Esperanto lesson 11: requests, imperative and conditional

In this lesson you learn to ask for things politely. The ending -u makes commands and wishes – Venu! "Come!", Ni iru! "Let's go!" – and bonvolu plus an infinitive means "please do…". The ending -us makes the conditional: Mi ŝatus kafon "I would like a coffee", Se mi povus, mi restus "If I could, I would stay". Finally, you will see the whole table of correlatives, the 45 words built from ki-, ti-, i-, ĉi- and neni-.

#Dialogue

The last evening of the congress. Ana, Tomo and Keiko have dinner in a small restaurant.

#New words

#Grammar

#The imperative: -u

The ending -u expresses a command, a request or a wish. With vi left out, it is a direct command: Venu! "Come!", Atendu! "Wait!". With ni, it means "let's": Ni iru! "Let's go!". With li, ŝi or ili, it means "let him / her / them…". The verbs page covers all six verb endings.

The -u form also follows ke after verbs of wanting and asking: Mi volas, ke vi venu – "I want you to come".

#Polite requests

A bare imperative can sound abrupt. Esperanto has three easy ways to soften it.

Bonvolu is the -u form of bonvoli "to be so kind as to", from bona "good" + voli "to want". Answer Dankon! with Ne dankinde! – "Don't mention it!". More everyday expressions are on the basic phrases page.

Polite requests

Put the words in the right order.

1. Please give us the menu.

   Words: doni al donu ni bonvolu la menuon

   Answer

   Bonvolu doni al ni la menuon.Also correct: Bonvolu doni la menuon al ni.

2. Could you recommend something tasty?

   Words: ion bongusta ĉu rekomendi vi bongustan povus

   Answer

   Ĉu vi povus rekomendi ion bongustan?

3. Wait, please!

   Words: atendi mi atendu petas

   Answer

   Atendu, mi petas!Also correct: Mi petas, atendu!

#The conditional: -us

The ending -us expresses something imagined or not real – English "would". It is also the polite way to say what you want: Mi ŝatus "I would like". When an if-sentence is about something imagined, both verbs take -us. For real possibilities use the normal tenses: Se pluvos, mi restos hejme – "If it rains, I'll stay at home".

Command or "would"?

Choose the right ending.

1. Come!

   Ven!

   Ending for Ven-

   -as-us-u
   Answer

   Venu!

2. Let's go!

   Ni ir!

   Ending for ir-

   -as-us-u
   Answer

   Ni iru!

3. I would like a coffee.

   Mi ŝat kafon.

   Ending for ŝat-

   -as-us-u
   Answer

   Mi ŝatus kafon.

4. If I could, I would stay.

   Se mi 1pov, mi 2rest.

   Ending for pov-

   1pov--as-us-u

   Ending for rest-

   2rest--as-us-u
   Answer

   Se mi povus, mi restus.

5. Please sit down.

   Bonvol sidiĝi.

   Ending for Bonvol-

   -as-us-u
   Answer

   Bonvolu sidiĝi.

#All six verb endings

You now know every verb ending in Esperanto. Each one works the same way for every verb and every person.

#The table of correlatives

In Lesson 7 you learned seven question words in ki-. They are part of a table of 45 words. Each word combines a beginning (the row) with an ending (the column), so you can work out any word from the table. The correlatives page explains each one with examples.

ki- + -u = kiu

	-u who, which	-o thing	-a kind	-es whose	-e place	-am time	-al reason	-el way	-om amount
ki- question	kiu	kio	kia	kies	kie	kiam	kial	kiel	kiom
ti- that	tiu	tio	tia	ties	tie	tiam	tial	tiel	tiom
i- some	iu	io	ia	ies	ie	iam	ial	iel	iom
ĉi- every	ĉiu	ĉio	ĉia	ĉies	ĉie	ĉiam	ĉial	ĉiel	ĉiom
neni- no	neniu	nenio	nenia	nenies	nenie	neniam	nenial	neniel	neniom

Read down a column: kie "where", tie "there", ie "somewhere", ĉie "everywhere", nenie "nowhere". Words in -u and -a take -j and -n like adjectives: ĉiuj "everybody", kiujn "which ones" (object). Words in -o take only -n: ion bongustan "something tasty".

Ĉi before or after a ti- word makes it point to something near: tiu "that", ĉi tiu "this"; tie "there", ĉi tie "here". Don't confuse this ĉi with the ĉi- row ("every"): ĉiu means "every, everyone".

Correlatives

Match each Esperanto word with its meaning.

• • ĉiam
    Answer

    always
  • neniam
    Answer

    never
  • ie
    Answer

    somewhere
  • nenio
    Answer

    nothing
  • ĉiu
    Answer

    everyone, each
  • tie
    Answer

    there

  Meanings: somewhere · there · nothing · never · everyone, each · always

#Practice

Lesson 11 practice

1. Which ending makes a command?

   -us-u-os
   Answer

   -u

2. Translate, using bonvolu: "Please sit down."

   Answer

   Bonvolu sidiĝi

3. What does Mi ŝatus kafon mean?

   "I liked coffee.""I'd like a coffee.""I like coffee."
   Answer

   "I'd like a coffee."

4. Fill in resti: Se mi havus tempon, mi ___ ĉi tie.

   Answer

   restus

5. Translate: "Let's go!"

   Answer

   Ni iru

6. Which word means "nobody"?

   neniunenioneniam
   Answer

   neniu

7. Which word means "always"?

   ĉiamiamtiam
   Answer

   ĉiam

8. Translate: "Could you help me?"

   Answer

   Ĉu vi povus helpi min / Ĉu vi povus min helpi / Ĉu vi povus helpi al mi

9. Which word means "somewhere"?

   ietieĉie
   Answer

   ie

10. Translate: "Wait!"

    Answer

    Atendu

CheckTry again

#Culture corner

Esperanto events have one unwritten rule of politeness: don't krokodili – "crocodile" – that is, don't switch to your native language when others could join in Esperanto. Nobody knows for sure where the word comes from; Vikipedio lists several stories, including a wooden crocodile used in Andreo Cseh's language courses. For questions of correct usage, the Academy of Esperanto runs an advice service, Lingva Konsultejo.

#Common questions

#What is the difference between bonvolu and mi petas?

Both mean "please". Bonvolu comes first and takes an infinitive: Bonvolu atendi. Mi petas is added to a request or an imperative: Atendu, mi petas.

#How do you say "Let's…" in Esperanto?

Use ni and the -u ending: Ni iru! – "Let's go!", Ni manĝu! – "Let's eat!". The same form asks for suggestions: Kion ni faru? – "What shall we do?".

#Do I need to learn all 45 correlatives now?

No. Start with the ki- row and the most common words: tio, ĉio, nenio, ĉiu, neniu, tie, ĉiam, neniam, iom. The pattern lets you work out the others when you meet them.

#Sources

• Fundamento de Esperanto – grammar in English (rule 6, verbs)
• PMEG: U (the imperative)
• PMEG: US (the conditional)
• PMEG: Tabelvortoj – bazaj reguloj (correlatives)
• PMEG: Postpartoj kaj finaĵoj (correlative endings)
• Vikipedio: Krokodili
• Akademio de Esperanto