City, directions and transport in Esperanto

A city is urbo, a street is strato, and you get around by iri "to go" or veturi "to travel in a vehicle". Directions are adverbs: dekstre means "on the right" and dekstren "to the right", because the ending -n marks movement. This page adds city vocabulary and directions to the "Getting around" table in travel phrases, which covers tickets, stations and the first direction phrases. Pronunciation guides split words into syllables, with the stressed syllable in capitals.

#Places in the city

Many names use -ej- "place": preĝi gives preĝejo, halti "to stop" gives haltejo, and buso + haltejo gives bushaltejo. Flug- "flight" + haveno "harbour" is flughaveno, "airport". See word building.

#Vehicles and public transport

Aŭtobuso, aviadilo and taksio come from the Academy's Official Additions, not from the original Fundamento word list.

#Verbs of movement

Iri is the general verb. ReVo defines it as moving with your limbs or in a vehicle, and veturi as going without walking, carried by some means. So Li iros per buso "He will go by bus" is correct, and veturi stresses the ride. Name the vehicle with per: per buso, per trajno, per biciklo. The prefix al- gives arrival and for- departure; see prefixes.

#Left, right and straight ahead

The adjectives are dekstra and maldekstra: sur la dekstra flanko "on the right-hand side". In reen the -n cannot be dropped, because ree means "again". The same pair, one form for place and one for direction, works for tie and tien, kie and kien, hejme and hejmen; see adverbs and correlatives.

#North, south, east and west

Use norde de for "north of": La parko estas norde de la centro. – "The park is north of the centre." Use -en for movement: Ni veturas norden. – "We are driving north." The nouns name regions: en la nordo de la lando "in the north of the country".

#Next to, opposite, behind

More on prepositions.

#Asking the way

Kiel mi iru? literally asks "How should I go?": the ending -u expresses will, and PMEG notes that a question like Ĉu ni iru…? often works as a polite proposal.

Dua "second" is an ordinal number, formed from du with -a; see numbers. To turn, ReVo gives turniĝi and sin turni "turn oneself" for changing direction, while plain turni means turning something, such as a key.

#Why "en la urbon"? Direction with -n

There are four ways to say "I am going to the city":

Never add -n after al, ĝis, el or de, which show direction by themselves: ĝis la ponto, el la urbo. With alveni, PMEG accepts both alveni en Parizo and alveni en Parizon. The full rules are on the accusative page.

#Common questions

#How do you say "city" in Esperanto?

Urbo. A small town is urbeto, the capital is ĉefurbo and a village is vilaĝo.

#What is the difference between iri and veturi?

Iri is "to go" on foot or in a vehicle. Veturi means to go carried by a vehicle, such as a car, train or ship: veturi per trajno.

#How do you say left and right in Esperanto?

Maldekstre and dekstre tell where something is; maldekstren and dekstren tell where to go. The adjectives are maldekstra and dekstra.

#How do you ask for directions in Esperanto?

Say Pardonu, kiel mi iru al…? – "Excuse me, how do I get to…?" Follow with Ĉu ĝi estas malproksime? – "Is it far?"

#How do you say north, south, east and west in Esperanto?

Nordo, sudo, oriento and okcidento. Add -en for direction (norden "northwards") and -e for position (norde de la urbo "north of the town").

#Sources

• PMEG: N-finaĵo por direkto
• PMEG: Vola modo, U-finaĵo
• ReVo, places: urbo, vilaĝo, kvartalo, strato, placo, ponto, semaforo, parko, banko, poŝto, preĝi, muzeo, hospitalo, apoteko, bazaro
• ReVo, vehicles: aŭto, buso, trajno, tramo, metroo, biciklo, taksio, aviadilo, ŝipo, haveno, stacio
• ReVo, verbs and directions: iri, veturi, flugi, alveni, turni, dekstra, rekta, nordo, sudo, oriento, okcidento