About thirty affixes are employed to modify the meanings of root-words, thus minimising the amount of brain work required to acquire a long vocabulary.
Prefixes.—
- MAL—indicates all Opposites. Amiko, friend. Malamiko, enemy. Varma, warm. Malvarma, cool.
- RE—indicates the repetition of an action. Fari, to do. Refari, to do again.
- FOR—denotes motion away from. Rajdi, to ride. Forrajdi, to ride away.
Suffixes.—
- —AR indicates collection of. Arbo, tree. Arbaro, forest.
- —AN ... inhabitant of. Angla, English. Anglano, Englishman.
- —IN is the Feminine suffix. Viro, man. Virino, woman. Patro, father. Patrino, mother.
- —IST .. Occupation. Boto, boot. Botisto, bootmaker.
- —IL ... instrument. Kudri, to sew. Kudrilo, needle.
- —EG augmentative. Pordego, a big door.
- —ET diminutive. Pordeto, a little door.
Students will do well to remember that Double letters only occur when two roots, the one ending and the other beginning, with the same letter, are joined. Hom-mano, a human hand. Re-en-iri, to go in again.
ESTI, to be, is the only Auxiliary verb. I have seen, Mi estas vidinta. He has been seen, Li estas vidita.
All shades of meaning can be expressed in Esperanto.
Questions are introduced by the word Ĉu, and the order is not inverted. Ĉu mi vidas, Do I see.
Prepositions govern the Nominative case, unless motion towards be indicated, when Accusative termination is used. Promeni en la ĝardeno(n). To walk in(to) the garden.