Esperanto word order: free, but not random

Esperanto's usual word order is subject – verb – object (SVO), as in English: La hundo mordis la katon – "The dog bit the cat". Because the object carries the accusative ending -n, the words can move without changing who did what. La katon mordis la hundo still means that the dog bit the cat.

The freedom has limits. PMEG states the main rule plainly: word order must serve clarity. Small words such as prepositions, la and ne have fixed places.

#Why the order can change

In English, position tells you who is the subject. In Esperanto, the ending does. All six orders below mean "The dog bit the cat": the arrow always runs from the subject to the word with -n, wherever it stands. Only moving the -n changes the event, as in the last line.

La hundo subject mordis verb la katon object

La katon object mordis verb la hundo subject

La hundo subject la katon object mordis verb

La katon object la hundo subject mordis verb

Mordis verb la hundo subject la katon object

Mordis verb la katon object la hundo subject

The dog bit the cat.

La kato subject mordis verb la hundon object

The cat bit the dog.

SVO is the default; the other orders shift the emphasis (PMEG). Compare English: "The cat bit the dog" is a different event.

#The default order

PMEG gives the basic pattern as subject – main verb – object – other parts:

• Karlo manĝas rizon per manĝbastonetoj. – "Karl eats rice with chopsticks."

Sentences usually start with what is already known (the topic) and end with what is new (Wikipedia). Moving a part to the front makes it the topic or puts weight on it:

• Tiun libron mi jam legis. – "That book I have already read."
• Sur la sofo ili sidas. – "It is on the sofa that they are sitting."
• Vin mi amas. – "It's you I love."

The end of the sentence can carry weight too: Sur la sofo sidas ili stresses who is sitting there – "It is they who are sitting on the sofa."

#When order does the work

Sometimes neither noun has -n, and then position decides. This happens after esti "to be" and fariĝi "to become", where both nouns stay in the nominative (PMEG):

• Lernanto fariĝis instruisto. – "A pupil became a teacher."
• Instruisto fariĝis lernanto. – "A teacher became a pupil."

Here the subject comes first. Fixed small words, like prepositions, also keep their place, as the next table shows.

#What is not free

The last row changes meaning: Nur mi vidis lin is "Only I saw him", while Mi vidis nur lin is "I saw only him". See adverbs and questions and negation.

#Adjectives before or after the noun

An adjective usually comes before its noun: bela domo "a beautiful house". It may also follow: domo bela. Both are correct, and the order adjective–noun is somewhat more common (Wikipedia). The article la still goes first: la domo bela.

Because adjectives agree in number and case (see nouns and adjectives), the endings show which noun an adjective belongs to, even at a distance:

• Mi vidis grandan hundon. = Hundon grandan mi vidis. – "I saw a big dog."
• Ruĝajn pomojn li aĉetis. – "Red apples are what he bought."

#Questions keep the statement order

Esperanto does not invert subject and verb in questions. Vi parolas Esperanton becomes Ĉu vi parolas Esperanton? – only ĉu is added. Ki- words such as kie "where" usually come first: Kie vi loĝas? – "Where do you live?"

#Examples in sentences

• Mi trinkas kafon ĉiumatene. – "I drink coffee every morning."
• Ĉiumatene mi trinkas kafon. – "Every morning I drink coffee."
• Kafon mi trinkas matene, teon vespere. – "Coffee I drink in the morning, tea in the evening."
• En la ĝardeno ludas la infanoj. – "The children are playing in the garden."
• La patrino lavas la infanon. – "The mother is washing the child."
• La patrinon lavas la infano. – "The child is washing the mother."
• Ankaŭ mi trinkas kafon. – "I drink coffee too (just like the others)."
• Mi trinkas ankaŭ kafon. – "I drink coffee too (not only other drinks)."
• Ne mi trinkas kafon, sed mia frato. – "It isn't me who drinks coffee, but my brother."

#Common questions

#Is Esperanto word order free?

Largely. Subject and object can stand in any order because the object takes -n. Prepositions, la, ne and conjunctions have fixed positions.

#What is the basic word order in Esperanto?

Subject – verb – object, as in English: Mi lernas Esperanton – "I am learning Esperanto". Other orders are correct and used for emphasis.

#Can an adjective come after the noun in Esperanto?

Yes. Bela domo and domo bela are both correct; the adjective before the noun is more common.

#Does the word order change in questions?

No. Yes/no questions add ĉu at the start, and the rest of the sentence stays as it was.

#When does word order matter in Esperanto?

When no word carries -n, for example with esti and fariĝi: Lernanto fariĝis instruisto means the pupil became the teacher. It also matters for ne, nur, ankaŭ and similar words.

#Sources

• PMEG – Word order
• PMEG – Order of sentence parts
• PMEG – Ĉu-questions
• PMEG – Ankaŭ (position)
• Fundamento de Esperanto – grammar in English
• Wikipedia – Esperanto grammar (word order)