These are simply translated by the verb to be, the real subject being the word that follows:
• There is a hill outside the town,
› Esas kolino exter la urbo.
• There are twelve hens in the cage
› Esas dek-e-du hanini en la kajo.
But when there is points to a person or thing, use yen:
• There he is (= There he comes!) Yen il venas!
An hour is horo, but time by the clock is expressed by kloko, kloki:
• What time is it? Qua kloko esas?
• It is two o’clock, Esas du kloki.
• At half-past two, Ye du kloki e duimo.
Always reckon quarters and minutes from the last hour, not to the next one:
• A quarter to eight,
› Sep kloki e tri quarimi, or Sep kloki quaradek-e-kin minuti.
• Twenty to ten (= 9.40). Non kloki quaradek.
Continental timetables, etc., reckon up to 24 o’clock (midnight):
• Twelve noon, Dek-e-du kloki.
• One p.m., Dek-e-tri kloki.
The words plus, minus, multiplied by, divided by, are translated plus, minus, per, sur:
2+3−1, du plus tri minus un.
4×2=8, quar per du facas ok.
9÷3=3, non sur tri facas tri.
The names of the days of the week are (no capitals, except at head of sentence, etc.):
Sundio, lundio, mardio, merkurdio, jovdio, venerdio, saturdio.
The names of the months are (capitals as above):
Januaro, februaro, marto, aprilo, mayo, junio, julio, agosto, septembro, oktobro, novembro, decembro.
The names of the seasons are:
Printempo, somero, autuno, vintro.
The international hotel custom is followed in naming the chief meals:
• Breakfast, dejuneto.
• Lunch, dejuno.
• Dinner, dineo.
• Supper, supeo.
The corresponding verbs are: dinear, supear, etc:
In dating, begin with the day, end with the year.
• Sept. 12th, 1914 → 12-ma septembro 1914.
Lesson XVIII
ed (e), and.
od (o), or.
od … od, either … or.
nek, nor.
nek … nek, neither … nor.
or, now (in argument).
nam, for (= because).
do, then, so (= therefore).
ma, but.
tamen, however, nevertheless, yet.
yen, here is, here are.
lore … lore, now … then.
ka(d), (question word) whether.
ke, that.
se, if.
sive … sive, whether … whether.
se ne, if not.
se … nur, nur se, provided that.
ecepte se, unless.
quale se, as though.
quankam, although.
pro quo? why?.
por quo, what for?.
de kande, as soon as, since when.
por ne, lest (with infinitive).
In addition to the conjunctions formed from prepositions by adding ke (see Lesson IX), many can be formed from adverbs in the same way:
tale ke, so that, in such a way that.
tante ke, so much that.
tam longe ke, as long as.
kaze ke, in case.
kondicione ke, on condition that.
unfoye ke, once (that).
omnafoye ke, each time (that).
tam ofte ke, as often as.
time ke, for fear that.
tante plu … ke, all the more … that.
quante plu … tante plu, the more … the more.
quante min … tante min, the less … the less.
tante plu bone ke, all the better … because.
A few examples will help to understand the value of the most difficult, and show how many others not given above can be formed. The general rule is that every word means one definite idea, to form the exact equivalent of any English phrase consisting of two or more words that have often lost their original meaning:
| se means if | se nur (=if only) is translated provided that. |
| nur means only | |
| de means from | de kande is translated since when? or how long? |
| kande means when | |
| pro means on account of | pro quo is translated why? |
| quo means what thing | |
| quik means immediately | quik kande is translated as soon as. |
| kande means when | |
| pro means on account of | pro to is translated that’s why. |
| to means that (thing) | |
| quante means so much | quante min … tante min is translated the less … the less. |
| min means less | |
| tante means thus much |
E.g.—
› Quante min me manjas, tante min me drinkas,
· (How-much less I eat, thus-much less I drink,)
• The less I eat, the less I drink.
› De kande vu lojas hike? me lojas hike de un monato,
· (From when you are-living here? I am-living here from one month,)
• How long have you lived here? I have lived here one month.