Hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono.

Today I pay by phone.

Breakdown of Hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono.

• mi: I
• hodiaŭ: today
• pagi: to pay
• telefono: the phone
• per: via

Questions & Answers about Hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono.

What does per mean in per telefono, and why not use kun?

Per means by means of / using as a tool or instrument.
So per telefono = by phone / using a phone.

Kun means with (together with someone/something), usually for companions, not tools.

• Mi pagas per telefono. = I pay by phone.
• Mi pagas kun amiko. = I pay with a friend (my friend and I pay together).

Using kun telefono would sound like you and the phone are paying together, not that you’re using it as a tool.

Why is it telefono and not la telefono?

Esperanto uses la (the) mainly when a specific, known item is meant.

Here, telefono is used generically as an instrument: a phone / the phone as a means of payment in general, not a particular, identified phone.

• Mi pagas per telefono. – I pay by phone (in general).
• Mi pagas per la telefono. – I pay with the phone (some specific phone we both know about), which is less common unless context clearly points to one particular phone.

So the sentence without la is the normal, neutral way to express by phone.

Why isn’t it telefonon (accusative) after per?

In Esperanto, a noun after a preposition normally stays in the nominative form, without -n.

• per telefono – by phone
• en la domo – in the house
• kun amiko – with a friend

You only add -n after a preposition in some more advanced, special cases (often to show direction), but instruments with per are just plain nominative: telefono, not telefonon.

Can I move hodiaŭ to another place, like Mi hodiaŭ pagas per telefono?

Yes. Esperanto word order is flexible, and hodiaŭ can move around. All of these are grammatically correct:

• Hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono.
• Mi hodiaŭ pagas per telefono.
• Mi pagas hodiaŭ per telefono.
• Mi pagas per telefono hodiaŭ.

They all mean roughly the same: Today I pay by phone.

Moving hodiaŭ mainly changes emphasis or rhythm, not basic meaning. Putting it first, as in the original sentence, gives a bit more emphasis to today.

Could I say Mi pagas telefone instead of Mi pagas per telefono?

Yes, telefone is possible and understandable.

• Mi pagas per telefono. – literally: I pay by phone.
• Mi pagas telefone. – literally: I pay phonely / in a phone way.

Per telefono is more transparent for beginners and very common. Telefone is shorter and feels slightly more abstract or stylistic. Both are correct; for clear learner Esperanto, per telefono is often preferred.

Does pagas mean “I pay”, “I am paying”, or “I will pay today”? How does the present tense work here?

Esperanto has only one present tense, -as, and it covers several English uses:

• Mi pagas.
  
  • I pay.
  • I am paying.
  • (sometimes, with a time word) I will pay.

In Hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono, context is provided by hodiaŭ (today). It can mean:

• I am paying by phone today (this is what I’m doing today).
• Today, I (generally) pay by phone (as opposed to other days).

If you clearly mean a future action later today, you can still use pagas with hodiaŭ, but you can also use the future:

• Hodiaŭ mi pagos per telefono. – Today I will pay by phone.

Both can be used; pagos makes the futurity more explicit.

How would I say “I paid by phone” and “I will pay by phone”?

You just change the verb ending:

• I paid by phone.
  Mi pagis per telefono. (-is = past)

• I will pay by phone.
  Mi pagos per telefono. (-os = future)

The rest of the sentence (per telefono) stays the same.

Does telefono mean any kind of phone? How do I say “mobile phone” or “smartphone”?

Telefono by itself means telephone / phone in general (could be landline or mobile, depending on context).

More specific terms:

• poŝtelefono – mobile / cell phone (literally: pocket-phone)
• saĝtelefono – smartphone (literally: wise-phone)

Examples:

• Hodiaŭ mi pagas per poŝtelefono. – Today I pay with a mobile phone.
• Hodiaŭ mi pagas per saĝtelefono. – Today I pay with a smartphone.

How can I emphasize that it’s today (and not some other day) that I’m paying by phone?

You can emphasize hodiaŭ with word order and sometimes stress in speech:

• Hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono. – Natural, often already heard as “It’s today that I’m paying by phone.”
• Ĝuste hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono. – Exactly today I pay by phone.
• Nur hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono. – Only today I pay by phone.

Adding words like ĝuste (exactly) or nur (only) makes the emphasis explicit.

Where is the stress in Hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono?

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

Word by word:

• Hodiaŭ → ho-DI-aŭ
• mi → (one syllable, so the only vowel is stressed)
• pagas → PA-gas
• per → (one syllable)
• telefono → te-le-FO-no

So the main stressed syllables are: hoDIaŭ mi PAgas per teleFOno.

Can I drop mi and just say Hodiaŭ pagas per telefono?

No, not in normal Esperanto.

Esperanto always requires a subject, and it’s usually a pronoun like mi, vi, li, etc., or a noun. You cannot leave it out the way some languages do.

So you must say:

• Hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono.

Only in very special stylistic or poetic language might you occasionally see omitted subjects, but that is not standard and not recommended for learners.

Is Hodiaŭ mi pagos per telefono also correct if I mean I’ll pay later today?

Yes, it is correct and often clearer for a future action later today.

Comparison:

• Hodiaŭ mi pagas per telefono.
  
  • Could mean: that’s my way of paying today (general or planned), or I’m in the process today.
• Hodiaŭ mi pagos per telefono.
  
  • More clearly: Today I will pay by phone (a future event, not yet happening now).

Both are grammatically fine; pagos emphasizes the future aspect more strongly.