# Common Esperanto mistakes: 40 errors and how to fix them

Source: https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/common-mistakes/
Language: en
Updated: 2026-10-08

> The most common Esperanto errors beginners make: a missing -n, -ig- vs -iĝ-, sia vs lia, ol after pli, stress. Wrong and right examples with the rule.

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](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/accusative/) and [nouns and adjectives](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/nouns-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-](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/transitivity/), [verbs](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/verbs/) and [participles](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/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](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/suffixes/). |

## Pronouns and correlatives

See [pronouns](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/pronouns/), [relative clauses](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/relative-clauses/) and [questions and negation](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/questions-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](https://esperantopedia.org/phrases/time/). |
| *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](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/comparison/), [prepositions](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/prepositions/) and [the article](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/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](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/alphabet/).

| 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](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/alphabet/). |
| *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-](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/transitivity/).

### 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](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/rolmontriloj/n/bazaj_reguloj.html), [N for the object](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/rolmontriloj/n/objekto.html), [N for direction](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/rolmontriloj/n/direkto.html), [A-words](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/a-vortoj/bazaj_reguloj.html), [Singular and plural](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/unu-nombro_multe-nombro/bazaj_reguloj.html)
- PMEG: [Verbs with -iĝ-](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/verboj_frazroloj/igh.html), [Neutral mode (infinitive)](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/verboj/neutrala.html), [Tense in indirect speech](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/subfrazoj/nerekta_parolo/verboformoj.html), [E-words](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/e-vortoj/uzo.html), [Participles as A-words](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/participoj/a-vortoj.html), [Suffix -ad-](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/vortfarado/afiksoj/sufiksoj/ad.html)
- PMEG: [Si in simple sentences](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/pronomoj/si/simplaj_frazoj.html), [Kiu](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/subfrazoj/rilataj/kiu_kio_kies/kiu.html), [Questions as subclauses](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/subfrazoj/demandaj.html), [Negation](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/neado.html), [Exclamations](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/frazospecoj/fraztipoj_frazfunkcioj.html)
- PMEG: [Kiel and ol](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/komparoj/kiel_ol/index.html), [Da](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/rolmontriloj/rolvortetoj/da/detalaj_reguloj.html), [Je](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/rolmontriloj/rolvortetoj/je.html), [Po](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/rolmontriloj/rolvortetoj/aliaj_rolvortetoj/po.html), [La before language names](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/difiniloj/la/specialaj_uzoj.html), [Capital letters](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/propraj_nomoj/majuskloj.html), [Pronunciation](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/skribo_elparolo/elparolo/bazaj_reguloj.html)
- Reta Vortaro (ReVo): [aktuala](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/aktual.html), [eventuala](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/eventu.html), [simpatio](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/simpat.html), [humana](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/human.html), [kompati](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/kompat.html), [fino](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/fin.html)