Two Nouns for One Thing

Level 4

Two nouns stand side by side for the same thing, and commas decide whether -n is copied.

How It Works

Kind	Example	Meaning
identifying name, no comma	Mi vizitis la urbon Parizo.	I visited the city Paris.
identifying name, no comma	Ni konas la knabon Kenji.	We know the boy Kenji.
phrase with commas	Hodiaŭ mi renkontis Kofin, nian novan najbaron.	Today I met Kofi, our new neighbor.

The name in la urbon Parizo says what the city is called. The noun urbon has -n, but the name stays plain. Zamenhof sometimes wrote the name with -n, but today the name is plain.

A phrase between commas gives extra information. It does the same job in the sentence as the noun before it, so it copies the endings: Mi vizitis Anan, mian amikinon. Both Anan and amikinon are objects.

A preposition is normally not repeated in an apposition: Li parolis pri Ana, nia nova estro. The phrase after the comma has no second pri.

Examples (5)

Mi vizitis la urbon Parizo.
I visited the city Paris.
Parizo tells what the city is called, so it has no -n.
Ni konas la knabon Kenji.
We know the boy Kenji.
Kenji is a name that identifies the boy, so it has no -n.
Hodiaŭ mi renkontis Kofin, nian novan najbaron.
Today I met Kofi, our new neighbor.
The phrase after the comma copies the -n of Kofin.
Mi vizitis Anan, mian amikinon.
I visited Ana, my friend.
Both Anan and amikinon are objects.
Wei loĝas en la lando Ĉinio.
Wei lives in the country China.
After en, the noun lando and the name stay plain.

Common Mistakes

Putting -n on a name that identifies a noun.
Mi vizitis la urbon Parizon.
Mi vizitis la urbon Parizo.
A name that identifies a noun has no -n. Zamenhof sometimes wrote it with -n, but this is no longer the rule.
Leaving -n off a phrase set off by commas.
Mi vizitis Anan, mia amikino.
Mi vizitis Anan, mian amikinon.
A phrase set off by commas does the same job as the noun before it, so it copies the -n.

How It Connects

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

Two Nouns for One ThingLevel 4

Learn This First

An identifying name stays plain after a noun, as in la urbon Parizo. An explanatory phrase set off by commas copies the noun’s endings.

Names With -nNames and the Ending -n
Know names with -n, since the name after the noun takes no -n: la urbon Parizo.
Level 2

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