Introduction to Esperanto: Lesson 3

Esperanto for you is vi.

Do you notice how all these words are so simple: mi (I), vi (you), ĝi (it).

Say:

?You are a human.|Vi estas homo.

Now, do you remember how to say good and easy?

?Good and easy.|Bona kaj facila.

These two words end in a because they describe things (they are called adjectives). You could say that a means related to or pertaining to in a way that bona means relating to goodness, pertaining to a group of good things or simply put: good; and facila means relating to facility, pertaining to the group of easy things, or simply: easy.

So, you have these words for vi, mi etc. What would happen if you added a to them? For example, you take vi (which means you) and you add a and you get via which would mean related to you, pertaining to you or simply: your!

If you want to make words like mi, vi, etc. possessive, you add a to them.

Guess how you would say:

?Mine|Mia

How would you say:

?My work|Mia laboro

What about:

?Your work|Via laboro

The Esperanto word for a land is lando.

It also means country, of course. How would you say:

?My country is the USA.|Mia lando estas Usono.

Do you still remember the word for what?

?What|Kio

So, say:

?What is your land?|Kio estas via lando?

Esperanto for name is nomo.

If you don’t find nomo similar Enough to name, simply think of nom de plume or nomenclature

So, how would you ask:

?What is your name?|Kio estas via nomo?

Answer:

?My name is Petro.|Mia nomo estas Petro.

Alright, you know that kio means what and it’s a kuestion word and tio means that. There is another kuestion word:

The Esperanto word for where is kie.

It’s easy to remember if you think that you could write what as whot which is kio and you can write where which is kie.

You can already guess the word for there:

?There|Tie

You can ask questions like where are you:

?Where are you?|Kie estas vi?

In theory, there is absolutely no difference in what word order you use but in practice regarding the way Esperanto is spoken, you are more likely to hear say kie vi estas which is where you are more often, though.

You can also ask where are you from which would logically be from where are you or as you usually (although not obligatorily) say it from where you are?:

?Where are you from?|De kie vi estas?

Answer that again:

?I am from France.|Mi estas de Francio.

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