# The 100 most common Esperanto nouns (with word families)

Source: https://esperantopedia.org/learn/common-nouns/
Language: en
Updated: 2026-10-08

> The 100 most common Esperanto nouns from 822,296 Tatoeba sentences, with meanings, word families and examples. Nouns are 8.7% of all words.

The most common Esperanto nouns are *homo* "person", *tempo* "time", *libro* "book", *infano* "child", *jaro* "year" and *lingvo* "language". The 100 most frequent nouns in our [list of 1,000 common words](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/common-words/) make up **5.2% of all words** in a corpus of 5.8 million words of everyday Esperanto sentences, and the ten most frequent alone make up 1.3%. Every noun ends in *-o*, so you can spot one at a glance, and the table below shows two or three more words built from the same root.

## Every noun ends in -o, with -j for the plural and -n for the object

Add *-j* for more than one and *-n* for the direct object. If a noun needs both, the order is always *-j* and then *-n*. There are no exceptions; see [nouns and adjectives](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/nouns-adjectives/) and [the accusative](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/accusative/).

| Form | Ending | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| one | *-o* | *La libro estas sur la tablo.* | "The book is on the table." |
| several | *-oj* | *La libroj estas sur la tablo.* | "The books are on the table." |
| one, as object | *-on* | *Mi legas la libron.* | "I am reading the book." |
| several, as object | *-ojn* | *Mi legas la librojn.* | "I am reading the books." |

Esperanto has only the [article *la*](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/article/), "the", and it never changes: *la libro*, *la libroj*, *la librojn*. There is no word for "a": *libro* means "a book" or just "book".

## Nouns for people: -in- makes the female form

Esperanto has no grammatical gender. Most words for people, such as *homo*, *infano*, *amiko*, *persono*, *instruisto*, *kuracisto* and *studento*, say nothing about sex. A few roots are male by meaning, and the suffix *-in-* makes the female form. Six such pairs are among the 100 most common nouns; the numbers are ranks in the list.

| Male by meaning | Female with *-in-* |
|---|---|
| *patro* "father" (133) | *patrino* "mother" (173) |
| *frato* "brother" (221) | *fratino* "sister" (261) |
| *filo* "son" (237) | *filino* "daughter" (342) |
| *knabo* "boy" (218) | *knabino* "girl" (228) |
| *edzo* "husband" (402) | *edzino* "wife" (230) |
| *viro* "man" (156) | *virino* "woman" (174) |

The prefix *ge-* names both sexes together: *gepatroj* "parents", *gefratoj* "brothers and sisters", *gefiloj* "sons and daughters", *geedzoj* "husband and wife". See [suffixes](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/suffixes/) and [prefixes](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/prefixes/).

## The 10 nouns to learn first

This is our own choice, not an official list. Six of the ten are among the 20 most frequent nouns in the table. *Nomo*, *akvo*, *demando* and *familio* come further down, but a beginner needs them in the first conversation.

| Noun | English | Why first | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| *nomo* | name | Introducing yourself | *Mia nomo estas Anna.* – "My name is Anna." |
| *amiko* | friend | Talking about the people you know | *Mi havas bonan amikon.* – "I have a good friend." |
| *familio* | family | Talking about home | *Ĉu vi havas grandan familion?* – "Do you have a big family?" |
| *lingvo* | language | Saying what you speak and learn | *Kiun lingvon vi parolas?* – "Which language do you speak?" |
| *tago* | day | Greetings, dates and plans | *Kiu tago estas hodiaŭ?* – "What day is it today?" |
| *tempo* | time | Plans, invitations and polite questions | *Ĉu vi havas tempon?* – "Do you have time?" |
| *akvo* | water | Food, drink and the first thing you ask for | *Unu glason da akvo, bonvolu.* – "A glass of water, please." |
| *mono* | money | Shopping and prices | *Kiom da mono vi bezonas?* – "How much money do you need?" |
| *demando* | question | Asking and checking | *Ĉu vi komprenas la demandon?* – "Do you understand the question?" |
| *vorto* | word | Learning new words | *Kion signifas tiu vorto?* – "What does that word mean?" |

## The 100 most common Esperanto nouns

*Rank* is the position of the noun among all 1,000 words of the list, so *homo* at 55 is the first noun: the 54 words before it are 38 grammar words, 12 verbs and 4 adverbs. The column *Family* shows two or three words built from the same root (fewer where ReVo, the Reta Vortaro, lists fewer); the meanings are shortened from ReVo. The examples are our own. *Esperanto* and *Dio* are written with a capital letter by custom. Look up any noun in the [dictionary](https://esperantopedia.org/dictionary/).

| Rank | Noun | English | Family | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | *homo* | person, human being | *homa* "human", *homaro* "humankind", *homeco* "humanity" | *Ĉiu homo bezonas amikojn.* – "Every person needs friends." |
| 78 | *tempo* | time | *libertempo* "free time", *nuntempo* "the present day", *longtempe* "for a long time" | *Mi ne havas tempon hodiaŭ.* – "I have no time today." |
| 88 | *libro* | book | *librejo* "bookshop", *libreto* "booklet", *taglibro* "diary" | *Ŝi legas interesan libron.* – "She is reading an interesting book." |
| 89 | *infano* | child | *infana* "of a child", *infaneco* "childhood", *infaneto* "little child" | *La infanoj ludas en la parko.* – "The children are playing in the park." |
| 90 | *jaro* | year | *jardeko* "decade", *jarcento* "century", *Novjaro* "New Year" | *La jaro havas dek du monatojn.* – "A year has twelve months." |
| 91 | *lingvo* | language | *lingva* "of language", *lingvisto* "linguist", *gestolingvo* "sign language" | *Esperanto estas facila lingvo.* – "Esperanto is an easy language." |
| 95 | *vivo* | life | *vivi* "to live", *viva* "alive", *viveco* "liveliness" | *La vivo estas bela.* – "Life is beautiful." |
| 96 | *tago* | day | *tage* "in the daytime", *ĉiutaga* "daily", *naskiĝtago* "birthday" | *Hodiaŭ estas bela tago.* – "Today is a beautiful day." |
| 103 | *domo* | house | *dometo* "cottage", *domego* "mansion", *stacidomo* "station" | *Nia domo havas ruĝan pordon.* – "Our house has a red door." |
| 113 | *mono* | money | *monujo* "purse", *monero* "coin", *poŝmono* "pocket money" | *Mi ne havas sufiĉe da mono.* – "I don't have enough money." |
| 114 | *afero* | thing, matter | *aferisto* "businessperson", *amafero* "love affair", *afereca* "business-like" | *Tio ne estas mia afero.* – "That is not my business." |
| 116 | *amiko* | friend | *amika* "friendly", *amikino* "female friend", *amikeco* "friendship" | *Mia amiko loĝas en Berlino.* – "My friend lives in Berlin." |
| 125 | *laboro* | job, work | *labori* "to work", *laboristo* "worker", *kunlabori* "to collaborate" | *Mi serĉas novan laboron.* – "I am looking for a new job." |
| 133 | *patro* | father | *patrino* "mother", *bopatro* "father-in-law", *prapatro* "forefather" | *Mia patro laboras en banko.* – "My father works in a bank." |
| 138 | *aŭto* | car | *aŭtejo* "garage", *aŭtisto* "driver", *ŝarĝaŭto* "truck, lorry" | *Ni veturas per aŭto.* – "We travel by car." |
| 141 | *vorto* | word | *vortaro* "dictionary", *pasvorto* "password", *vorta* "of words" | *Kiel oni diras tiun vorton en Esperanto?* – "How do you say that word in Esperanto?" |
| 147 | *horo* | hour | *horaro* "timetable", *duonhoro* "half an hour", *kvaronhoro* "quarter of an hour" | *La filmo daŭras du horojn.* – "The film lasts two hours." |
| 154 | *mondo* | world | *tutmonda* "worldwide", *mondoparto* "continent", *mondmilito* "world war" | *Esperanto estas parolata en la tuta mondo.* – "Esperanto is spoken all over the world." |
| 155 | *problemo* | problem, trouble | *problema* "problematic" | *Ne estas problemo!* – "No problem!" |
| 156 | *viro* | man | *vira* "male", *vireco* "virility", *virkato* "tomcat" | *Tiu viro estas kuracisto.* – "That man is a doctor." |
| 157 | *hundo* | dog | *hundino* "female dog", *hundido* "puppy", *hundejo* "kennel" | *La hundo dormas sub la tablo.* – "The dog is sleeping under the table." |
| 165 | *lando* | country, land | *eksterlando* "foreign country", *tutlanda* "nationwide", *landnomo* "country name" | *Kiu estas la plej granda lando en la mondo?* – "Which is the biggest country in the world?" |
| 173 | *patrino* | mother | *bopatrino* "mother-in-law", *prapatrino* "foremother", *duonpatrino* "stepmother" | *Mia patrino kuiras vespermanĝon.* – "My mother is cooking dinner." |
| 174 | *virino* | woman | *virina* "female", *virineco* "femininity", *virinismo* "feminism" | *Tiu virino parolas kvar lingvojn.* – "That woman speaks four languages." |
| 175 | *ĉambro* | room | *dormoĉambro* "bedroom", *banĉambro* "bathroom", *klasĉambro* "classroom" | *Mia ĉambro estas malgranda, sed bela.* – "My room is small but beautiful." |
| 181 | *akvo* | water | *akva* "watery", *akvumi* "to water", *marakvo* "sea water" | *Mi trinkas glason da akvo.* – "I drink a glass of water." |
| 184 | *lernejo* | school | *lerni* "to learn", *lernanto* "pupil", *mezlernejo* "secondary school" | *Mia filino iras al la lernejo.* – "My daughter goes to school." |
| 189 | *urbo* | city, town | *urbano* "city dweller", *urbestro* "mayor", *ĉefurbo* "capital city" | *Parizo estas bela urbo.* – "Paris is a beautiful city." |
| 196 | *frazo* | sentence, phrase | *frazaro* "collection of sentences", *frapfrazo* "slogan", *frazlibro* "phrasebook" | *Ĉi tiu frazo estas tro longa.* – "This sentence is too long." |
| 199 | *nomo* | name | *nomi* "to name", *nomiĝi* "to be called", *familinomo* "surname" | *Kio estas via nomo?* – "What is your name?" |
| 201 | *demando* | question | *demandi* "to ask", *demandaro* "questionnaire", *demandosigno* "question mark" | *Mi havas demandon pri la leciono.* – "I have a question about the lesson." |
| 202 | *kato* | cat | *katino* "female cat", *katido* "kitten", *virkato* "tomcat" | *Nia kato ŝatas dormi sur la lito.* – "Our cat likes to sleep on the bed." |
| 208 | *Dio* | God, god | *dia* "divine", *diino* "goddess", *sendia* "godless" | *Ŝi preĝas al Dio.* – "She prays to God." |
| 217 | *pordo* | door, gate | *pordego* "gate", *pordisto* "doorman", *dompordo* "front door" | *Bonvolu fermi la pordon.* – "Please close the door." |
| 218 | *knabo* | boy | *knabino* "girl", *ŝipknabo* "ship's boy" | *La knabo havas ruĝan pilkon.* – "The boy has a red ball." |
| 221 | *frato* | brother | *fratino* "sister", *gefratoj* "brothers and sisters", *frateco* "brotherhood" | *Mia frato estas pli aĝa ol mi.* – "My brother is older than me." |
| 223 | *okulo* | eye | *okula* "of the eye", *okulisto* "eye doctor", *okulvitroj* "glasses" | *Ŝi havas bluajn okulojn.* – "She has blue eyes." |
| 225 | *mano* | hand | *dekstramana* "right-handed", *maldekstramana* "left-handed", *manpleno* "handful" | *Li tenas libron en la mano.* – "He is holding a book in his hand." |
| 226 | *vero* | truth | *vera* "true", *vere* "really", *malvera* "false" | *Ĉu tio estas la vero?* – "Is that the truth?" |
| 228 | *knabino* | girl | *knabo* "boy" | *La knabino legas fabelon.* – "The girl is reading a fairy tale." |
| 230 | *edzino* | wife | *edzo* "husband", *geedzoj* "married couple", *edziniĝi* "to get married (of a woman)" | *Lia edzino laboras en hospitalo.* – "His wife works in a hospital." |
| 232 | *ideo* | idea | *idearo* "set of ideas", *samideano* "like-minded person" | *Tio estas bona ideo!* – "That is a good idea!" |
| 233 | *instruisto* | teacher | *instrui* "to teach", *instruado* "teaching", *instruejo* "school" | *Nia instruisto parolas tre klare.* – "Our teacher speaks very clearly." |
| 234 | *loko* | place | *loka* "local", *loki* "to put", *translokiĝi* "to move to another place" | *Ĉi tiu loko estas tre trankvila.* – "This place is very quiet." |
| 237 | *filo* | son | *bofilo* "son-in-law", *gefiloj* "sons and daughters", *duonfilo* "stepson" | *Mia filo studas en la universitato.* – "My son studies at the university." |
| 238 | *persono* | person | *persona* "personal", *personaro* "staff", *personeco* "personality" | *En la ĉambro estas dek personoj.* – "There are ten people in the room." |
| 241 | *gepatro* | parent | *patro* "father", *patrino* "mother", *bogepatroj* "parents-in-law" | *Miaj gepatroj loĝas en vilaĝo.* – "My parents live in a village." |
| 242 | *vojo* | way, road | *vojeto* "path", *fervojo* "railway", *aŭtovojo* "motorway" | *Ĉu vi konas la vojon al la stacidomo?* – "Do you know the way to the station?" |
| 254 | *eraro* | mistake, error | *erari* "to make a mistake", *erara* "mistaken", *senerara* "faultless" | *En ĉi tiu frazo estas eraro.* – "There is a mistake in this sentence." |
| 255 | *amo* | love | *ami* "to love", *amanto* "lover", *malamo* "hatred" | *Amo estas pli forta ol timo.* – "Love is stronger than fear." |
| 257 | *letero* | letter | *retletero* "e-mail", *novaĵletero* "newsletter", *leteri* "to write a letter to" | *Mi skribas leteron al mia avino.* – "I am writing a letter to my grandmother." |
| 261 | *fratino* | sister | *frato* "brother", *fratina* "sisterly", *fratineco* "sisterhood" | *Mia fratino ludas pianon.* – "My sister plays the piano." |
| 262 | *arbo* | tree | *arba* "of trees", *arbeto* "bush", *arbaro* "forest" | *Sur la arbo sidas birdo.* – "A bird is sitting on the tree." |
| 269 | *nokto* | night | *nokte* "at night", *noktiĝi* "to get dark", *tranokti* "to spend the night" | *Dum la nokto la urbo estas silenta.* – "At night the city is quiet." |
| 273 | *semajno* | week | *semajna* "weekly", *semajnfino* "weekend" | *La semajno havas sep tagojn.* – "A week has seven days." |
| 276 | *fojo* | time, occasion | *foje* "at times", *unuafoje* "for the first time", *ĉiufoje* "every time" | *Mi vidis tiun filmon du fojojn.* – "I have seen that film twice." |
| 281 | *familio* | family | *familia* "of the family", *familiano* "family member", *familiestro* "head of the family" | *Nia familio estas malgranda.* – "Our family is small." |
| 284 | *Esperanto* | Esperanto (the language) | *esperanta* "of Esperanto", *esperantisto* "Esperantist", *esperante* "in Esperanto" | *Mi parolas Esperanton ĉiutage.* – "I speak Esperanto every day." |
| 292 | *kafo* | coffee | *kafejo* "café", *kafumi* "to have coffee with others", *kafkruĉo* "coffee pot" | *Ĉu vi volas kafon aŭ teon?* – "Do you want coffee or tea?" |
| 294 | *kuracisto* | doctor | *kuraci* "to treat (a patient)", *bestkuracisto* "vet", *infankuracisto* "children's doctor" | *Li iris al la kuracisto, ĉar li estis malsana.* – "He went to the doctor because he was ill." |
| 298 | *helpo* | help, aid | *helpi* "to help", *helpanto* "helper", *malhelpi* "to hinder" | *Mi bezonas vian helpon.* – "I need your help." |
| 299 | *tablo* | table | *tableto* "small table", *skribtablo* "desk", *labortablo* "work table" | *La libro estas sur la tablo.* – "The book is on the table." |
| 301 | *fenestro* | window | *fenestreto* "small window", *montrofenestro* "shop window" | *El mia fenestro mi vidas la maron.* – "From my window I can see the sea." |
| 305 | *filmo* | film, movie | *filmi* "to film", *filmeto* "short clip", *desegnofilmo* "cartoon" | *Ni rigardas interesan filmon.* – "We are watching an interesting film." |
| 307 | *trajno* | train | *trajni* "to go by train", *rapidtrajno* "express train", *eltrajniĝi* "to get off a train" | *La trajno al Varsovio foriras je la kvina.* – "The train to Warsaw leaves at five o'clock." |
| 310 | *koro* | heart | *kora* "heartfelt", *bonkora* "kind-hearted", *senkora* "heartless" | *Mia koro batas rapide.* – "My heart is beating fast." |
| 312 | *tero* | earth, ground | *tera* "earthly", *terpomo* "potato", *alteriĝi* "to land" | *La infanoj sidas sur la tero.* – "The children are sitting on the ground." |
| 317 | *sinjoro* | Mr, sir, gentleman | *sinjorino* "lady", *gesinjoroj* "ladies and gentlemen" | *Pardonu, sinjoro, kie estas la stacidomo?* – "Excuse me, sir, where is the station?" |
| 323 | *opinio* | opinion | *opinii* "to think, to hold an opinion", *miaopinie* "in my opinion", *samopinii* "to share an opinion" | *Kia estas via opinio pri tiu libro?* – "What is your opinion of that book?" |
| 328 | *morto* | death | *morti* "to die", *morta* "deadly", *mortinto* "dead person" | *Li ne timas la morton.* – "He is not afraid of death." |
| 331 | *minuto* | minute | *minute* "for a minute", *ĉiuminute* "every minute", *lumminuto* "light-minute" | *Atendu minuton, bonvolu.* – "Wait a minute, please." |
| 332 | *strato* | street | *ĉefstrato* "main street", *sakstrato* "dead end", *stratangulo* "street corner" | *Mi loĝas en trankvila strato.* – "I live on a quiet street." |
| 335 | *floro* | flower | *flori* "to bloom", *florejo* "flower bed", *sunfloro* "sunflower" | *Ŝi donis al mi ruĝan floron.* – "She gave me a red flower." |
| 342 | *filino* | daughter | *filo* "son", *bofilino* "daughter-in-law", *duonfilino* "stepdaughter" | *Nia filino lernas naĝi.* – "Our daughter is learning to swim." |
| 344 | *monato* | month | *monata* "monthly", *mielmonato* "honeymoon" | *Septembro estas la naŭa monato.* – "September is the ninth month." |
| 345 | *kapo* | head | *kapdoloro* "headache", *kapkuseno* "pillow", *kapjesi* "to nod" | *Mi havas doloron en la kapo.* – "I have a pain in my head." |
| 351 | *muziko* | music | *muzika* "musical", *muzikisto* "musician", *muzikilo* "musical instrument" | *Ŝi aŭskultas muzikon ĉiuvespere.* – "She listens to music every evening." |
| 352 | *ĝardeno* | garden | *ĝardenisto* "gardener", *infanĝardeno* "kindergarten", *bestoĝardeno* "zoo" | *En nia ĝardeno kreskas pomarbo.* – "An apple tree grows in our garden." |
| 354 | *besto* | animal | *bestaro* "fauna", *dombesto* "domestic animal", *rabobesto* "predator" | *Kiun beston vi plej ŝatas?* – "Which animal do you like best?" |
| 355 | *festo* | celebration, party | *festi* "to celebrate", *festa* "festive" | *Ĉiuj amikoj venis al la festo.* – "All the friends came to the party." |
| 357 | *historio* | history | *historia* "historical", *historiisto* "historian", *prahistorio* "prehistory" | *Mi ŝatas legi pri la historio de Eŭropo.* – "I like reading about the history of Europe." |
| 358 | *ĉielo* | sky, heaven | *ĉielarko* "rainbow", *ĉielblua* "sky blue", *ĉielskrapanto* "skyscraper" | *La ĉielo estas hodiaŭ tre blua.* – "The sky is very blue today." |
| 363 | *manĝaĵo* | food | *manĝi* "to eat", *manĝo* "meal", *matenmanĝo* "breakfast" | *Ĉi tiu manĝaĵo estas tre bongusta.* – "This food is very tasty." |
| 367 | *rivero* | river | *rivereto* "stream", *riverego* "large river" | *La rivero fluas tra la urbo.* – "The river flows through the city." |
| 368 | *respondo* | answer | *respondi* "to answer", *respondeci* "to be responsible", *respondeco* "responsibility" | *Via respondo estas ĝusta.* – "Your answer is correct." |
| 371 | *maniero* | manner, way | *sammaniere* "in the same way", *alimaniere* "in another way", *vivmaniero* "way of life" | *Ĉiu havas sian manieron lerni.* – "Everyone has their own way of learning." |
| 374 | *studento* | student (at a university) | *studi* "to study", *studado* "studying", *kunstudento* "fellow student" | *Mi estas studento en Vieno.* – "I am a student in Vienna." |
| 376 | *milito* | war | *militi* "to wage war", *milita* "of war", *militisto* "soldier" | *Nenio estas pli malbona ol milito.* – "Nothing is worse than war." |
| 378 | *birdo* | bird | *birdido* "chick", *birdaro* "flock of birds", *kortobirdo* "farm bird" | *La birdoj kantas en la arbo.* – "The birds are singing in the tree." |
| 380 | *situacio* | situation | *situacia* "of the situation" | *La situacio estas tre malfacila.* – "The situation is very difficult." |
| 381 | *vetero* | weather | *misvetero* "bad weather", *veterprognozo* "weather forecast" | *Kia estas la vetero hodiaŭ?* – "What is the weather like today?" |
| 383 | *suno* | sun | *sunsubiro* "sunset", *sunleviĝo* "sunrise", *sunumi* "to sunbathe" | *La suno brilas, kaj ni iras al la maro.* – "The sun is shining and we are going to the sea." |
| 389 | *arbaro* | forest | *arbo* "tree", *pluvarbaro* "rainforest", *praarbaro* "primeval forest" | *Ni promenas tra la arbaro.* – "We are walking through the forest." |
| 391 | *momento* | moment | *momenta* "momentary", *momente* "in a moment", *lastmomente* "at the last moment" | *Atendu momenton, mi tuj revenos.* – "Wait a moment, I will be right back." |
| 392 | *danko* | thanks | *danki* "to thank", *dankema* "grateful", *sendanka* "thankless" | *Mil dankojn por via helpo!* – "A thousand thanks for your help!" |
| 396 | *parto* | part | *parte* "partly", *partopreni* "to take part", *plejparte* "for the most part" | *Ĉi tiu parto de la urbo estas tre malnova.* – "This part of the city is very old." |
| 398 | *plano* | plan | *plani* "to plan", *laborplano* "work plan" | *Kio estas via plano por morgaŭ?* – "What is your plan for tomorrow?" |
| 402 | *edzo* | husband | *edzino* "wife", *geedzoj* "married couple", *edziĝi* "to get married (of a man)" | *Ŝia edzo estas inĝeniero.* – "Her husband is an engineer." |
| 405 | *celo* | goal, aim, purpose | *celi* "to aim", *sencela* "pointless", *vivcelo* "purpose in life" | *Mia celo estas lerni Esperanton.* – "My goal is to learn Esperanto." |
| 411 | *vizaĝo* | face | *vizaĝesprimo* "facial expression", *vizaĝalvizaĝe* "face to face" | *Li lavis sian vizaĝon.* – "He washed his face." |

Most families use a suffix or a prefix on the root: *dom·et·o* "cottage" is "house + small" and *bo·patr·o* "father-in-law" is "in-law + father". Others join two roots: *dormo·ĉambro* "bedroom". The same root also gives words of other classes, such as the verb *vivi* and the adjective *viva* next to *vivo*. The rules are on [word building](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/word-building/).

## Nouns from verbs and adjectives

A root has no word class of its own; the ending decides. So eight of the 100 nouns share their root with one of the [100 most common verbs](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/common-verbs/):

| Noun | Verb with the same root |
|---|---|
| *vivo* "life" (95) | *vivi* "to live" (129) |
| *laboro* "work, job" (125) | *labori* "to work" (126) |
| *demando* "question" (201) | *demandi* "to ask" (188) |
| *amo* "love" (255) | *ami* "to love" (145) |
| *helpo* "help" (298) | *helpi* "to help" (110) |
| *opinio* "opinion" (323) | *opinii* "to think, to hold an opinion" (170) |
| *morto* "death" (328) | *morti* "to die" (182) |
| *respondo* "answer" (368) | *respondi* "to answer" (271) |

A few more pairs sit further down the list: *nomo* and *nomi* "to name" (372), *eraro* and *erari* "to err" (633), *danko* and *danki* "to thank" (635), *celo* and *celi* "to aim" (706), *plano* and *plani* "to plan" (721).

These endings make new nouns from verbs and adjectives:

| Ending | What it names | Examples | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| *-o* on a verb root | the action itself | *labori* → *laboro* | "to work" → "work, job" |
| *-ado* | an action that goes on or repeats | *skribi* → *skribado* | "to write" → "writing (the process)" |
| *-aĵo* | a concrete thing linked to an action or a quality | *skribi* → *skribaĵo*; *manĝi* → *manĝaĵo*; *nova* → *novaĵo* | "a piece of writing"; "food"; "news" |
| *-eco* | the quality or state that an adjective describes | *bela* → *beleco*; *libera* → *libereco* | "beautiful" → "beauty"; "free" → "freedom" |
| *-ulo* | a person with that quality | *riĉa* → *riĉulo*; *blinda* → *blindulo* | "rich" → "rich person"; "blind" → "blind person" |

PMEG gives a rule of thumb: *-eco* always names a quality or a state, while *-aĵo* usually names a concrete thing. So *beleco* is "being beautiful" and *belaĵo* is "something beautiful". All suffixes are on [suffixes](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/suffixes/).

## 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. Plural *-j* and accusative *-n* are removed, so *libro*, *libroj* and *libron* count together under *libro*; the method is on the [common words](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/common-words/) page.

- **359 of the 1,000 entries are nouns** (35.9%). Their `per_million` values add up to 86,593 per million, so nouns are **8.7% of all words** in the corpus. Verbs make up 17.6%.
- **8 of the 100 most common words are nouns**, and 62 of the first 300.
- **The 100 most frequent nouns** sit at ranks 55 to 411 of the list. Their `per_million` values add up to 52,217, which is **5.2% of all words** and 60.3% of all noun occurrences covered by the list.
- **The first 10, 20 and 50 nouns** make up 1.3%, 2.2% and 3.8% of all words. *Homo* alone makes up 0.2%.

The word classes come from the endings: an entry ending in *-o* counts as a noun, except grammar words such as *kio* and *tio*, which count as correlatives. A derived noun is counted separately, so *patro* and *patrino* are two nouns. Names written with a capital letter (*Maria*, *Parizo*) were left out, except *Esperanto* and *Dio*. 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 nouns in Esperanto?

In our list the ten most frequent nouns are *homo*, *tempo*, *libro*, *infano*, *jaro*, *lingvo*, *vivo*, *tago*, *domo* and *mono*. Together they make up 1.3% of all words in the Tatoeba corpus.

### How many Esperanto nouns do I need to know?

The 20 most frequent nouns cover 2.2% of all words in our corpus, the 50 most frequent cover 3.8% and the 100 most frequent cover 5.2%. Nouns are 8.7% of all words in total, because the same few grammar words and verbs come back in every sentence: grammar words alone make up 44.4%. For the other word classes, see the [1,000-word list](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/common-words/).

### How do you form the plural of an Esperanto noun?

Add *-j* to the noun: *libro* → *libroj*. For the object, add *-n* after it: *librojn*. All nouns follow this rule, and the article *la* does not change.

### Do Esperanto nouns have gender?

No. Esperanto has no grammatical gender. Most words for people, such as *amiko* "friend", say nothing about sex, and the suffix *-in-* makes the female form of roots that are male by meaning: *patro* "father" → *patrino* "mother".

### How do you make a noun from a verb or an adjective in Esperanto?

Change the ending: *labori* "to work" → *laboro* "work". For a continuing action add *-ad-* (*skribado*), for a concrete thing *-aĵ-* (*manĝaĵo*), for a quality *-ec-* (*beleco*) and for a person with a quality *-ul-* (*riĉulo*). See [suffixes](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/suffixes/).

## 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): entries such as [domo](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/dom.html), [patro](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/patr.html), [knabo](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/knab.html), [studi](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/stud.html) and [skribi](https://reta-vortaro.de/revo/art/skrib.html), read on 8 October 2026; the meanings of the family words are shortened from ReVo
- PMEG: [Bazaj reguloj por O-vortoj](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/o-vortoj/bazaj_reguloj.html), [Seksa signifo de O-vortoj](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/o-vortoj/seksa_signifo.html), and the suffix pages [AD](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/vortfarado/afiksoj/sufiksoj/ad.html), [AĴ](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/vortfarado/afiksoj/sufiksoj/ajh.html) and [EC](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/vortfarado/afiksoj/sufiksoj/ec.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