104. There are but two cases in Esperanto (Rule 2, par. [94]), viz., the nominative and the accusative (or objective); the latter is obtained from the nominative by adding N to the singular or plural. Other cases are expressed by the aid of prepositions, as:—
| Nominative | Mia bona patro | = My good father. |
| Accusative | Mian bonan patron | = My good father. |
| Genitive or Possessive | De mia bona patro | = Of my good father, or, My good father’s. |
| Dative | Al mia bona patro | = To my good father. |
| Ablative | De mia bona patro | = From (by, see par. [259 (9)]) my good father. |
| Kun mia bona patro | = With my good father. | |
| Per bona glavo | = With (by means of) a good sword. |
Note that per = by is the instrumental ablative, meaning "by means, or aid, or use, of," and that kun = with means "in company with," but not in an instrumental sense, as it is sometimes in English, e.g., I held him with both hands = Mi lin tenis per ambaŭ manoj, not kun ambaŭ manoj (see par. [259 (22)]).
Plural.
(a). In the plural the declension is the same, with the addition of the plural termination J, as:—
| Genitive | De miaj bonaj filoj | = Of my good sons. |
| Accusative | Miajn bonajn filojn | = My good sons. |
Examples.—La frato skribas, kaj la fratino legas = The brother is writing and the sister reading. La patro donis la libron al sia filo = The father gave the book to his son. Tiu ĉi kaŭĉuka ringo (or, ringo el kaŭĉuko) estas por la infaneto = This india-rubber ring is for the baby. Mi vidis Jozefon kun lia kuzo = I saw Joseph with his cousin. Venu, ni atendas Vin (Cin), Savinto de la mondo = Come, we await You (Thee), O Saviour of the world. Mi lin salutis per la mano = I saluted him by the hand. La domo estas kovrita per ardezoj = The house is covered with slates. Mi vidis vian patron kun liaj du filoj = I saw your father with his two sons. Kie estas la domo de via patro? = Where is your father’s house?
105. Ellipsis.—The case (nominative or accusative) of words in Esperanto often depends upon the verb omitted when ellipsis occurs in a phrase, and
unless we write the sentence in full, or think what the ellipsis is, we may not at first know what case to use to express our meaning. A glance at the following examples will show how easy it is to determine the case. The words in brackets show the ellipsis:—
- Mi konas lin pli bone, ol vi (konas lin) = I know him better than you (do, or know him).
- Mi konas lin pli bone, ol vin (ol mi konas vin) = I know him better than you (than I know you).
- Petro amas Paŭlon tiom, kiom (li amas) Johanon = Peter loves Paul as much as (he loves) John.
- Petro amas Paŭlon tiom, kiom Johano (amas lin) = Peter loves Paul as much as John (loves him).