Grammar
Common Esperanto mistakes: 40 errors and how to fix them
Each row shows a wrong sentence, the right one and the reason, grouped by the kind of slip.
The most common Esperanto mistakes are a missing accusative -n, an adjective that does not copy its noun, -ig- and -iĝ- mixed up, lia where sia is needed, and kiel where ol belongs. The rows below are written with English speakers in mind. Each gives the wrong form, the right form and the reason. A few "wrong" sentences are grammatical but say something other than intended; the Why column says so.
Endings
Full rules: the accusative and nouns and adjectives.
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mi vidas la hundo. | Mi vidas la hundon. – "I see the dog." | The direct object takes -n; word order does not mark it. |
| Mi estas instruiston. | Mi estas instruisto. – "I am a teacher." | After esti the word describes the subject and is not an object, so no -n. |
| belaj domo, grandan domoj | bela domo, grandajn domojn – "a beautiful house", "big houses" | An adjective copies the number (-j) and the -n of its noun. |
| katonj | katojn – "cats" (object) | -j always comes before -n. |
| Mi havas du kato. | Mi havas du katojn. – "I have two cats." | More than one thing means a plural noun. |
| Mi iras al la urbon. | Mi iras al la urbo. – "I am going to town." | Al already shows direction; directional -n goes with en, sur, sub (PMEG). |
| La birdo flugis en la ĉambro. | La birdo flugis en la ĉambron. – "The bird flew into the room." | Both are correct, but without -n the bird was already inside. |
Verbs
See -ig- and -iĝ-, verbs and participles.
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| La filmo komencas. | La filmo komenciĝas. – "The film begins." | Komenci needs an object (Mi komencas la filmon). Something that starts by itself takes -iĝ-. |
| Mi dormas la bebon. | Mi dormigas la bebon. – "I am putting the baby to sleep." | An intransitive verb gets an object only through -ig-. |
| Mi volas lernas. | Mi volas lerni. – "I want to learn." | After voli, povi and devi the second verb stays in the infinitive -i. |
| Li diris, ke li venus. | Li diris, ke li venos. – "He said that he would come." | Keep the tense of the original words ("I will come"); shifting it as in English is an error (PMEG). |
| Estas varma hodiaŭ. | Estas varme hodiaŭ. – "It is warm today." | A sentence without a subject takes an adverb. |
| La ĉambro estas varme. | La ĉambro estas varma. – "The room is warm." | With a real subject, esti takes an adjective. |
| La pordo estas fermata. | La pordo estas fermita. – "The door is closed." | -at- means the action is still going on ("being closed"); -it- means it is finished. |
| Mi ĵetadis la pilkon unu fojon. | Mi ĵetis la pilkon unu fojon. – "I threw the ball once." | -ad- shows an action that continues or repeats (PMEG); one act takes the plain verb. See suffixes. |
Pronouns and correlatives
See pronouns, relative clauses and questions and negation.
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Petro amas lian edzinon. | Petro amas sian edzinon. – "Peter loves his own wife." | Sia points back to the subject. Lian means another man's wife. |
| Petro kaj sia edzino venis. | Petro kaj lia edzino venis. or Petro kun sia edzino venis. – "Peter and his wife came." | Sia cannot be part of the subject, and it is only third person: Mi venis kun mia frato, not kun sia frato. |
| La libro, ke mi legis | La libro, kiun mi legis – "the book that I read" | To describe a noun use kiu, with -n when it is the object. Ke only opens a statement. |
| Mi pensas, kiu vi pravas. | Mi pensas, ke vi pravas. – "I think that you are right." | A statement after a verb of thinking or saying needs ke. |
| Mi estas dudek jaroj. | Mi havas dudek jarojn. or Mi estas dudekjara. – "I am twenty years old." | Age is something you have (havi … jarojn) or an adjective in -jara; you are not "years". See time and dates. |
| Mi ne vidis neniun. | Mi vidis neniun. – "I saw nobody." | One negative per clause. Two cancel out, so the wrong sentence means "I did see someone." |
| Mi ne scias, se li venos. | Mi ne scias, ĉu li venos. – "I don't know whether he will come." | Yes/no questions inside a sentence start with ĉu; se means "if". Esperanto has no "do" and keeps statement word order. |
Word choice
See comparison, prepositions and the article.
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Li estas pli alta kiel mi. | Li estas pli alta ol mi. – "He is taller than I am." | "Than" is ol. Kiel means "as". |
| Mi volas glason de akvo. | Mi volas glason da akvo. – "I want a glass of water." | Da names an amount. Glaso de akvo is a glass connected with water, such as one that held water (PMEG). |
| multe de homoj | multe da homoj – "many people" | Quantity words link to what they count with da, and no -n follows it: Mi vidis multe da homoj. |
| Mi venos en la oka. | Mi venos je la oka. – "I will come at eight." | Clock times take je. Days take -n: lundon – "on Monday". |
| Tiu ŝtofo kostas dek eŭrojn po metro. | Tiu ŝtofo kostas po dek eŭrojn por metro. – "That cloth costs ten euros a metre." | Po goes before the amount that repeats, and "per" is por (PMEG). |
| Mi parolas anglan. | Mi parolas la anglan. – "I speak English." | A language named by an adjective takes la: la angla. |
| Mi lernas la Esperanton. | Mi lernas Esperanton. – "I am learning Esperanto." | Language names in -o (Esperanto, Ido, Volapuko) are proper names and take no la. |
False friends
Words that look English but mean something else (checked in ReVo):
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| La aktuala kaŭzo estis la neĝo. | La reala kaŭzo estis la neĝo. – "The actual cause was the snow." | Aktuala means "current, topical". "Actual" is reala, vera or fakta. |
| Eventuale mi komprenis. | Finfine mi komprenis. – "Eventually I understood." | Eventuale means "possibly, if need be": Eventuale mi venos morgaŭ – "I may come tomorrow." |
| Ŝi estis tre simpatia, kiam mi malsanis. | Ŝi estis tre kompatema, kiam mi malsanis. – "She was very sympathetic when I was ill." | Simpatia means "likeable, pleasant". For compassion use kompatema. |
| Eraroj estas humanaj. | Eraroj estas homaj. – "Errors are human." | Humana means "humane, kind". "Human" is homa. |
Pronunciation and spelling
These slips come from English sound habits. See the alphabet page.
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| FA-mi-li-o, TE-le-fo-no | fa-mi-LI-o, te-le-FO-no | Stress falls on the second-to-last vowel, as in es-pe-RAN-to. i before o counts as a vowel. |
| aŭto said a-U-to; kaj said "kay" | AŬ-to ("ow" as in "how"); kaj rhymes with "eye" | A vowel plus j or ŭ is one syllable: aj, ej, oj, uj, aŭ, eŭ. |
| akwo, kwin | akvo – "water", kvin – "five" | There is no w. Where English has w after a consonant, Esperanto writes v. |
| centro said "SEN-tro" | centro said "TSEN-tro" | c is always "ts" (PMEG). |
| jaro said "JAH-ro"; geografio said "jee-o-gra-FI-o" | jaro said "YAH-ro"; ge-o-gra-FI-o with a hard g | j sounds like English "y" and g is always hard, as in "get". |
| Mi scias, ke si venos. | Mi scias, ke ŝi venos. – "I know that she will come." | Si without the hat is the reflexive pronoun, a different word. Cannot type ŝ? Use the x-system. |
| Ŝi parolas la Francan. | Ŝi parolas la francan. – "She speaks French." | Adjective forms of language and nationality names are normally lowercase. Only names in -o, such as Esperanto, get a capital (PMEG). |
Common questions
Which Esperanto mistakes change the meaning of a sentence?
Several do: lian instead of sian (another man's wife, not his own), -ata instead of -ita ("being closed" instead of "closed"), a missing directional -n (inside the room instead of into it) and a double negative (the sentence turns positive).
Why do English speakers mix up -ig- and -iĝ-?
English uses one verb for both jobs: "the door opened" and "I opened the door". Esperanto has La pordo malfermiĝis and Mi malfermis la pordon. The pairs are listed on -ig- and -iĝ-.
Do you capitalise language names in Esperanto?
Only names ending in -o, such as Esperanto, Ido and Latino. Adjective forms like angla and franca and most nationality words (anglo, usonano) are normally lowercase.
How can I check my own Esperanto?
Check each sentence for -n on every object, -j and -n on every adjective, the right -ig-/-iĝ- form, sia only for the subject, and ol, ke, ĉu in the right place. Then read it aloud to check the stress.
Sources
- PMEG: N – basic rules, N for the object, N for direction, A-words, Singular and plural
- PMEG: Verbs with -iĝ-, Neutral mode (infinitive), Tense in indirect speech, E-words, Participles as A-words, Suffix -ad-
- PMEG: Si in simple sentences, Kiu, Questions as subclauses, Negation, Exclamations
- PMEG: Kiel and ol, Da, Je, Po, La before language names, Capital letters, Pronunciation
- Reta Vortaro (ReVo): aktuala, eventuala, simpatio, humana, kompati, fino
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