Li mem solvas la problemon.

He solves the problem himself.

Breakdown of Li mem solvas la problemon.

• li: he
• la: the
• problemo: the problem
• solvi: to solve
• mem: himself

Questions & Answers about Li mem solvas la problemon.

What does mem add to the meaning here?

Mem is an emphasising word meaning roughly “himself” / “he himself (and not someone else)”.

• Li solvas la problemon. = He solves the problem. (neutral statement)
• Li mem solvas la problemon. = He himself solves the problem.
  → It stresses that he is the one doing it, not another person, or that he does it personally.

So mem doesn’t change the basic meaning, it just adds emphasis to the subject li.

Where does mem usually go in the sentence? Can its position change the nuance?

Yes. Mem normally comes right after the word it emphasises.

• Li mem solvas la problemon.
  → Emphasis on li: HE himself solves the problem.

• Li solvas la problemon mem.
  → Emphasis more on how he solves it: He solves the problem himself (without help).

• La problemon li mem solvas.
  → Strong emphasis that this particular problem is solved by him personally.

All of these are grammatically correct. The core meaning is similar, but the focus moves around depending on where mem is placed.

Is mem the same as English reflexive pronouns like himself, myself? How is it different from si?

Not exactly. In Esperanto:

• mem is an intensifier: myself, yourself, himself in the sense of “X personally / X in particular”.

  • Mi mem faros tion. = I’ll do that myself (personally).

• si is a reflexive pronoun used in the 3rd person (and with oni) to mean himself, herself, itself, themselves when it refers back to the subject.

  • Li lavas sin. = He washes himself.
  • Li lavas lin. = He washes him (someone else).

You can combine them:

• Li mem lavas sin. = He himself washes himself. (he does his own washing)

In your sentence Li mem solvas la problemon, there is no reflexive relationship, so si is not involved at all. Mem just emphasises li.

Why is it problemon and not just problemo?

Because problemon is in the accusative case, marked by -n.

In Esperanto, the direct object of a verb takes -n:

• Li solvas la problemon.
  
  • li = subject
  • solvas = verb
  • la problemon = direct object → so problemo gets -n: problemon

Another example:

• Mi vidas la hundon. = I see the dog.
  (hundo
  • -n = hundon for the direct object)

Because of this -n, you can change word order without changing the basic roles:

• La problemon li mem solvas. = He himself solves the problem. (same roles as before)

What is the role of la in la problemon? Why not just problemon?

La is the definite article, like English “the”.

• la problemo = the problem (a specific one that is known from context)
• problemo (without la) = a problem or some problem (non‑specific or generic)

So:

• Li mem solvas la problemon.
  = He himself solves *the problem* (a particular, known problem).

Without la, you would be talking about some non‑specific problem:

• Li mem solvas problemon.
  = He himself solves a problem (some problem).

Both are correct; the choice of la depends on whether you mean “the” or “a”.

Could you say Li mem solvas problemon instead? What difference would that make?

Yes, that sentence is perfectly correct. The difference is only in definiteness:

• Li mem solvas la problemon.
  → He himself solves *the problem* (a specific one already known from context).

• Li mem solvas problemon.
  → He himself solves *a problem (some problem, not clearly specified), or sometimes more loosely, *he deals with a problem himself.

Grammatically both are fine; context decides which you need.

What exactly does solvas mean? Is it “solves” or “is solving”?

Solvas is the present tense of solvi (to solve). Esperanto present tense covers both English simple and progressive aspects.

So Li mem solvas la problemon can mean:

• He himself solves the problem. (simple present)
• He himself is solving the problem. (present progressive)

Context (adverbs of time, surrounding sentences) makes it clear which nuance is intended.

Why solvas and not solvi? What is the difference?

• Solvi is the infinitive: to solve.
• Solvas is the present tense finite form used as the main verb of the sentence: solves / is solving.

Use solvi when it depends on another verb:

• Li volas solvi la problemon. = He wants to solve the problem.
• Li provas solvi la problemon. = He tries to solve the problem.

Use solvas when it’s the main verb giving the action:

• Li mem solvas la problemon. = He himself solves / is solving the problem.

How would I change this sentence to past, future, or conditional?

Keep everything the same and just change the verb ending:

• Present:
  Li mem solvas la problemon.
  = He himself solves / is solving the problem.

• Past (-is):
  Li mem solvis la problemon.
  = He himself solved the problem.

• Future (-os):
  Li mem solvos la problemon.
  = He himself will solve the problem.

• Conditional (-us):
  Li mem solvus la problemon.
  = He himself would solve the problem. (e.g., under certain conditions)

Can the overall word order change while keeping the same meaning?

Yes. Because of the accusative -n, Esperanto word order is quite flexible. All of these are grammatically correct:

• Li mem solvas la problemon.
• Li solvas la problemon mem.
• La problemon li mem solvas.
• La problemon solvas li mem.

They all mean essentially He himself solves the problem, but:

• Starting with La problemon gives extra emphasis to the problem.
• Putting mem directly after li emphasises the subject.
• Putting mem later tends to emphasise that he does it without help.

The standard, neutral order is the one you started with: Li mem solvas la problemon.

How are the words in Li mem solvas la problemon pronounced and stressed?

In Esperanto, stress is always on the second‑to‑last syllable of a word.

• Li → [li] (like lee)
• mem → [mem] (like English mem in remember minus extra sounds)
• solvas → SOL‑vas
  
  • o as in order, but shorter
• la → [la] (like la in la-la-la)
• problemon → pro‑BLE‑mon
  
  • pro like pro in problem
  • e like e in pet
  • stress on BLE

So the main word stresses are:

• SOLvas
• proBLEmon