Examples.—Mi lin ne vidis, or, Mi ne vidis lin = I did not see him. Ĉu vi ne vidis lin? or, Ĉu vi lin ne vidis? = Did you not see him? Mi neniam renkontis ŝin, or, Neniam mi renkontis ŝin, or, Mi ŝin renkontis neniam = I never met her. Mi volas renkonti ne nur Johanon, sed ankaŭ Georgon = I want to meet not only John, but also George.
93. Order very similar to English.—The foregoing remarks show that the order of words in Esperanto is very similar to the English construction of sentences, and we can hardly do wrong if we follow it nearly word for word. A slightly different order in Esperanto sometimes makes an expression more elegant but this is generally owing to harmony of sound rather than grammatical construction.
[In writing original work in Esperanto it is well to cultivate a style as international as possible, and use the normal, simple, and logical order of words. In translation work, when it is desired to reproduce as far as possible the national or individual atmosphere of the original, it is legitimate intentionally to reproduce in the translation—so long as intelligibility is ensured, and as far as the structure of the language permits—the characteristic order of words in the original text. The wonderful flexibility of Esperanto is one of the reasons why Esperanto is such an admirable language for translation purposes.]
PART II
GRAMMAR.
94. The following is the Complete Grammar of Esperanto, as given by Dr. Zamenhof at page 254 of his "Fundamenta Krestomatio de la Lingvo Esperanto," which he says is "a book that should be in the hands of every earnest student who desires to acquire a correct Esperanto style." This book contains a series of Exercises, Fables, Legends, Stories, Extracts from Scientific Articles, Articles on Esperanto, Poetry, Translations from Hamlet and The Iliad, showing how well Esperanto is adapted for every kind of subject.
It will be seen that the whole Grammar consists of sixteen short Rules, which can be learnt in less than an hour. The Esperanto is given alongside the translation. Remarks on the Rules, with examples, will be found by referring to the paragraphs given after each Rule.
COMPLETE GRAMMAR OF ESPERANTO.
Alphabet.
The twenty-eight letters and their pronunciation are given in pars. [1]–4.