Esperanto Grammar Cheat Sheet: All the Rules on One Page

This Esperanto grammar cheat sheet puts the whole grammar on one page because the language is regular: every word has a fixed ending, roots never change, and there are no irregular verbs, no grammatical gender and only one article. To print the page or save it as a PDF, use your browser's print command (Ctrl+P, or Cmd+P on a Mac).

#Alphabet and pronunciation

The alphabet has 28 letters, each with one sound, and nothing is silent: a b c ĉ d e f g ĝ h ĥ i j ĵ k l m n o p r s ŝ t u ŭ v z. The letters q, w, x and y are not part of it.

• Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable: fa-mi-LI-o "family", es-pe-RAN-to. The letters j and ŭ are not vowels, so aj, ej, oj, uj, aŭ, eŭ make one syllable: ho-DI-aŭ "today".
• No ĉ, ĝ, ŝ on your keyboard? Write the x-system (cx, gx, sx, hx, jx, ux). The Fundamento's own h-system is ch, gh, sh, hh, jh, u.

More: alphabet and pronunciation.

#Word endings

The ending shows the word class or the verb form; the root before it never changes. Eleven endings do all the work.

• Order: class ending, then -j, then -n. Adjectives copy the -j and -n of their noun: novajn librojn "new books" (object).
• Comparison: pli granda ol "bigger than", la plej granda "the biggest", malpli "less", tiel granda kiel "as big as".
• No ending: jam "already", nun "now", tre "very", tro "too", ankaŭ "also", nur "only".

More: grammar overview, nouns and adjectives, adverbs.

#The article

Esperanto has one article, la "the", for every gender, number and case: la domo, la domoj, la domojn. There is no word for "a": domo is "a house".

• La marks something known or unique: la suno "the sun".
• It is left out before names (Petro, Esperanto) and before pointing words: mia libro, tiu domo, normally not la mia libro.
• Language names in -a take it: la angla "English".

More: the article la.

#Personal and possessive pronouns

• Possessives are adjectives: miaj libroj, mian libron. With la they stand alone: la mia "mine".
• Si and sia point back to the subject of their clause, in the third person only: Li lavas sin "He washes himself", Li lavas lin "He washes him (another man)".
• Unofficial: ri "he or she" (gender-neutral). The old ci "thou" is almost never used.

More: pronouns.

#The accusative -n

The ending -n marks what a verb acts on, and it also shows direction, time and measure.

• Adjectives, possessives and the correlatives in -u and -a copy it: tiujn belajn katojn "those beautiful cats" (object).
• No -n after esti "to be", iĝi "to become" or ŝajni "to seem": Mi estas instruisto. "I am a teacher."
• No -n after a preposition, except direction after a place preposition: en la domo "in the house", en la domon "into the house". Al, el, de and ĝis never take it.
• The marked object makes word order free.

More: the accusative.

#Verbs

A verb has one form for every person and number: mi, vi, li, ni, ili parolas. Six endings give all the forms, and no verb is irregular.

• An unreal "if" sentence uses -us in both halves: Se mi havus tempon, mi venus. "If I had time, I would come."
• After verbs of wanting and asking, ke takes -u: Mi volas, ke vi venu. "I want you to come."
• The passive is esti plus a passive participle, with de for the doer: La letero estas skribita de Anna. "The letter is written by Anna."
• -ig- makes a verb that takes an object, -iĝ- one that does not: sidi "to sit", sidigi "to seat someone", sidiĝi "to sit down".

More: verbs.

#Participles

Six participle suffixes show the phase of an action. The vowel gives the phase (a ongoing, i finished, o coming), and n marks the active voice.

• Endings: -a adjective (la dormanta infano "the sleeping child"), -e adverb (Legante, mi lernas. "While reading, I learn."), -o person (lernanto "pupil", Esperanto "one who hopes").
• Compound tenses: esti plus a participle: Mi estis manĝanta "I was eating", Mi estas manĝinta "I have eaten", La pordo estas fermita "The door is closed".

More: participles.

#Correlatives: the 45 table words

Five beginnings joined to nine endings give 45 words. Read each one as beginning plus ending: neni- + -am = neniam "never".

• -j and -n: words in -u and -a take both (kiujn, tian), -o words take -n (kion), -e words take -n only for direction (kien), and the rest never change.
• ki- words also open relative clauses and indirect questions: la viro, kiu venis "the man who came".
• ĉi adds "this": tiu ĉi or ĉi tiu, ĉi tie "here". ajn adds "-ever": kiu ajn "whoever". da follows amounts: kiom da mono "how much money".

More: all 45 correlatives.

#Numbers

There are thirteen basic words, and they take no -j or -n (except unu meaning "some": unuj … aliaj): nul 0, unu 1, du 2, tri 3, kvar 4, kvin 5, ses 6, sep 7, ok 8, naŭ 9, dek 10, cent 100, mil 1000. Numbers written together multiply, numbers written apart add.

The decimal mark is a comma: 3,5 is tri komo kvin.

More: numbers, number converter.

#Prepositions and conjunctions

Esperanto has 33 prepositions. They never change, and the noun after them keeps its basic form: kun mi "with me".

Conjunctions never change either:

More: prepositions, conjunctions.

#Word building

A word is (prefix) + root + (suffix) + ending: mal·san·ul·ej·o "hospital" (opposite + healthy + person + place + noun). In compounds the main word comes last: vapor·ŝip·o "steamship" is a kind of ship. Every affix is also a root: ejo "place", ilo "tool".

#Official prefixes

PMEG counts ten official prefixes; some lists add fi-.

#Official suffixes

With the six participle suffixes the official affixes total 47. Others, such as kilo-, tele- and -i- in Francio, are unofficial.

More: word building, prefixes, suffixes.

#Questions and negation

• Answers are jes "yes" and ne "no". The verb never moves, and there is no "do".
• One negative per clause: Mi vidis nenion. "I saw nothing." Two cancel out: Mi ne vidis nenion means "I saw something".

More: questions and negation.

#Word order

The default order is subject, verb, object. Because the object carries -n, the order can change: La hundo mordis la katon and La katon mordis la hundo both mean "The dog bit the cat".

More: word order.

#The 16 rules in one sentence each

The 16 rules of the Fundamento (1905) are the official core of the grammar.

1. Article. Only the definite la exists; there is no indefinite article.
2. Nouns. They end in -o, take -j for the plural and -n for the object; prepositions replace other cases.
3. Adjectives. They end in -a, agree with their noun and compare with pli, plej, ol.
4. Numerals. The basic numbers never change; the rest are joined, with -a, -obl-, -on-, -op- and po.
5. Pronouns. Mi, vi, li, ŝi, ĝi, si, ni, ili, oni; -a gives possessives, -n the object.
6. Verbs. They never change for person or number: -as, -is, -os, -us, -u, -i, six participles, passive with esti.
7. Adverbs. They end in -e and compare like adjectives.
8. Prepositions. They take the basic form of the noun.
9. Reading. Every word is read as written.
10. Stress. It falls on the second-to-last syllable.
11. Compounds. Join the roots; the main word comes last.
12. Negation. One negative word per clause is enough.
13. Direction. -n shows movement towards a place: kie – kien.
14. Je. When no preposition fits, use je, which has no meaning of its own.
15. Foreign words. International words keep one form in Esperanto spelling, and related words are built with Esperanto endings.
16. Apostrophe. A final -o and the -a of la may be dropped: de l' mondo.

More: the 16 rules explained.

#Common questions

#How do I print this cheat sheet or save it as a PDF?

Press Ctrl+P (Windows, Linux) or Cmd+P (Mac), then pick a printer or "Save as PDF". The menu and footer are hidden in the printed version.

#How many endings, correlatives and affixes does Esperanto have?

There are 11 grammatical endings, 45 correlatives, 33 prepositions, 10 official prefixes, 31 official suffixes and 6 participle suffixes.

#Is Esperanto grammar really regular?

Yes. There are no irregular verbs (even esti follows the table), no irregular plurals and no grammatical gender, and only two cases: the basic form and the accusative.

#What does this cheat sheet leave out?

Interjections, unofficial affixes, dates, clock time and the finer points of compound tenses. See interjections, prefixes, suffixes and numbers.

#Sources

• Fundamento de Esperanto – grammar in English (the 16 rules) – Akademio de Esperanto
• Akademia Vortaro: explanations and statistics – Akademio de Esperanto (11 endings)
• PMEG: Tabelvortoj – bazaj reguloj, Personaj pronomoj, Participoj, Nombroj, N-finaĵo, Vortordo, Neado
• PMEG: Prefixes, Suffixes, Rolvortetoj (prepositions)
• Esperanto grammar – Wikipedia