la + Language Adjective
Names of Languages
La plus an -a word names a language.
How It Works
| Language | Esperanto | As an object |
|---|---|---|
| English | la angla | la anglan |
| French | la franca | la francan |
| Spanish | la hispana | la hispanan |
| Japanese | la japana | la japanan |
| Polish | la pola | la polan |
The full name is la angla lingvo. Everyone understands lingvo, so it is usually left out, and the adjective carries the endings.
Names of languages written with an adjective use a small letter, and they nearly always take la.
Esperanto itself is different. Its name ends in -o and is a proper name, so it takes no la and keeps its capital letter: Mi lernas Esperanton.
Examples (5)
- Mi lernas la hispanan.
I am learning Spanish.
La hispana is the language, and the adjective takes -n as the object.
- Kenji parolas la japanan kaj la anglan.
Kenji speaks Japanese and English.
Each language name has la and -n.
- Ĉu vi parolas la francan, Olga?
Do you speak French, Olga?
La franca is the language of France.
- Fatima lernas la polan, ĉar ŝi loĝos en Pollando.
Fatima is learning Polish because she will live in Poland.
Pola comes from poloj, the Poles.
- Ahmed parolas la araban kaj Esperanton.
Ahmed speaks Arabic and Esperanto.
Arabic has la, but Esperanto has no la.
Common Mistakes
Leaving out la and -n.
Mi lernas hispana.Mi lernas la hispanan.A language name has la, and as the object it takes -n.
Putting la before Esperanto.
Mi parolas la Esperanton.Mi parolas Esperanton.Esperanto is a proper name, so it takes no la.
How It Connects
Learn This First
A language name is an adjective, so it needs the adjective ending and the way of asking about languages.
Related Patterns
Practice la + Language Adjective in Bubblegum
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