mem

Mem: Myself, Itself

Level 4

Mem makes the word before it the one you mean.

How It Works

Where	Example	Meaning
after a pronoun	ŝi mem	she herself
after a noun	la domo mem	the house itself
after sin	Ŝi vidas sin mem.	She sees herself.
meaning without help	Mi faris ĝin mem.	I made it myself.

The first job is about identity. Ana mem diris tion tells us that it was Ana and nobody else. The second job is about help. Prenu mem akvon means Take water yourself. In this second meaning mem can stand freely in the sentence.

Mem has no ending. When the word before it is an object, that word takes the -n: Mi vidis ŝin mem.

Examples (5)

Paulo faris mem la kukon.
Paulo made the cake himself.
Mem here means without help from anyone, and it stands before the thing he made.
Ana mem diris tion al mi.
Ana herself told me that.
Mem after Ana shows that it was Ana and nobody else.
La kongreso mem estis bona, sed la hotelo estis malbona.
The congress itself was good, but the hotel was bad.
Mem points at the congress alone.
Fatima vidas sin mem en la spegulo.
Fatima sees herself in the mirror.
Sin mem is the object: Fatima sees Fatima.
Kiu helpis vin? Neniu, mi mem faris ĝin.
Who helped you? Nobody, I did it myself.
Mi mem names the one who did it, with no help.

Common Mistakes

Leaving the -n off the word before mem.
Mi vidis ŝi mem en la ĝardeno.
Mi vidis ŝin mem en la ĝardeno.
Mem has no ending. The object here is ŝin, so ŝin takes the -n and mem stays as it is.

How It Connects

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

memLevel 4Mem: Myself, Itself

Learn This First

Mem stresses who does an action.

si / sin: ReflexiveSi: Himself, Herself, Themselves
Know si, since mem is often compared with it: Ŝi lavas sin, Ŝi mem diris tion.
Level 3

Practice mem in Bubblegum

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