Title: Esperanto grammar Content: Esperanto's grammar (rules of language) is meant to be simple. The rules in Esperanto never change and can always be applied in the same way. == Articles == Esperanto has only definite article la (the same thing as "the" in English) and no indefinite article (the same thing as "a" or "an" in English). They use definite article when they talk about things, about which they have already told something. == Nouns and adjectives ==  Numbers like twenty-one (21) are made by their compounding by order of magnitude. For example: dek tri means thirteen (13), dudek tri means twenty-three (23), sescent okdek tri means six hundred eighty-three (683), mil naŭcent okdek tri means (one) thousand nine hundred and eighty-three (1983). == Prefixes and suffixes == Esperanto has over 20 special words which can change the meaning of another word. People put them before or after the root of a word. These words combined can make very long words, such as malmultekosta (cheap), vendredviandmanĝmalpermeso (prohibition of eating a meat on Friday). === Prefixes === Prefixes are added before the root of the word. * bo- – means "in-law". Patro means father, and bopatro means father-in- law. * dis- – means "all or many directions". Iri means to go, and disiri means to go in different directions. * ek- – means "start" of something. Kuri means to run, and ekkuri means to start running. * eks- – makes the word "former". Amiko means friend, and eksamiko means former friend. * fi- – makes the word worse. Knabo means boy, and fiknabo means bad boy; odoro means smell, and fiodoro means bad smell. * ge- – changes meaning of a word to "both gender". Frato means brother, and gefratoj means brother(s) and sister(s). * mal- – makes the word opposite. Bona means good, and malbona means bad. * mis- – means "wrong". Kompreni means to understand, and miskompreni means to understand wrong. * pra- – means "prehistoric", "very old" or "primitive". Homo means human, and prahomo means prehistoric human. * re- – means again. Vidi means to see, and revidi means to see again. === Suffixes === Suffixes are added after the root of the word, but before the ending. * -aĉ- – makes the word uglier. Domo means house, domaĉo means ugly house. * -ad- – means continuous doing of something. Fari means to do, and Faradi means to do continuously. * -aĵ- – means a thing. Bela means beautiful, and belaĵo means a beautiful thing; trinki means to drink, and trinkaĵo means a drink ("something for drinking"). * -an- – means member of something. Klubo means club, and klubano means a member of a club. * -ar- – means many things of the same kind. Arbo means tree, and arbaro means forest. * -ĉj- – makes male diminutives. Patro means father, and paĉjo means daddy. * -ebl-– means ability or possibility. Manĝi means to eat, and manĝebla means eatable. * -ec- – means quality. Granda means big, and grandeco means size. * -eg- – makes the word bigger. Domo means house, and domego means big house. * -ej- – means a place. Lerni means to learn, and lernejo means school ("place for learning"). * -em- – means tendency. Mensogi means to lie, and mensogema means with tendency to lie. * -end- – means something which must be done. Pagi means to pay, and pagenda, means something which must be paid. * -er- – means a bit of bigger group. Neĝo' means snow, and neĝero means snowflake. * -estr- – means a chief of. Urbo means town, and urbestro means mayor ("chief of a town"). * -et- – makes the word smaller. Domo means house, and dometo means small house. * -id- – means the child of. Kato means cat, and katido means kitten. * -il- – means instrument. Ŝlosi mens to lock, and ŝlosilo means key (an instrument for locking). * -ind- – means worthiness. Ami means to love, and aminda means something which is worth to be loved. * -in- – changes the gender of a word into female. Patro means father, and patrino means mother. * -ing- – means a holder. Kandelo means candle, and kandelingo means candlestick ("a holder of a candle"). * -ism- – means an ideology or movement. Nacio means nation, naciismo means nationalism. * -ist- – means somebody who does something (perhaps as a job). Baki means to bake and bakisto means baker; scienco means science, and sciencisto means scientist. Esperantisto means Esperanto speaker. * -nj- – makes female diminutives. Patrino means mother, and panjo means mummy. * -obl- – means times. Tri means three, and trioble means three times. It also makes multiples. Kvin means five, and kvinoblo means multiple of five. * -on- – makes fractions. Kvar means four (4), and kvarono means quarter (one fourth of something). * -uj- – generally means a vessel. Salo means salt, and salujo means salt shaker ("a vessel for salt"). * -ul- – means person of some quality. Juna means young, and junulo means young person. * -um- is suffix for cases when is not able to do a word from other existing suffixes, preffixes or roots.