Basic Word Order
Subject, then verb, then object is the usual order.
How It Works
| Subject | Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|
| Ana | havas | katon |
| Kenji | trinkas | teon |
| Mi | vidas | vin |
The subject is the doer, the verb is the action, and the object is the thing the action reaches. Most of the sentences you read follow this order.
Esperanto can change the order, because the -n ending still shows which word is the object. Teon trinkas Kenji gives the same facts and puts more attention on the tea. Until you feel at home with the language, keep to subject, verb, object.
Keep the subject in the sentence. Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Japanese often leave out words like I and she, but an Esperanto sentence normally names its subject, so write ŝi parolas Esperanton and not just parolas Esperanton.
Examples (5)
- Ana havas katon.
Ana has a cat.
Subject Ana, verb havas, object katon.
- Kenji trinkas teon.
Kenji drinks tea.
The same order again: who, what they do, what it acts on.
- Ewa legas libron, kaj Tomasz skribas leteron.
Ewa reads a book, and Tomasz writes a letter.
Each half of the sentence follows subject, verb, object.
- Ĉu vi parolas Esperanton?
Do you speak Esperanto?
After ĉu the order stays subject, verb, object.
- Teon trinkas Kenji.
Kenji drinks tea.
The object can come first; the -n still shows what is drunk, and the tea gets the attention.
Common Mistakes
Leaving out the subject.
Havas katon.Ana havas katon.Esperanto normally keeps the subject in the sentence. Without Ana, havas katon does not say who has the cat.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The usual order puts the subject first, then the verb, then the object.
Related Patterns
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Basic Word Order in Bubblegum
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