play football (as a habit).
  • Mi kutime ludas futbalon. – I usually play football. (clearly a habit because of kutime.)

The adverb kutime gives the “habitual” meaning; the tense ludas is just normal present.