The Esperanto accusative (-n): the complete guide

The Esperanto accusative is the ending -n. Its main job is to mark the direct object, the person or thing a verb acts on: Mi vidas la katon – "I see the cat". It also shows direction (en la domon – "into the house"), dates (lundon – "on Monday") and measures (du horojn – "for two hours").

Esperanto has only two cases, the basic form and the accusative; every other relation uses a preposition (rule 2).

PMEG puts it this way: in an Esperanto sentence a preposition or the ending -n shows the role of a word, and a noun with neither is usually the subject (or, after esti, describes it). So -n tells you "this is not the subject" wherever no preposition already does: in La katon vidas la hundo – "The dog sees the cat", la katon cannot be the subject, wherever it stands.

#The five jobs of -n

#Which words take -n

The ending goes on words that name or describe a thing, always after -j:

These never take -n: verbs, the article la, prepositions, conjunctions, numbers like du or tri, and the correlatives ending in -el, -am, -om, -al, -es (kiel, kiam, kiom, kial, kies). So Mi havas du katojn – "I have two cats", never dun katojn.

#1. The direct object

The object answers the question "whom?" or "what?" after the verb. Because -n marks it, the word order can change without changing the meaning; putting la katon first only shifts the emphasis. Moving the -n to la hundon changes who bit whom:

La hundo subject mordis verb la katon object

La katon object mordis verb la hundo subject

The dog bit the cat.

La kato subject mordis verb la hundon object

The cat bit the dog.

Everything that describes the object takes -n too: Mi aĉetis tiun belan ruĝan aŭton. – "I bought that beautiful red car." See nouns and adjectives and pronouns.

#Objects that cannot take -n

Infinitives, clauses with ke – "that" and quotations have no place for an ending. Their role is clear anyway:

• Mi volas dormi. – "I want to sleep."
• Mi scias, ke vi venos. – "I know that you will come."

#Greetings and thanks

Many everyday phrases end in -n: Saluton! – "Hello!", Dankon! – "Thanks!", Bonan tagon! – "Good day!", Bonvenon! – "Welcome!". They are objects of an unspoken verb: (Mi deziras al vi) bonan tagon – "(I wish you) a good day". More in greetings.

#2. Direction: where to

After a preposition of place, -n changes "where" into "where to":

The difference matters: La kato saltas sur la tablo – "The cat is jumping (up and down) on the table", but La kato saltas sur la tablon – "The cat jumps onto the table".

location (where?)

La kato saltas sur la tablo.

The cat is jumping (up and down) on the table.

direction (where to?)

La kato saltas sur la tablon.

The cat jumps onto the table.

Only prepositions that can also mean a place take this -n: en, sur, sub, antaŭ, apud, inter, trans and others. Al "to", el "out of", de "from" and ĝis "as far as" never mean a place, so they never take -n: Mi iras al la urbo – "I'm going to town", not al la urbon. Direction -n always means movement towards a place, never away from it (PMEG). The full list is on prepositions.

Place adverbs and place correlatives take -n for direction without any preposition: hejmen – "home(wards)", supren – "upwards", tien – "(to) there", Kien vi iras? – "Where are you going?". A place name can do the same (Mi veturos Parizon – "I'll travel to Paris", from the Fundamento's Ekzercaro), but PMEG notes that in practice this bare -n is used almost only with names of cities and countries, for going into the place, and that today it is very rare, almost archaic; al Parizo is the usual form.

Direction can also be figurative, for a change of state: La sorĉisto ŝanĝis la princon en ranon. – "The wizard turned the prince into a frog."

#3. Time: when

A time expression with -n and no preposition says when something happens:

• lundon – "on Monday"
• la 5-an de Majo – "on 5 May"
• ĉiun tagon – "every day"
• unu tagon – "one day"

The same meaning is possible with a preposition: en la sama tago = la saman tagon – "on the same day". For clock times use je: je la deka – "at ten o'clock", while la dekan means "on the tenth" (of the month).

#4. Measure: how long, how far, how much

-n also gives duration, distance, price, weight and age:

• Mi dormis ok horojn. – "I slept for eight hours."
• Ni marŝis dek kilometrojn. – "We walked ten kilometres."
• La libro kostas dek eŭrojn. – "The book costs ten euros."
• Li estas dudek jarojn aĝa. – "He is twenty years old."

For duration, dum – "during" also works: dum ok horoj.

#5. Instead of je

Rule 14 allows -n in place of the meaningless preposition je: Mi ridas je lia naiveco = Mi ridas lian naivecon. PMEG notes this is quite rare today, and speakers prefer a clear preposition.

#When not to use -n

Most mistakes happen here. Leave out -n in these cases:

1. After esti, iĝi and ŝajni. The word after them describes the subject; it is not an object. Mi estas instruisto. – "I am a teacher." Ŝi iĝis kuracisto. – "She became a doctor."
2. When the subject comes after the verb. Hieraŭ okazis grava afero. – "Something important happened yesterday." With okazi – "happen", manki – "be missing", resti – "remain" and aperi – "appear", the subject often comes last.
3. After most prepositions. kun mia amiko – "with my friend", pri la libro – "about the book". Only direction after a place preposition adds -n.
4. For a result or description of the object. Mi farbis la pordon verda. – "I painted the door green." Compare Mi farbis la verdan pordon. – "I painted the green door."
5. For the indirect object. Use al: Mi donis libron al ŝi. – "I gave her a book."

#Common mistakes

#The accusative and word order

Because the object carries -n, all six orders of subject, verb and object are grammatical: Petro amas Marian, Marian amas Petro, Amas Petro Marian and so on. The neutral order is subject–verb–object, as in English.

Putting the object first adds emphasis: Kafon mi ne trinkas, sed teon mi ŝatas. – "Coffee I don't drink, but tea I like." If an object cannot take -n, such as a foreign name, keep the neutral order. More on word order.

#Quick check: -n or not

1. Movement towards a place after en, sur, sub and similar? Add -n.
2. Object of the verb (not after esti, iĝi, ŝajni)? Add -n to it and to every word describing it.
3. A date or measure without a preposition? Add -n.
4. Anything else after a preposition? No -n.

#Common questions

#What is the accusative in Esperanto?

It is the ending -n, added to nouns, adjectives, pronouns and some correlatives. It marks the direct object, and also direction, dates and measures.

#Why do Esperanto greetings end in -n?

They are shortened sentences. Bonan tagon! stands for (Mi deziras al vi) bonan tagon – "(I wish you) a good day", so the greeting is the object of an unspoken verb.

#Do you use -n after prepositions?

Normally not: kun mi – "with me", al la urbo – "to town". The exception is direction after a place preposition such as en, sur or sub: en la domon – "into the house".

#Does the adjective take -n too?

Yes. Every adjective, possessive and correlative describing the object takes -n: Mi perdis mian novan telefonon. – "I lost my new phone."

#Sources

• Fundamento de Esperanto, rules 2, 8, 13 and 14 (English) – Akademio de Esperanto
• PMEG, chapter on the N ending: overview, basic rules, object, direction, point in time, measure, instead of je
• Esperanto grammar – Wikipedia
• "Bonan matenon" and the unspoken verb – Usona Esperantisto, 2022