Note.—Esperanto vowels are very similar in sound to those in German and Spanish, and in the Italian do, re, mi, fa.
SYNTAX (Sintakso).
20. Syntax (sintakso) treats of the connection, dependence, and arrangement of words to form intelligible speech.
21. Speech (parolo) consists of propositions.
22. A Proposition (propozicio) is a collection of words by which we assert, or question, the act, state, or quality of some person or thing. A complete proposition consists of two chief parts, viz., the Subject and Predicate.
23. The Subject (subjekto) is the name of the person or thing spoken of.
24. The Predicate (predikato) is what is said about the subject.
25. The Subject of a proposition is always:—
(a). One or more nouns.
(b). Some word used as a noun, e.g., (1), a pronoun, mi = I; (2), an adjective, mia kara estas bona filino = my dear (one) is a good daughter; (3), an infinitive, mensogi estas honte = to lie (or, lying) is shameful; (4), a phrase. Estas agrable por (or, al) mi, ke vi aĉetis tiun domon (here "ke vi aĉetis" is the subject) = I am glad (it is agreeable to me) that you bought that house.
26. The subject is always in the nominative case. When the subject is a noun, it must, therefore, always end in -O, if the noun is singular, or in -OJ, if the noun is in the plural. The subject of any verb can always be determined by putting the word "who?" or "what?" before the verb, and the word giving the reply is the subject, as:—La riĉulo havas multe da mono = The rich man has much (of) money. (Who has much money? The rich man = la riĉulo is the subject.) La papero estas blanka = The paper is white. (What is white? The paper = la papero is the subject.) De timo paliĝis Antono = Antony grew pale from fear. (Who grew pale? Antony = Antono is the subject.) Miaj fratoj batis min = My brothers beat me. (Who beat me? My brothers = miaj fratoj is the subject.)
27. Subject omitted.—Sometimes the subject is omitted, as:—Pluvas = it rains. Fulmis = It lightened. (See remarks on impersonal verbs, par. 164.)
28. The Object is the person or thing acted upon by the subject, hence the term objective (or accusative) case, as:—Johano batas la knabon = John beats the boy. Knabon = the boy is acted upon by Johano, the subject, therefore knabon is the object, and has the accusative termination N.
29. The Direct Complement (rekta komplemento).—The noun or pronoun (not governed by a preposition), which is the direct complement of a transitive verb, must have the accusative form -N in the singular, or -JN in the plural. The direct complement of a verb can be determined by asking the question "whom?" or "what?" after such verb, and the word giving the reply is the direct complement, as:—Diru al mi vian nomon = Tell me your name. (Tell what? Your name = vian nomon is the direct complement.) Johano min amas = John loves me. (Loves whom? Me = min is the direct complement.)
30. The direct complement of an active verb becomes the subject if the verb is put in the passive voice, as:—Mia patro amas min = My father loves me. Here min = me is the direct complement; but Mi estas amata de mia patro = I am loved by my father. Here mi = I is the subject of the verb. Note, that intransitive verbs cannot have a direct complement, for they have no passive voice (par. 162).
31. The Indirect Complement (nerekta komplemento) is formed with a preposition and a noun or pronoun in the nominative, as:—Donu al la birdoj akvon = Give (to) the birds water, or Give water to the birds. (Here "akvon" is the direct, and la birdoj the indirect, complement.) Venu kune kun la patro = Come together with (the) father. But if direction towards something be implied, and the preposition of itself does not denote movement, the noun, or pronoun, will then be in the accusative case (see pars. 67, 256), as:—Li eniris en la domon = He went into the house.
32. The Circumstantial Complement.—A word or phrase is termed a circumstantial complement (cirkonstanca komplemento) when it marks the time, place, manner, cause, etc., of an action, as:—En printempo floroj aperas, or Printempe floroj aperas = In Spring flowers appear. Li agas pro ĵaluzo = He acts from (owing to) jealousy.
The Predicate (Predikato).
33. The Predicate is what is said about the subject.
(a). A predicative verb is one which, of itself, shows in a definite manner some act, state, or quality, as:—Arbo kreskas = A tree grows. La arbo verdiĝis = The tree became green.
(b) A non-predicative verb is one which does not, of itself, show an act, but is accompanied by some adjective, participle or predicative noun, defining and describing the subject, as:—La urbo estas belega = The city is magnificent. Kolombo estas birdo = A pigeon is a bird.