# Esperanto lesson 9: prepositions, places and directions

Source: https://esperantopedia.org/learn/course/lesson-09/
Language: en
Updated: 2026-10-08

> En la parko is "in the park", en la parkon is "into the park". Learn Esperanto prepositions, direction with -n, places in town and how to ask the way.

In this lesson you learn to say where things are and where people go. You will meet about twenty prepositions – *en* "in", *sur* "on", *apud* "next to", *inter* "between" – and one clever rule: after *en*, *sur* and similar words, *-n* shows movement towards a place. *Mi promenas en la parko* is "I'm walking in the park"; *Mi iras en la parkon* is "I'm going into the park". You will also ask the way and understand the answer.

## Dialogue

The congress excursion day. Ana and Tomo explore the old town on their own.

| Esperanto | English |
|---|---|
| **Tomo:** Kien ni iras nun? Al la muzeo aŭ en la parkon? | Where are we going now? To the museum or into the park? |
| **Ana:** Unue al la muzeo, poste en la parkon. | First to the museum, then into the park. |
| **Tomo:** Bone. Sed kie estas la muzeo? | Fine. But where is the museum? |
| **Ana:** Mi ne scias. Mi demandos tiun sinjorinon. | I don't know. I'll ask that lady. |
| **Ana:** Pardonu, sinjorino, kie estas la urba muzeo? | Excuse me, madam, where is the city museum? |
| **Sinjorino:** Ĝi estas apud la katedralo, sur la granda placo. | It's next to the cathedral, on the big square. |
| **Tomo:** Kaj kiel ni iras tien? | And how do we get there? |
| **Sinjorino:** Vi iras rekte ĝis la ponto, poste dekstren. Post la ponto vi vidos la placon. | You go straight on to the bridge, then right. After the bridge you'll see the square. |
| **Ana:** Ĉu ĝi estas malproksime? | Is it far? |
| **Sinjorino:** Ne. Piede vi bezonos nur dek minutojn. | No. On foot you'll need only ten minutes. |
| **Ana:** Koran dankon! | Many thanks! |
| **Tomo:** Jen la placo! Kaj la muzeo estas inter la katedralo kaj la kafejo. | Here's the square! And the museum is between the cathedral and the café. |
| **Ana:** Kafejo! Unue mi iras en la kafejon, poste en la muzeon! | A café! First I'm going into the café, then into the museum! |
| **Tomo:** Ana kaj kafo – ĉiam kune! | Ana and coffee – always together! |

## New words

| Esperanto | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| *muzeo* | museum | |
| *parko* | park | |
| *katedralo* | cathedral | *preĝejo* "church" |
| *placo* | square (in a town) | |
| *ponto* | bridge | |
| *strato* | street | |
| *stacidomo* | railway station | *stacio* "station" + *domo* "building" |
| *kafejo* | café | *kafo* + *-ej-* "place" |
| *hotelo* | hotel | |
| *butiko* | shop | |
| *scii* | to know (a fact) | *Mi ne scias.* "I don't know." |
| *demandi* | to ask | |
| *bezoni* | to need | |
| *urba* | city, municipal | from *urbo* |
| *rekte* | straight on | |
| *dekstre* | on the right | *dekstren* "to the right" |
| *maldekstre* | on the left | *maldekstren* "to the left" |
| *proksime* | near, close | *malproksime* "far" |
| *piede* | on foot | from *piedo* "foot" |
| *unue* | first, firstly | from *unu* "one" |
| *kune* | together | |
| *tiu* | that (one) | *tiu sinjorino* "that lady" |
| *kien* | where to | *kie* + direction *-n* |
| *tien* | (to) there | *tie* + direction *-n* |
| *koran dankon* | many thanks | literally "a hearty thanks" |
| *promeni* | to walk, to go for a walk | *Mi promenas en la parko.* |
| *salti* | to jump | |
| *tablo* | table | |
| *sidi* | to sit, to be sitting | |
| *eniri* | to go in, to enter | *en* "in" + *iri* "to go" |
| *turniĝi* | to turn (change direction) | *Turniĝu dekstren!* "Turn right!" (*-iĝ-*: Lesson 10; commands: Lesson 11) |

## Grammar

### Common prepositions

A preposition shows where something is or how things relate. Esperanto has 33 of them; these are the ones you need first. See the [prepositions](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/prepositions/) page for all of them.

| Esperanto | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| *en* | in | *en la parko* – in the park |
| *sur* | on | *sur la placo* – on the square |
| *sub* | under | *sub la ponto* – under the bridge |
| *apud* | next to | *apud la katedralo* – next to the cathedral |
| *inter* | between | *inter la muzeo kaj la kafejo* |
| *antaŭ* | in front of; before | *antaŭ la hotelo* – in front of the hotel |
| *malantaŭ* | behind | *malantaŭ la muzeo* – behind the museum |
| *post* | after; behind | *post la ponto* – after the bridge |
| *ĉe* | at | *ĉe Tomo* – at Tomo's |
| *al* | to, towards | *al la muzeo* – to the museum |
| *de* | from; of | *de la stacidomo* – from the station |
| *el* | out of, from | *el la kafejo* – out of the café |
| *ĝis* | as far as, until | *ĝis la ponto* – as far as the bridge |
| *tra* | through | *tra la parko* – through the park |
| *ĉirkaŭ* | around | *ĉirkaŭ la placo* – around the square |
| *kun* | with | *kun Ana* – with Ana |
| *sen* | without | *sen kafo* – without coffee |
| *por* | for | *por Tomo* – for Tomo |
| *pri* | about | *pri la urbo* – about the town |

After a preposition, a noun normally has no *-n*: *kun pano*, *en la parko*.

:::match Prepositions
en = in
sur = on
sub = under
apud = next to
inter = between
malantaŭ = behind
:::

### Direction: preposition + *-n*

With prepositions of place such as *en*, *sur*, *sub* and *antaŭ*, the ending *-n* shows movement *to* a place. Without *-n*, the action happens *at* that place. This is the one exception to "no *-n* after prepositions"; the [accusative](https://esperantopedia.org/grammar/accusative/) page explains it in full.

| Position (no *-n*) | Direction (with *-n*) |
|---|---|
| *Mi promenas en la parko.* – I'm walking in the park. | *Mi iras en la parkon.* – I'm going into the park. |
| *La kato saltas sur la tablo.* – The cat is jumping (around) on the table. | *La kato saltas sur la tablon.* – The cat jumps onto the table. |
| *Ana sidas en la kafejo.* – Ana is sitting in the café. | *Ana eniras en la kafejon.* – Ana goes into the café. |

Mi promenas en la parko. | I'm walking in the park.
Mi iras en la parkon. | I'm going into the park.
La kato saltas sur la tablo. | The cat is jumping (around) on the table.
La kato saltas sur la tablon. | The cat jumps onto the table.

### *Al*, *ĝis* and *el* need no *-n*

Some prepositions already show movement, so they never take *-n*: *al la muzeo* "to the museum", *ĝis la ponto* "as far as the bridge", *el la kafejo* "out of the café". *Al* tells you the goal; *en …-n* tells you that you go inside.

| Esperanto | English |
|---|---|
| *Ni iras al la muzeo.* | We're going to the museum (towards it). |
| *Ni iras en la muzeon.* | We're going into the museum. |
| *Ni venas el la muzeo.* | We're coming out of the museum. |

:::ending Place or direction?
- o on
? I'm walking in the park.
= Mi promenas en la park[o].
? I'm going into the park.
= Mi iras en la park[on].
? The cat jumps onto the table.
= La kato saltas sur la tabl[on].
? The book is on the table.
= La libro estas sur la tabl[o].
? We're going to the museum.
= Ni iras al la muze[o].
! muzeon → *Al* already shows direction, so the noun after it takes no -n.
:::

### Direction adverbs: *-en*

Adverbs of place take *-n* for direction too: *hejme* "at home" → *hejmen* "home(wards)", *dekstre* "on the right" → *dekstren* "to the right", *kie* "where" → *kien* "where to", *tie* "there" → *tien* "(to) there".

| Esperanto | English |
|---|---|
| *Kie vi estas? – Hejme.* | Where are you? – At home. |
| *Kien vi iras? – Hejmen.* | Where are you going? – Home. |
| *Turniĝu dekstren.* | Turn right. |

:::write Where or where to?
? *Ana estas ___.* "Ana is at home."
= hejme
? *Ana iras ___.* "Ana is going home."
= hejmen
? *La hotelo estas ___.* "The hotel is on the left."
= maldekstre
? *Turniĝu ___!* "Turn right!"
= dekstren
? *Ni iras ___.* "We're going there."
= tien
:::

## Practice

:::quiz Lesson 9 practice
? What does *Mi iras en la parkon* mean?
- "I'm walking in the park."
- "I'm going into the park." *
- "I'm leaving the park."
? Choose: *La kato saltas ___* ("onto the table").
- *sur la tablo*
- *sur la tablon* *
- *al la tablon*
? Choose: *Ni iras ___* ("to the museum").
- *al la muzeo* *
- *al la muzeon*
- *en la muzeo*
? Translate: "The museum is next to the cathedral."
= La muzeo estas apud la katedralo
? Which preposition means "between"?
- *inter* *
- *sub*
- *tra*
? Translate with one question word for "where to": "Where are you going?"
= Kien vi iras
? Translate: "I'm going home."
= Mi iras hejmen
? Choose: *La libro estas ___* ("on the table").
- *sur la tablo* *
- *sur la tablon*
- *al la tablo*
? Translate: "after the bridge"
= post la ponto
:::

## Culture corner

Hundreds of streets, parks and bridges around the world are named after Esperanto's creator, Zamenhof – from Poland and Lithuania to Israel and Brazil. In Vienna you can visit the Esperanto Museum of the Austrian National Library, founded in 1927 by Hugo Steiner and housed in the Palais Mollard since 2005. Read more about [L. L. Zamenhof](https://esperantopedia.org/about/zamenhof/).

## Common questions

### What is the difference between *al la parko* and *en la parkon*?

*Al la parko* means "to the park" – towards it, maybe only to the gate. *En la parkon* means "into the park" – you end up inside. Both describe movement.

### Does *en* always mean "in"?

Yes, for place: *en la urbo* "in the town". With *-n* it means "into". Esperanto uses *en* also for times like *en Julio* "in July" and *en 1887* "in 1887".

### Why is it *dek minutojn* with *-n* in the dialogue?

Because *dek minutojn* is the object of *bezonos* "will need". It is the same accusative you learned in [Lesson 5](https://esperantopedia.org/learn/course/lesson-05/).

## Sources

- [Fundamento de Esperanto – grammar in English (rules 8, 13, 14)](https://www.akademio-de-esperanto.org/fundamento/gramatiko_angla.html)
- [PMEG: Rolvortetoj (prepositions)](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/rolmontriloj/rolvortetoj/index.html)
- [PMEG: N-finaĵo por direkto (direction)](https://bertilow.com/pmeg/gramatiko/rolmontriloj/n/direkto.html)
- [Wikipedia: L. L. Zamenhof (places named after him)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._L._Zamenhof)
- [Wikipedia (de): Esperantomuseum](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperantomuseum)
- [Austrian National Library: Esperanto Museum](https://www.onb.ac.at/en/museums/esperanto-museum)