-ul-
-ul-: Person with a Quality
-ul- names a person by a quality.
How It Works
| Root | With -ul- | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| juna (young) | junulo | young person |
| malsana (ill) | malsanulo | sick person |
| riĉa (rich) | riĉulo | rich person |
| maljuna (old) | maljunulo | old person |
In the plural, junuloj usually means young people of any sex. In the singular, junulo is often understood as a young man when it stands next to junulino (young woman), so use -in- when you want to name a woman.
Do not add -ul- to a word that already names a person, such as amiko or kuracisto.
Reading the parts gives new words: riĉa and -ul- make riĉulo, and mal- turns it into the opposite, malriĉulo (poor person).
Examples (4)
- La junuloj de la urbo havas klubon.
The young people of the city have a club.
Junuloj are people with the quality of being young.
- Amara vizitas malsanulon kun floroj.
Amara visits a sick person with flowers.
Malsanulon is the object of vizitas, so it has -n.
- Lia avo estas maljunulo, kaj li ĉiam ridas.
His grandfather is an old man, and he always laughs.
Maljunulo is a person who is old.
- La junulo kaj la junulino parolas Esperanton.
The young man and the young woman speak Esperanto.
The ending -in- shows the woman.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The ending -ul- names a person with a quality.
Related Patterns
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice -ul- in Bubblegum
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