# Esperanto lesson 3: adjectives, colours and negation

Source: https://esperantopedia.org/learn/course/lesson-03/
Language: en
Updated: 2026-10-08

> Esperanto adjectives end in -a and take -j with plural nouns: bela tago, belaj tagoj. Learn 12 colours, weather words, tre "very" and ne "not".

In this lesson you learn to describe things. Esperanto adjectives end in *-a*, and they add *-j* when their noun is plural: *bela tago* "a beautiful day", *belaj tagoj* "beautiful days". You will also learn twelve colours, a few weather words, *tre* "very" and *ne* "not" – and a first look at *mal-*, the prefix that turns a word into its opposite.

## Dialogue

It is October. In Kraków autumn has started; in São Paulo it is spring.

| Esperanto | English |
|---|---|
| **Ana:** Saluton, Tomo! Kia estas la vetero en Krakovo? | Hi, Tomo! What's the weather like in Kraków? |
| **Tomo:** Ne bona. La ĉielo estas griza, kaj la vento estas forta. | Not good. The sky is grey and the wind is strong. |
| **Ana:** Ho ne! Ĉi tie la ĉielo estas tute blua. | Oh no! Here the sky is completely blue. |
| **Tomo:** Vere? | Really? |
| **Ana:** Jes! En Brazilo nun estas printempo. La tagoj estas longaj kaj varmaj. | Yes! It's spring in Brazil now. The days are long and warm. |
| **Tomo:** Kaj ĉi tie estas aŭtuno. La tagoj estas mallongaj kaj malvarmaj. | And here it's autumn. The days are short and cold. |
| **Ana:** Ho, kompatinda Tomo! | Oh, poor Tomo! |
| **Tomo:** Sed la aŭtuno ankaŭ estas bela. La folioj estas flavaj, oranĝaj kaj ruĝaj. | But autumn is beautiful too. The leaves are yellow, orange and red. |
| **Ana:** Kiel bele! En San-Paŭlo la folioj ĉiam estas verdaj. | How lovely! In São Paulo the leaves are always green. |
| **Tomo:** Verdaj folioj kaj blua ĉielo… Mi tre envias vin! | Green leaves and a blue sky… I'm so jealous! |
| **Ana:** Ha ha! Sed San-Paŭlo ne estas trankvila urbo. Ĝi estas tre granda kaj tre brua. | Ha ha! But São Paulo isn't a quiet city. It's very big and very noisy. |
| **Tomo:** Krakovo ne estas tiel granda, sed ĝi estas malnova kaj tre bela. | Kraków isn't so big, but it's old and very beautiful. |
| **Ana:** Malnovaj urboj estas tre belaj! | Old towns are very beautiful! |

*Kia…?* means "what kind of…?" or "what… like?". You will meet it again in the table of question words in Lesson 11.

## New words

| Esperanto | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| *bela* | beautiful, nice | adjective |
| *bona* | good | *bone* "well" |
| *granda* | big, large | |
| *longa* | long | *mallonga* "short" |
| *varma* | warm | *malvarma* "cold" |
| *nova* | new | *malnova* "old" (for things) |
| *forta* | strong | |
| *trankvila* | quiet, calm | |
| *brua* | noisy | from *bruo* "noise" |
| *kompatinda* | poor (to be pitied) | *kompatinda Tomo!* "poor Tomo!" |
| *envii* | to envy | *Mi envias vin.* "I envy you." (*vin*: Lesson 5) |
| *vetero* | weather | noun |
| *ĉielo* | sky | |
| *vento* | wind | |
| *folio* | leaf; sheet of paper | |
| *urbo* | town, city | |
| *printempo* | spring | |
| *aŭtuno* | autumn, fall | |
| *tre* | very | |
| *tute* | completely, totally | |
| *ne* | not; no | |
| *tiel* | so, that | *ne tiel granda* "not so big" |
| *ĉiam* | always | |
| *nun* | now | |
| *en* | in | *en Brazilo* "in Brazil" (Lesson 9) |
| *feliĉa* | happy | |
| *vere* | really, truly | |

## Grammar

### Adjectives end in *-a*

Every Esperanto adjective ends in *-a*: *bela, granda, varma*. It can stand before or after its noun – *bela tago* and *tago bela* both mean "a beautiful day" – but before the noun is more common. Details are on the [nouns and adjectives](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/nouns-adjectives/) page.

### Agreement: plural nouns, plural adjectives

When a noun is plural, its adjective adds *-j* too. This also applies after *estas*: in *La tagoj estas longaj*, the adjective describes *la tagoj*, so it takes *-j*.

| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| *bela tago* – a beautiful day | *belaj tagoj* – beautiful days |
| *la granda urbo* – the big city | *la grandaj urboj* – the big cities |
| *La folio estas flava.* – The leaf is yellow. | *La folioj estas flavaj.* – The leaves are yellow. |
| *mia malnova foto* – my old photo | *miaj malnovaj fotoj* – my old photos |

Pronouns count too: *Ni estas feliĉaj* – "We are happy" – because *ni* is plural. With *vi*, think of how many people you mean: *Vi estas feliĉa* (one person), *Vi estas feliĉaj* (several).

:::ending Make them agree
- o oj a aj
? beautiful days
= bel[aj] tag[oj]
? The leaves are yellow.
= La foli[oj] estas flav[aj].
? my old photo
= mia malnov[a] fot[o]
? We are happy.
= Ni estas feliĉ[aj].
? The city is very noisy.
= La urb[o] estas tre bru[a].
:::

### Colours

Colours are ordinary adjectives, so they agree too: *ruĝa folio*, *ruĝaj folioj*. The [colours](https://esperantopedia.org/phrases/colors/) page lists more shades.

| Esperanto | English | Esperanto | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| *ruĝa* | red | *bruna* | brown |
| *oranĝa* | orange | *griza* | grey |
| *flava* | yellow | *nigra* | black |
| *verda* | green | *blanka* | white |
| *blua* | blue | *roza* | pink |
| *viola* | purple | *ora* | golden |

:::match Colours
ruĝa = red
flava = yellow
verda = green
blua = blue
nigra = black
blanka = white
:::

### *Tre* "very" and *ne* "not"

*Tre* goes before an adjective or adverb: *tre bela* "very beautiful", *tre bone* "very well". *Ne* goes right before the word it negates, usually the verb: *La ĉielo ne estas blua* – "The sky is not blue". *Ne* also means "no": *Ne, la vetero ne estas bona*. See [questions and negation](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/questions-negation/).

:::order Build the sentence
? The days are not long.
= La tagoj ne estas longaj.
- longa
? Old towns are very beautiful.
= Malnovaj urboj estas tre belaj.
- bela
? The sky is not grey.
= La ĉielo ne estas griza.
- grizaj
:::

### A first look at *mal-*

The prefix *mal-* gives the exact opposite. One root plus *mal-* saves you learning a second word. You will learn more word-building tricks in [Lesson 10](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/course/lesson-10/).

| Word | Opposite with *mal-* |
|---|---|
| *varma* – warm | *malvarma* – cold |
| *longa* – long | *mallonga* – short |
| *nova* – new | *malnova* – old |
| *bona* – good | *malbona* – bad |
| *granda* – big | *malgranda* – small |

:::write Opposites with mal-
? the opposite of *granda* "big"
= malgranda
? the opposite of *bona* "good"
= malbona
? the opposite of *longa* "long"
= mallonga
! malonga → Keep both l's: *mal* + *longa* = *mallonga*.
? the opposite of *varma* "warm"
= malvarma
:::

## Practice

:::quiz Lesson 3 practice
? Choose the correct form: *La folioj estas ___.*
- *flava*
- *flavaj* *
- *flavoj*
? Translate: "a beautiful day"
= bela tago | tago bela
? Which word means "cold"?
- *varma*
- *malvarma* *
- *malnova*
? Translate: "The sky is not blue."
= La ĉielo ne estas blua
? Which ending marks an adjective?
- -o
- -a *
- -j
? Translate: "green leaves"
= {verdaj} {folioj}
? What does *tre bela* mean?
- "very beautiful" *
- "three beautiful"
- "not beautiful"
? Make it plural: *granda urbo*
= grandaj urboj
? Translate: "The days are long and warm."
= La tagoj estas longaj kaj varmaj
:::

## Culture corner

Green is the colour of Esperanto. The Esperanto flag – green with a white square holding a green five-pointed star – was adopted at the first World Esperanto Congress in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, in 1905. Green traditionally stands for hope, and the five points for the five continents. Keen speakers are even nicknamed *verduloj* – "green ones"; read more about the [flag and symbols](https://esperantopedia.org/about/flag-symbols/).

## Common questions

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

Either. *Bela tago* and *tago bela* mean the same, but before the noun is more common. Endings show which word is which, so the order is free.

### Do adjectives always agree with nouns?

Yes. An adjective takes *-j* with a plural noun and, as you will see in [Lesson 5](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/course/lesson-05/), *-n* when the noun takes *-n*. Possessives like *mia* follow the same rule.

### How do you say "old" for people?

*Malnova* is for things: *malnova urbo* "an old town". For people and animals, use *maljuna* "old" – the opposite of *juna* "young". *Malnova amiko* is "an old friend" in the sense "a friend for many years".

## Sources

- [Fundamento de Esperanto – grammar in English (rule 3, adjectives)](https://www.akademio-de-esperanto.org/fundamento/gramatiko_angla.html)
- [PMEG: A-vortoj – bazaj reguloj (adjectives)](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/a-vortoj/bazaj_reguloj.html)
- [PMEG: Nombro ĉe A-vortoj (agreement in number)](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/unu-nombro_multe-nombro/uzado/a-vortoj.html)
- [PMEG: Neado (negation)](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/neado.html)
- [PMEG: MAL](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/vortfarado/afiksoj/prefiksoj/mal.html)
- [Wikipedia: Esperanto symbols](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto_symbols)
- [Vikipedio: Esperanto-flago](https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto-flago)