Mia frato volas iri al muzeo, sed mia fratino volas iri al koncerto, kaj mi volas iri nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto.

My brother wants to go to a museum, but my sister wants to go to a concert, and I want to go to neither the museum nor the concert.

Breakdown of Mia frato volas iri al muzeo, sed mia fratino volas iri al koncerto, kaj mi volas iri nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto.

• mi: I
• la: the
• kaj: and
• al: to
• voli: to want
• sed: but
• mia: my
• frato: the brother
• fratino: the sister
• iri: to go
• nek: neither/nor
• muzeo: the museum
• koncerto: the concert

Questions & Answers about Mia frato volas iri al muzeo, sed mia fratino volas iri al koncerto, kaj mi volas iri nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto.

Why are there two verbs in a row: volas iri?

In Esperanto it’s very common to use voli (to want) with another verb in the infinitive:

• voli + infinitive = to want to do something
  
  • mi volas iri = I want to go
  • ŝi volas manĝi = she wants to eat

The second verb (here iri, “to go”) always stays in its base -i form after volas, devas, povas, etc. You do not conjugate both verbs, only the first:

• Correct: mi volas iri
• Incorrect: mi volas iras

Why do we say iri al muzeo and not just iri muzeon?

Al is the normal preposition for “to” (in the sense of direction):

• iri al muzeo = to go to a museum
• iri al la urbo = to go to the city

Esperanto also allows using the -n ending to show direction with some words and some prepositions (e.g. hejmen, en la urbon), but with an ordinary common noun like muzeo, the usual, neutral form is iri al (la) muzeo.

Forms like iri muzeon are possible in theory (using -n as a direction marker), but they are unusual and can sound odd. For learners, it’s better to stick to:

• iri al muzeo
• iri al la muzeo

Why is it first al muzeo but later al la muzeo?

Esperanto has only one article, la, which usually marks a specific / known thing (“the”).

In your sentence:

• Mia frato volas iri al muzeo
  – “My brother wants to go to a museum / (some) museum.”
  The museum is not yet specified; it’s just “a museum in general”, so la is not necessary.

• … kaj mi volas iri nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto.
  – “and I want to go to neither the museum nor the concert.”
  Now we’re talking about those particular museum and concert that were just mentioned (the brother’s choice and the sister’s choice), so using la is very natural.

You could also say nek al muzeo nek al koncerto; that would sound a bit more general and slightly less tied to the specific ones already mentioned. Both are grammatically correct; the version with la feels more “those exact ones we just talked about”.

What exactly does nek … nek mean, and why isn’t there a ne in front?

Nek … nek … means “neither … nor …”:

• Mi volas iri nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto.
  = I want to go to neither the museum nor the concert.

The important points:

1. Do not add an extra ne before nek in this pattern:

   • Correct: Mi volas iri nek al… nek al…
   • Incorrect: Mi ne volas iri nek al… nek al… (double negation)

2. Nek can also appear alone with the meaning “nor / and not”:

   • Mi ne volas iri, nek mia frato.
     = I don’t want to go, nor does my brother.

So in a nek … nek … construction, nek itself already contains the negative idea; you don’t need an extra ne.

Do we really have to repeat al in nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto?

It’s good style in Esperanto to repeat the preposition with nek, kaj, and aŭ, especially in longer phrases:

• nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto
• en la domo kaj en la ĝardeno
• kun mia frato aŭ kun miaj amikoj

You can sometimes drop the second al:

• nek al la muzeo nek la koncerto

and most people would still understand, but the version with both al’s is clearer and more standard, especially for learners. So:

• Prefer: nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto.

Could the word order with nek … nek … be different, for example at the beginning of the clause?

Yes. Esperanto word order is fairly flexible. All of these are grammatical, with slightly different emphasis:

1. Neutral, as in your sentence:

   • … kaj mi volas iri nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto.

2. Emphasis on the places (fronted objects):

   • Nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto mi volas iri.
     (Literally: “To neither the museum nor the concert do I want to go.”)

3. Negation attached to the verb phrase:

   • Mi nek volas iri al la muzeo nek al la koncerto.

All are correct; the basic form in your example is the most straightforward for learners.

What’s the difference between frato and fratino?

Esperanto builds many gendered words by inserting -in- for the specifically female version:

• frato = brother (a male sibling)
• fratino = sister (a female sibling)

Other common examples:

• patro = father → patrino = mother
• onkl(o) = uncle → onklino = aunt
• kato = (a) cat → katino = female cat

If you want to talk about siblings without specifying gender, you can use:

• gefratoj = brothers and sisters / siblings (plural!)

Why is it mia frato and not la mia frato?

Mia is a possessive adjective. It already does the job that “my” / “the … of me” would do, so you don’t normally add la in front of it when it’s before a noun:

• mia frato = my brother
• via fratino = your sister
• nia domo = our house

You use la mia, la via, etc. when the noun is omitted, like English “mine”, “yours”:

• Ĉi tiu libro estas mia libro.
• Ĉi tiu libro estas la mia.
  = This book is mine.

So:

• With a noun: mia frato, not la mia frato.
• Standing alone: la mia = mine.

Why don’t any of the nouns here have the -n accusative ending?

In Esperanto, the -n ending marks:

1. A direct object of a verb:

   • Mi vidas la muzeon. = I see the museum.
     Here, muzeon is what I see → direct object → -n.

2. Sometimes direction of movement without a preposition, or with certain prepositions like en, sur, sub, etc.:

   • Mi iras hejmen. = I go home.
   • Mi iras en la muzeon. = I go into the museum.

In your sentence:

• Mia frato, mia fratino, and mi are all subjects, so no -n.
• al muzeo, al koncerto, al la muzeo, al la koncerto are inside a prepositional phrase introduced by al. After a preposition, you usually do not add -n (unless you specifically want to show direction with a “static” preposition like en, sur, etc., but al is already purely directional).

So there is no reason for any -n here.

How do you pronounce muzeo and koncerto?

Pronunciation rules in Esperanto are very regular:

• muzeo

  • Syllables: mu-ZE-o
  • Stress: on the second-to-last syllable → ZE
  • z is like English z in zoo.
  • The e is a clear “eh” sound (like in met), and all three vowels are pronounced separately: u – e – o, not “myoo-zee-oh” but mu-ZE-o.

• koncerto

  • Syllables: kon-CER-to
  • Stress: on CER
  • c is always pronounced ts, like the ts in cats.
    So koncerto ≈ kon-TSEHR-to.
  • Again, stress is on the second-to-last syllable, as in almost all Esperanto words.

Could we avoid repeating volas iri like we might in English (my brother wants to go to the museum, but my sister to the concert)?

Yes, Esperanto allows you to omit repeated parts of a sentence when the meaning is clear. For example:

• Mia frato volas iri al muzeo, sed mia fratino al koncerto, kaj mi nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto.

Here, the second and third volas iri are understood from context and can be left out. This is normal and idiomatic, though for beginners and in teaching materials the full version is often preferred for clarity:

• Mia frato volas iri al muzeo, sed mia fratino volas iri al koncerto, kaj mi volas iri nek al la muzeo nek al la koncerto.

Are the commas before sed and kaj required in Esperanto?

Punctuation in Esperanto is similar to English but slightly more flexible. In this sentence:

• The comma before sed separates two independent clauses:

  • Mia frato volas iri al muzeo, sed mia fratino volas iri al koncerto…

• The comma before kaj does the same:

  • …, sed mia fratino volas iri al koncerto, kaj mi volas iri…

You can omit one or both commas in informal writing, especially before kaj, but including them is clear and completely standard. Many style guides recommend a comma between longer independent clauses joined by sed or kaj, just as in careful English writing.