__________________________________________________________________________
E S P E R A N T O C O U R S E
__________________________________________________________________________
Lesson Two
Thanks for trying Lesson 1. By now you should have received corrections
to the exercises of the first lesson. Here is the next lesson. Keep it
up!
Let's review the "grammar-coding" for a second:
subject thing(s) action object thing(s)
-o -as -on
-is
-oj -os -ojn
Two-thirds of the pattern so far deals with "things" (nouns). Now let's
take a look at how to describe these things: good coffee, good tea
(adjectives).
Something that describes, such as "good," is called an adjective. In
Esperanto, adjectives are grammar coded with an "-a" ending.
As in some other languages (but not in English) the adjective ending ("-a")
has to "agree" with the noun it describes. That is, if the noun is plural,
the adjective must also be plural. If the noun is an object ("-n"), the
adjective must also be an object.
subject thing(s) action object thing(s)
bona patro havos bonan filon
a good father will have a good son
bonaj patroj havos bonajn filojn
good fathers will have good sons
(Note: "aj" is pronounced like the English word "eye".)
Vocabulary: In each lesson we will introduce about twenty new words to
you; learn these but remember to review the words in the previous lesson.
Use the words below to practice what you've just learned.
The exercises in this lesson are split into three parts.
Vocabulary, lesson two
Adjectives Nouns Verb Roots
bela (beautiful) akvo (water) am' (love)
granda (big) butiko (shop) lav' (wash)
nova (new) limonado (lemonade) pet' (ask, request)
sana (healthy) papero (paper) port' (carry, wear)
seka (dry) plumo (pen) renkont' (meet)
varma (warm) taso (cup) skrib' (write)
__________________________ PRACTICE ____________________________
Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto unu)
1. A healthy boy drinks warm milk.
2. The new shop sells dry cakes.
3. The big teacher met the new friends.
4. The good friends will-make a beautiful cake.
__________________________________________________________________________
Reminder:
-a -o -as -an -on
-aj -oj -is -ajn -ojn
-os
We haven't been able to give you enough vocabulary to let us vary these
exercises very much, but in Esperanto the system of regular word building
(with prefixes and suffixes) lets us expand our vocabulary with little
effort. For example, the "mal-" makes words of opposite meaning:
bona = good malbona = bad
pura = clean malpura = dirty
sana = healthy malsana = ill, sick
am' = love malam' = hate
amiko = friend (male) malamiko = enemy (male)
and similarly the "-in-" makes words specifically female.
patro = father patrino = mother
and thus for all female living creatures:
kato = cat katino = female cat
The 'vir' prefix is the original way to mark something as explicitly male:
virkato. Most people avoid using the root form as a 'male' form. It is rare
that you have to mark sex - it is proper to say, for example, Sally estas
instruisto, instead of saying Sally estas instruistino.
__________________________ PRACTICE ____________________________
Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto du)
5. The small girl met the ugly sisters.
6. The old cup has new lemonade.
7. The new cup has old milk.
8. Mother will-wash the small cups.
9. The small boy carried the new bread.
10. Cold water washes a small boy.
_____________________________________________________________________
"Ne" in front of any verb makes it negative, the action that doesn't
happen, or didn't happen, or won't happen.
ne havas = doesn't (don't) have; ne faras = doesn't do
Here is just one verb ("to be") displayed in the usual way (all Esperanto
verbs follow the same rule!):
General form (infinitive) to be esti
Present tense (-as form) I am mi estas
you are vi estas
he is li estas
she is ŝi estas
it is ĝi estas
we are ni estas
you are vi estas
they are ili estas
one is oni estas
est' is the verb root and always appears wherever the verb is used. Does
this verb even have a root in English? (am, is, are)
In the above verb display, note:
ŝi (she) is pronounced exactly like the English "she"
ĝi (it) is pronounced like the English "gee!", as in "Jeep"
vi (you) is both singular and plural, like the English "you."
(There is a word "ci", singular, but it is used much as the English
singular "thou" - not very often!)
Note, too, that although pronouns do not end in -o when they are
"subject things", they do take the -n when they are "object things":
La patrino lavas la knabon. Ŝi lavas lin.
The mother washes the boy. She washes him.
Now that we have learned the pronouns:
mi vi li ŝi ĝi ni vi ili oni
I you he she it we you they one
we can form the possessive adjectives:
mia via lia ŝia ĝia nia via ilia (pronounced ee-LEE-a) onia
my your his her its our your their one's
which are really adjectives because they identify (describe) the nouns they
are attached to. Mia plumo = my pen. The ending "-a" on possessive
adjectives follows the same rules about agreement as adjectives:
Mia amiko amas mian fratinon.
Miaj amikoj amas miajn fratinojn.
__________________________ PRACTICE ____________________________
Ekzercoj, Leciono Du (parto tri)
11. I forgot my pen.
12. We don't have paper.
13. My daughter requested warm milk.
14. Her old friend didn't write.
15. You will meet their old friends.
16. She will have the warm water.
17. Your new teacher forgot your sugar.
18. The boys hate our new teacher.
19. They sell tea and (kaj) coffee.
20. We will sell her cake and his pens.
Note: kaj (and) is pronounced like the ki in kite.
__________________________________________________________________________
On to Lesson 3!
Or go back to the index for other lessons.