# The most common Esperanto adjectives (with opposites)

Source: https://esperantopedia.org/learn/common-adjectives/
Language: en
Updated: 2026-10-11

> The 120 adjectives among the 1,000 most common Esperanto words, with meanings, opposites and examples. Adjectives are 3.2% of all words.

The most common Esperanto adjectives are *bona* "good", *alia* "other", *granda* "big", *multa* "many", *bela* "beautiful" and *nova* "new". Our [list of 1,000 common words](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/common-words/) contains **120 adjectives**, all shown below. Together they make up **3.2% of all words** in a corpus of 5.8 million words of everyday Esperanto sentences, and the ten most frequent make up 1.2%. An adjective ends in *-a* and copies the *-j* and *-n* of its noun, so one short lesson on [nouns and adjectives](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/nouns-adjectives/) covers all 120.

## One ending, two agreement endings

Every adjective in the list ends in *-a*, except *ambaŭ* "both". Add *-j* for the plural and *-n* for the object, always in that order.

| | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| **Subject** | *nova libro* | *novaj libroj* |
| **Object (-n)** | *novan libron* | *novajn librojn* |

- **After *esti* there is no -n:** *La libro estas nova.* – "The book is new." *La libroj estas novaj.* – "The books are new."
- **Order is free.** *Nova libro* and *libro nova* are both correct; PMEG notes that an adjective after its noun is often emphasised.
- **Without a noun.** Language names drop the word *lingvo*: *Ŝi parolas la francan.* – "She speaks French." Quantity adjectives often stand alone: *Multaj scias tion.* – "Many people know that."
- ***Ambaŭ* is the exception.** It takes neither *-j* nor *-n*, and it does not combine with *la*: *ambaŭ knabinoj* – "both girls", *Mi vidis ambaŭ knabinojn.* – "I saw both girls."

## The 10 adjectives to learn first

This is our own choice, not an official list. Six of the ten are the six most frequent adjectives of all: *bona*, *alia*, *granda*, *multa*, *bela* and *nova*. The next four in frequency, *tuta* "whole", *kelka* "some", *sola* "alone" and *unua* "first", work like small words for quantity and order and come right after. In their place we take the opposites *malbona* and *malgranda*, plus *feliĉa* and *malfacila*, because a beginner needs them in the first conversations.

| Adjective | English | Opposite | Why first |
|---|---|---|---|
| *bona* | good | *malbona* | The most frequent adjective, about one word in 500: *Bonan tagon!* – "Good day!" |
| *malbona* | bad | *bona* | The first *mal-* word you meet |
| *granda* | big, large | *malgranda* | Size; *grandega* "huge" is in the list too |
| *malgranda* | small | *granda* | Completes the size pair |
| *nova* | new | *malnova* | Things and news; *malnova* means "old" |
| *bela* | beautiful, pretty | *malbela* | Compliments |
| *multa* | much, many | *malmulta* | Quantity: *multan dankon* – "many thanks" |
| *alia* | other, another | *sama* | Asking for something else |
| *feliĉa* | happy | *malfeliĉa* | Wishes: *Feliĉan naskiĝtagon!* – "Happy birthday!" |
| *malfacila* | difficult, hard | *facila* | Talking about learning; *facila* "easy" costs no extra root |

## The 120 most common Esperanto adjectives

*Rank* is the position of the adjective among all 1,000 words of the list, so *bona* at 57 is the first adjective to appear. The *Opposite* column shows the word you would use for the reverse meaning: the *mal-* word if [ReVo](https://reta-vortaro.de/), the Reta Vortaro, has it with the plain opposite sense, otherwise a separate word that ReVo defines against it or lists as its antonym, and **–** where we found no natural pair. Rare words with a narrow sense, such as *malpropra* or *malpreta*, are left out. The examples are our own; look up any adjective in the [dictionary](https://esperantopedia.org/dictionary/).

| Rank | Adjective | English | Opposite | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | *bona* | good | *malbona* "bad" | *Ŝi estas bona instruistino.* – "She is a good teacher." |
| 63 | *alia* | other, another | *sama* "same" | *Mi volas alian libron.* – "I want another book." |
| 81 | *granda* | big, large | *malgranda* "small" | *Ili havas grandan domon.* – "They have a big house." |
| 82 | *multa* | much, many | *malmulta* "few, little" | *En la ĉambro estas multaj homoj.* – "There are many people in the room." |
| 117 | *bela* | beautiful, pretty | *malbela* "ugly" | *Kia bela tago!* – "What a beautiful day!" |
| 118 | *nova* | new | *malnova* "old (of things)" | *Mi havas novan telefonon.* – "I have a new phone." |
| 123 | *tuta* | whole, entire | – | *Mi legis la tutan libron.* – "I read the whole book." |
| 143 | *kelka* | some, a few | – | *Kelkaj infanoj ludas ekstere.* – "Some children are playing outside." |
| 152 | *sola* | alone, only, sole | – | *Li loĝas sola.* – "He lives alone." |
| 180 | *unua* | first | *lasta* "last" | *Ĉi tio estas mia unua vizito.* – "This is my first visit." |
| 185 | *franca* | French | – | *Ŝi parolas la francan.* – "She speaks French." |
| 193 | *angla* | English | – | *Tio estas angla vorto.* – "That is an English word." |
| 229 | *malbona* | bad | *bona* "good" | *Hodiaŭ la vetero estas malbona.* – "The weather is bad today." |
| 247 | *juna* | young | *maljuna* "old (of people)" | *Mia fratino estas ankoraŭ juna.* – "My sister is still young." |
| 248 | *lasta* | last | *unua* "first" | *Ĉu tio estas la lasta trajno?* – "Is that the last train?" |
| 251 | *grava* | important | *malgrava* "unimportant" | *Ĉi tiu letero estas tre grava.* – "This letter is very important." |
| 252 | *longa* | long | *mallonga* "short" | *Ĝi estas longa rivero.* – "It is a long river." |
| 253 | *feliĉa* | happy | *malfeliĉa* "unhappy" | *La infanoj estas feliĉaj.* – "The children are happy." |
| 268 | *malgranda* | small | *granda* "big" | *Mi havas malgrandan hundon.* – "I have a small dog." |
| 274 | *propra* | own | – | *Ŝi havas sian propran ĉambron.* – "She has her own room." |
| 277 | *sama* | same | *malsama* "different" | *Ni havas la saman nomon.* – "We have the same name." |
| 278 | *vera* | true | *malvera* "false" | *Tio estas vera rakonto.* – "That is a true story." |
| 286 | *ambaŭ* | both | – | *Ambaŭ knabinoj ŝatas muzikon.* – "Both girls like music." |
| 290 | *alta* | high, tall | *malalta* "low" | *La monto estas tre alta.* – "The mountain is very high." |
| 300 | *ruĝa* | red | – | *Ŝi portas ruĝan robon.* – "She is wearing a red dress." |
| 306 | *malnova* | old (of things) | *nova* "new" | *Ni loĝas en malnova domo.* – "We live in an old house." |
| 318 | *blanka* | white | *nigra* "black" | *La neĝo estas blanka.* – "The snow is white." |
| 343 | *verda* | green | – | *La herbo estas verda.* – "The grass is green." |
| 346 | *dua* | second | – | *Mi loĝas en la dua etaĝo.* – "I live on the second floor." |
| 375 | *forta* | strong | *malforta* "weak" | *Li estas forta viro.* – "He is a strong man." |
| 379 | *nigra* | black | *blanka* "white" | *Mi havas nigran katon.* – "I have a black cat." |
| 386 | *plia* | further, additional | *malplia* "lesser" | *Ĉu vi bezonas pliajn informojn?* – "Do you need further information?" |
| 388 | *malfacila* | difficult, hard | *facila* "easy" | *Tiu demando estas tro malfacila.* – "That question is too difficult." |
| 394 | *plena* | full | *malplena* "empty" | *La glaso estas plena.* – "The glass is full." |
| 400 | *germana* | German | – | *Li havas germanan aŭton.* – "He has a German car." |
| 403 | *maljuna* | old (of people) | *juna* "young" | *Mia avo estas maljuna.* – "My grandfather is old." |
| 410 | *japana* | Japanese | – | *Ni manĝis japanan manĝaĵon.* – "We ate Japanese food." |
| 415 | *certa* | certain, sure | *malcerta* "uncertain" | *Mi estas certa pri tio.* – "I am sure of that." |
| 436 | *blua* | blue | – | *La ĉielo estas blua.* – "The sky is blue." |
| 441 | *riĉa* | rich | *malriĉa* "poor" | *Li estas riĉa, sed ne feliĉa.* – "He is rich, but not happy." |
| 451 | *interesa* | interesting | *enuiga* "boring" | *Tio estas interesa libro.* – "That is an interesting book." |
| 453 | *stulta* | stupid, foolish | *inteligenta* "intelligent" | *Tio estis stulta demando.* – "That was a stupid question." |
| 454 | *stranga* | strange, odd | *normala* "normal" | *Mi aŭdis strangan bruon.* – "I heard a strange noise." |
| 457 | *homa* | human | – | *Tio estas homa eraro.* – "That is a human error." |
| 483 | *venonta* | next, coming | *pasinta* "past" | *Ni vizitos vin la venontan semajnon.* – "We will visit you next week." |
| 490 | *ĝusta* | correct, right | *malĝusta* "wrong" | *Ĉu tio estas la ĝusta vojo?* – "Is this the right way?" |
| 513 | *malsana* | ill, sick | *sana* "healthy" | *Mia filo estas malsana.* – "My son is ill." |
| 516 | *plura* | several | – | *Li havas plurajn amikojn en Berlino.* – "He has several friends in Berlin." |
| 525 | *pasinta* | past, last | *venonta* "next" | *La pasinta semajno estis longa.* – "Last week was long." |
| 537 | *laca* | tired | *vigla* "lively" | *Mi estas tre laca hodiaŭ.* – "I am very tired today." |
| 539 | *eta* | small, little | – | *Ni havas etan kuirejon.* – "We have a tiny kitchen." |
| 541 | *preta* | ready | – | *La vespermanĝo estas preta.* – "Dinner is ready." |
| 547 | *libera* | free | *mallibera* "not free" | *Ĉu tiu ĉi loko estas libera?* – "Is this seat free?" |
| 593 | *simpla* | simple | *malsimpla* "complex" | *Mi serĉas simplan solvon.* – "I am looking for a simple solution." |
| 599 | *varma* | warm, hot | *malvarma* "cold" | *La kafo estas varma.* – "The coffee is hot." |
| 612 | *farita* | done, made | – | *La laboro jam estas farita.* – "The work is already done." |
| 613 | *okupata* | busy | – | *Ŝi estas tre okupata hodiaŭ.* – "She is very busy today." |
| 617 | *ŝatata* | liked, favourite | – | *Ĉi tio estas mia plej ŝatata kanto.* – "This is my favourite song." |
| 619 | *fama* | famous | – | *Ŝi estas fama kantistino.* – "She is a famous singer." |
| 621 | *aĝa* | old, aged | *juna* "young" | *Kiom aĝa vi estas?* – "How old are you?" |
| 623 | *bonega* | excellent, great | *malbonega* "terrible" | *La manĝaĵo estis bonega.* – "The food was excellent." |
| 626 | *bruna* | brown | – | *Li havas brunajn okulojn.* – "He has brown eyes." |
| 643 | *malvarma* | cold | *varma* "warm, hot" | *La akvo estas tro malvarma.* – "The water is too cold." |
| 644 | *usona* | American (of the USA) | – | *Mia amiko estas usona.* – "My friend is American." |
| 658 | *malmulta* | few, little | *multa* "much, many" | *Malmultaj homoj scias tion.* – "Few people know that." |
| 667 | *facila* | easy, simple | *malfacila* "difficult" | *Ĉi tiu ekzerco estas facila.* – "This exercise is easy." |
| 668 | *ĉina* | Chinese | – | *Mi ŝatas ĉinan teon.* – "I like Chinese tea." |
| 672 | *terura* | terrible | *bonega* "excellent" | *La vetero estis terura.* – "The weather was terrible." |
| 675 | *afabla* | kind, friendly | *malafabla* "unkind" | *La vendisto estas tre afabla.* – "The shop assistant is very friendly." |
| 680 | *proksima* | near, close | *malproksima* "far" | *La stacidomo estas proksima.* – "The station is near." |
| 681 | *malsama* | different | *sama* "same" | *Ni havas malsamajn opiniojn.* – "We have different opinions." |
| 684 | *danĝera* | dangerous | *sekura* "safe" | *Tiu strato estas danĝera nokte.* – "That street is dangerous at night." |
| 704 | *malfermita* | open, opened | *fermita* "closed" | *La pordo estas malfermita.* – "The door is open." |
| 705 | *inteligenta* | intelligent | *stulta* "stupid" | *Ŝi estas tre inteligenta knabino.* – "She is a very intelligent girl." |
| 728 | *flava* | yellow | – | *Mi ŝatas flavajn florojn.* – "I like yellow flowers." |
| 732 | *rusa* | Russian | – | *Li legas rusan libron.* – "He is reading a Russian book." |
| 741 | *mallonga* | short | *longa* "long" | *Mi skribis mallongan leteron.* – "I wrote a short letter." |
| 743 | *fremda* | foreign, strange | – | *Ŝi lernas fremdan lingvon.* – "She is learning a foreign language." |
| 752 | *tria* | third | – | *Tio estas mia tria taso da teo.* – "That is my third cup of tea." |
| 756 | *amuza* | funny, amusing | – | *Tiu filmo estas tre amuza.* – "That film is very funny." |
| 759 | *diversa* | various | – | *Ili vendas diversajn fruktojn.* – "They sell various fruits." |
| 763 | *saĝa* | wise | *malsaĝa* "foolish" | *Mia avino estas saĝa virino.* – "My grandmother is a wise woman." |
| 764 | *dika* | thick, fat | *maldika* "thin" | *La libro estas tre dika.* – "The book is very thick." |
| 768 | *agrabla* | pleasant | *malagrabla* "unpleasant" | *Ĉi tiu ĉambro estas agrabla.* – "This room is pleasant." |
| 774 | *multekosta* | expensive | *malmultekosta* "cheap" | *Tiu robo estas tro multekosta.* – "That dress is too expensive." |
| 776 | *pura* | clean, pure | *malpura* "dirty" | *Mia ĉambro estas pura.* – "My room is clean." |
| 784 | *mortinta* | dead | *viva* "alive" | *Mortinta birdo kuŝas en la ĝardeno.* – "A dead bird is lying in the garden." |
| 796 | *konata* | known, familiar | – | *Tiu kanto estas tre konata.* – "That song is very well known." |
| 798 | *kioma* | what number, which in order | – | *Kioma horo estas?* – "What time is it?" |
| 802 | *hispana* | Spanish | – | *Mi trinkis hispanan vinon.* – "I drank Spanish wine." |
| 806 | *freneza* | crazy | – | *Tio estas freneza ideo.* – "That is a crazy idea." |
| 812 | *kontenta* | satisfied, content | *malkontenta* "dissatisfied" | *Ni estas kontentaj pri la rezulto.* – "We are satisfied with the result." |
| 823 | *ĉarma* | charming | – | *Vi havas ĉarman ĝardenon.* – "You have a charming garden." |
| 835 | *belega* | gorgeous | – | *La vido estas belega.* – "The view is gorgeous." |
| 846 | *griza* | grey | – | *Hodiaŭ la ĉielo estas griza.* – "The sky is grey today." |
| 865 | *okupita* | busy | – | *Ĉu ĉi tiu seĝo estas okupita?* – "Is this chair taken?" |
| 869 | *bongusta* | tasty, delicious | – | *La supo estas bongusta.* – "The soup is tasty." |
| 875 | *mirinda* | wonderful, marvellous | – | *Ĝi estis mirinda vojaĝo.* – "It was a wonderful trip." |
| 878 | *ĉefa* | chief, main, principal | – | *Tio estas la ĉefa problemo.* – "That is the main problem." |
| 879 | *fermita* | closed | *malfermita* "open" | *La vendejo estas fermita hodiaŭ.* – "The shop is closed today." |
| 887 | *antikva* | ancient | *moderna* "modern" | *Ni vizitis antikvan urbon.* – "We visited an ancient city." |
| 897 | *malriĉa* | poor | *riĉa* "rich" | *Ili estis malriĉaj, sed feliĉaj.* – "They were poor, but happy." |
| 898 | *rapida* | fast, quick | *malrapida* "slow" | *Ŝi estas rapida kuristino.* – "She is a fast runner." |
| 905 | *sekva* | next, following | *antaŭa* "previous" | *La sekva trajno foriras je la deka.* – "The next train leaves at ten." |
| 919 | *grandega* | huge | – | *Ni vidis grandegan elefanton.* – "We saw a huge elephant." |
| 927 | *komuna* | common, shared | – | *Ni havas komunan amikon.* – "We have a friend in common." |
| 930 | *kara* | dear, costly | *malkara* "cheap" | *Kara amiko, mi skribas al vi el Parizo.* – "Dear friend, I am writing to you from Paris." |
| 942 | *serioza* | serious | *malserioza* "frivolous" | *Li estas serioza homo.* – "He is a serious person." |
| 952 | *internacia* | international | – | *Esperanto estas internacia lingvo.* – "Esperanto is an international language." |
| 954 | *perfekta* | perfect, flawless | – | *Neniu estas perfekta.* – "Nobody is perfect." |
| 959 | *malplena* | empty | *plena* "full" | *La botelo estas malplena.* – "The bottle is empty." |
| 961 | *freŝa* | fresh | *malfreŝa* "stale" | *Mi aĉetis freŝan panon.* – "I bought fresh bread." |
| 970 | *sesa* | sixth | – | *Mi leviĝas je la sesa horo.* – "I get up at six o'clock." |
| 976 | *utila* | useful | *malutila* "harmful" | *Via konsilo estis tre utila.* – "Your advice was very useful." |
| 977 | *itala* | Italian | – | *Mi ŝatas italan kafon.* – "I like Italian coffee." |
| 989 | *eŭropa* | European | – | *Ŝi vojaĝas tra eŭropaj landoj.* – "She travels through European countries." |
| 991 | *antaŭa* | previous, former | *sekva* "next" | *Ni parolis pri tio en la antaŭa leciono.* – "We talked about that in the previous lesson." |
| 996 | *natura* | natural | *malnatura* "unnatural" | *Tio estas tute natura.* – "That is completely natural." |
| 997 | *necesa* | necessary | – | *La bileto ne estas necesa.* – "The ticket is not necessary." |
| 998 | *taŭga* | suitable | *maltaŭga* "unsuitable" | *Tiu ĉambro estas taŭga por ni.* – "That room is suitable for us." |

Four notes on the table:

- **Opposites.** 71 of the 120 adjectives have one: 52 through *mal-* and 19 through a separate word. The 49 dashes include colours, nationalities and ordinals, which have no opposite, and adjectives such as *amuza* or *freneza*, where no single word is the natural reverse. For a plain negation use *ne*: *nekonata* "unknown", *nenecesa* "unnecessary". These are not opposites; the difference is explained on [Esperanto opposites](https://esperantopedia.org/phrases/opposites/).
- **Participles.** Ten entries are participles used as adjectives: *venonta*, *pasinta*, *farita*, *okupata*, *ŝatata*, *mortinta*, *malfermita*, *okupita*, *fermita* and *konata*. See [participles](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/participles/).
- ***Okupata* and *okupita*.** Both are passive participles of *okupi* and both mean "busy". Zamenhof wrote that usage calls for *mi estas okupita* (*Lingvaj Respondoj*, quoted in ReVo). PMEG also finds *okupita* the more usual form but says that either one works for being kept busy by work, with no practical difference. In our list *okupata* (617) is the more frequent of the two. A seat that is taken is *okupita*.
- **Colours.** The eight colours are *ruĝa*, *blanka*, *verda*, *nigra*, *blua*, *bruna*, *flava* and *griza*; more shades and the use of *hel-* and *mal-hel-* are on the [colours](https://esperantopedia.org/phrases/colors/) page.

## Opposites: mal- and separate words

Thirteen adjectives in the list begin with *mal-*, and twelve pairs are in the list with both words: *bona* and *malbona*, *granda* and *malgranda*, *multa* and *malmulta*, *nova* and *malnova*, *juna* and *maljuna*, *longa* and *mallonga*, *sama* and *malsama*, *plena* and *malplena*, *riĉa* and *malriĉa*, *varma* and *malvarma*, *facila* and *malfacila*, *fermita* and *malfermita*. One root gives you both ends of the scale; see [prefixes](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/prefixes/) and the 74 pairs on the [opposites page](https://esperantopedia.org/phrases/opposites/).

Other opposites are two separate words, so *mal-* does not help. These pairs are in the table above:

| Pair | English | Why we pair them |
|---|---|---|
| *nigra – blanka* | black – white | ReVo gives *blanka* as the antonym of *nigra* |
| *unua – lasta* | first – last | First and last place in a series |
| *venonta – pasinta* | next – past | ReVo defines each against the other |
| *sekva – antaŭa* | next – previous | Order in a series or in time |
| *laca – vigla* | tired – lively | ReVo defines *laca* as *malvigla* |
| *stulta – inteligenta* | stupid – intelligent | ReVo defines *malinteligenta* as *stulta* |
| *interesa – enuiga* | interesting – boring | ReVo defines *enui* as feeling displeased from lack of interest |
| *danĝera – sekura* | dangerous – safe | *Sekura* means being in a situation free of danger |
| *antikva – moderna* | ancient – modern | ReVo defines *moderna* "in contrast with the ancient" |
| *alia – sama* | other – same | ReVo defines *alia* as *malsama* |
| *terura – bonega* | terrible – excellent | ReVo defines *terura* in one sense as *malbonega* |
| *stranga – normala* | strange – normal | ReVo defines *stranga* as the unusual; *nenormala* is among its related words |

## Comparing: pli, plej, ol

Adjectives take no comparative ending. *Pli* means "more", *plej* "most", *ol* "than" and *tiel … kiel* "as … as". There are no irregular forms: "better" is *pli bona* and "worse" is *pli malbona*. The full rules are on [comparison](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/comparison/).

| Meaning | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| more … than | *pli … ol* | *Tiu libro estas pli interesa ol ĉi tiu.* – "That book is more interesting than this one." |
| the most | *la plej … el* | *Ŝi estas la plej juna el la infanoj.* – "She is the youngest of the children." |
| less … than | *malpli … ol* | *Ĉi tiu ekzerco estas malpli malfacila ol la alia.* – "This exercise is less difficult than the other one." |
| as … as | *tiel … kiel* | *La libro estas tiel dika kiel la vortaro.* – "The book is as thick as the dictionary." |
| very, too | *tre*, *tro* | *tre bela*, *tro multekosta* – "very beautiful", "too expensive" |

Adjectives such as *unua* "first" or *franca* "French" name a fixed position or origin, so they are rarely compared. To change strength inside the word, use the suffix *-eg-*: *bona* → *bonega* "excellent", *bela* → *belega* "gorgeous" and *granda* → *grandega* "huge" are all in the list.

## Adjectives made from other words

The ending *-a* adds the idea "having or related to what the root says" (PMEG): *homa* is "related to people", *longa* "having length". The exact sense depends on the root and the context, so check unfamiliar words in the [dictionary](https://esperantopedia.org/dictionary/). Most adjectives you meet are built from other words by [word building](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/word-building/).

| Source | Pattern | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| noun | root + *-a* | *danĝero* → *danĝera* (684) | "danger" → "dangerous" |
| noun | root + *-a* | *homo* → *homa* (457) | "person" → "human" |
| noun | root + *-a* | *domo* → *doma* | "house" → "household, of the house" |
| noun | root + *-a* | *somero* → *somera* | "summer" → "of summer" |
| verb | participle | *fermi* → *fermita* (879) | "to close" → "closed" |
| verb | participle | *morti* → *mortinta* (784) | "to die" → "dead" |
| verb | suffix *-em-*, *-ebl-*, *-ind-* | *lerni* → *lernema*, *manĝi* → *manĝebla*, *legi* → *leginda* | "eager to learn", "edible", "worth reading" |
| adjective | prefix *mal-* | *bona* → *malbona* (229) | "good" → "bad" |
| adjective | suffix *-eg-* | *bela* → *belega* (835) | "beautiful" → "gorgeous" |
| phrase | *inter nacioj* | → *internacia* (952) | "between nations" → "international" |

## How we counted

We counted on 8 October 2026 in our file [esperanto-1000-common-words.csv](/downloads/esperanto-1000-common-words.csv). It comes from 822,296 Tatoeba sentences with 5,831,657 words. Every adjective form counts under its *-a* form, without plural *-j* and accusative *-n*. The method is on the [common words](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/common-words/) page.

- **120 of the 1,000 entries are adjectives** (12.0%). Their `per_million` values add up to 31,786 per million, so adjectives are **3.2% of all words** in the corpus, or 4.1% of the words that the 1,000-word list covers.
- **Verbs, nouns and adverbs** in the same list make up 17.6% (313 entries), 8.7% (359) and 4.6% (89). Adjectives are many but each is rare: the most frequent, *bona*, occurs 1,958 times per million words, while *esti* occurs 40,934 times. See the [most common verbs](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/common-verbs/).
- **Only 4 of the 100 most common words are adjectives** (*bona* 57, *alia* 63, *granda* 81, *multa* 82). There are 25 in the first 300 words and 46 in the first 500.
- **The 10, 20, 50 and 100 most frequent adjectives** make up 1.2%, 1.6%, 2.4% and 3.0% of all words, which is 37%, 51%, 74% and 94% of all adjective occurrences in the list.

The word class comes from the ending: an entry in *-a* is an adjective. Possessives (*mia*, *via*) and the correlatives *kia*, *tia*, *ia*, *ĉia* and *nenia* are counted in their own classes, while *kioma*, which asks for a number in a series, and *ambaŭ* are counted as adjectives. Five groups stand out:

| Group | Adjectives | Per million words | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| With *mal-* | 13 | 2,658 | *malbona*, *malgranda*, *malnova* |
| Nationality and region | 10 | 2,352 | *franca*, *angla*, *germana*, *japana* |
| Colours | 8 | 1,736 | *ruĝa*, *blanka*, *verda*, *nigra* |
| Participles | 10 | 1,370 | *venonta*, *pasinta*, *fermita* |
| Ordinal numbers | 4 | 1,121 | *unua*, *dua*, *tria*, *sesa* |

*Malfermita* is both a *mal-* word and a participle. Tatoeba holds short, written, often translated sentences; novels or speech would give another order, as the list on [Vocabulary](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/vocabulary/) shows.

## Common questions

### What are the most common adjectives in Esperanto?

In our list the ten most frequent are *bona*, *alia*, *granda*, *multa*, *bela*, *nova*, *tuta*, *kelka*, *sola* and *unua*. Together they make up 1.2% of all words in the Tatoeba corpus; *bona* "good" alone is about one word in 500.

### How do you form an adjective in Esperanto?

Put *-a* after a root: *danĝer-* gives *danĝera* "dangerous". Add *-j* for the plural and *-n* for the object: *danĝeraj stratoj*, *danĝerajn stratojn*. See [nouns and adjectives](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/nouns-adjectives/).

### How do you say the opposite of an adjective in Esperanto?

Put *mal-* in front: *granda* "big" → *malgranda* "small". Some opposites are separate words, such as *nigra – blanka* "black – white"; see [opposites](https://esperantopedia.org/phrases/opposites/).

### How do you say "better" and "the best" in Esperanto?

Use *pli bona* for "better" and *la plej bona* for "the best". Nothing is irregular; the same *pli* and *plej* work with every adjective ([comparison](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/comparison/)).

### Does the adjective come before or after the noun?

Usually before, but both orders are correct: *granda domo* and *domo granda* mean the same. After the noun, the adjective is often emphasised (PMEG).

## Sources

- Esperantopedia: [1000 most common Esperanto words](/downloads/esperanto-1000-common-words.csv) (CSV, rank, part of speech, English meaning, frequency per million), counted on 8 October 2026; method on [this page](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/common-words/)
- [Tatoeba: downloads](https://tatoeba.org/en/downloads) – Esperanto sentences, downloaded 7 October 2026; licence [CC BY 2.0 FR](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/fr/)
- [Reta Vortaro](https://reta-vortaro.de/) (ReVo), read on 8 October 2026: entries [bona](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/bon.html), [alia](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/ali.html), [juna](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/jun.html), [nigra](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/nigr.html), [laca](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/lac.html), [vigla](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/vigl.html), [enui](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/enu.html), [sekura](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/sekur.html), [moderna](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/modern.html), [terura](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/terur.html), [kara](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/kar.html), [okupi](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/okup.html), [venonta](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/ven.html), [pasinta](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/pas.html) and [mal-](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/mal.html)
- PMEG: [Bazaj reguloj por A-vortoj](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/a-vortoj/bazaj_reguloj.html), [Uzo de A-vortoj](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/a-vortoj/uzo.html), [Ambaŭ](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/oa-vortecaj_vortetoj/ambau.html), [Kvantaj A-vortoj](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/kvantaj_vortoj/a-vortoj.html), [Specialaj okazoj de participelekto](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/pasivo/participelekto/specialaj_okazoj.html), [MAL](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/vortfarado/afiksoj/prefiksoj/mal.html)
- [Wiktionary: Esperanto lemmas](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Esperanto_lemmas) (CC BY-SA 4.0) and [ESPDIC](http://www.denisowski.org/Esperanto/ESPDIC/espdic_readme.html) by Paul Denisowski (CC BY 3.0), the sources of the English meanings in the list