-er-

-er-: A Small Piece

Level 4

The root before -er- is the whole, and -er- is one piece of it.

How It Works

WholeWith -er-Meaning
sablosablerograin of sand
neĝoneĝerosnowflake
pluvopluveroraindrop
fajrofajrerospark
monomonerocoin

The word with -er- is one of many pieces that look alike and make up the whole. Snow is made of snowflakes, and sand is made of grains.

Some -er- words have become everyday words by themselves, such as monero (a coin). For parts that are different from each other, use parto instead: a part of a country is a landparto. Compare -et-, which means small in general: -er- names only a small piece of a whole.

Examples (5)

  1. Kenji trovas sablerojn en sia ŝuo.

    Kenji finds grains of sand in his shoe.

    Sablerojn are single grains, and the plural object has -jn.

  2. La neĝeroj falas sur la ĉapelon de Ingrid.

    The snowflakes fall on Ingrid's hat.

    Neĝeroj are the single flakes that make the snow.

  3. Omar havas nur unu moneron en la monujo.

    Omar has only one coin in his purse.

    Monero is one small piece of metal money.

  4. Fajreroj saltas el la fajro.

    Sparks jump out of the fire.

    Fajreroj are tiny burning pieces of the fire.

  5. La pluveroj frapas la fenestron de nia ĉambro.

    The raindrops hit the window of our room.

    Pluveroj are single drops of the rain.

Common Mistakes

  • Using -er- for a part of a country.

    Ni vizitis nur unu landeron de Brazilo.
    Ni vizitis nur unu landparton de Brazilo.

    The ending -er- is for tiny pieces of a whole made of many alike pieces. For a part of a country, use parto.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-er-Level 4-er-: A Small Piece

Learn This First

The ending -er- names one small piece of a whole.