Kio Estas Tio? Trivia Quiz

Tio estas blanka kato (That's a white cat). In Esperanto, there is no word for "a" or "an" like in English. The word "kato" can mean either "cat" or "a cat" depending on the context. This little feature is similar to what you find in Latin, Russian, or Japanese, where indefinite articles simply do not exist.

The word "kato" comes from the same Latin root as "cat" in English, "chat" in French, and "gato" in Spanish. Esperanto often uses roots that are common across several European languages, which makes its vocabulary easier to recognize and learn... if you know a European language.

Tio estas serpentuma rivero (That is a winding river).

Esperanto has a very regular grammar. All nouns end in -o, and all adjectives end in -a. To make them plural, you simply add -j. For example, "rivero" becomes "riveroj" (rivers), and "serpentuma" becomes "serpentumaj" (winding, plural form). So "winding rivers" would be "serpentumaj riveroj."

When a noun is used as a direct object in a sentence, you add -n to the end. If the noun is also plural, the -n comes after the -j. For example, "Mi rigardas la serpentumajn riverojn" means "I'm looking at the winding rivers."

Esperanto's grammar was designed to be simple and consistent, which makes it much easier to learn compared to many natural languages.

Tio estas bela floro (That's a beautiful flower). The word "floro" in Esperanto comes from the Latin root "flor-", just like in many other languages. You can see the same root in words like "florist" and "flora" in English. In Esperanto, the vocabulary often uses roots that are familiar to speakers of European languages.

There are also useful words built from "floro" using Esperanto's system of affixes and compounds.
For example:
- "floristo" means florist (someone who works with flowers)
- "florbedoj" means flowerbeds (from "floro" and "bedo" meaning bed)
- "flori" is the verb meaning to bloom or to flower
- "florado" refers to the act or period of flowering or blooming

Esperanto makes it easy to build related words by combining roots with endings and affixes. Once you know "floro," it's easy to understand and create many other flower-related words.

Tiu frukto estas matura frago (That fruit is a ripe strawberry).

Esperanto spelling and pronunciation are very regular. Each letter has exactly one sound, and there are no silent letters. Once you learn the alphabet, you can pronounce any word you see, and if you hear a word, you can easily spell it.

The stress in Esperanto always falls on the second-to-last syllable of a word. For example, "frago" is pronounced FRAH-goh, with the stress on the first syllable. This rule is consistent for every word, which makes the language much easier to pronounce correctly.

Tio estas ununura ŝuo (That's a single shoe).

The word "ununura" is a compound made from "unu" (one) and "nura" (only), and it roughly means "one and only" or simply "single." A similar sentence is "Estas nur unu ŝuo," which translates as "There is only one shoe." Esperanto provides the freedom to build new words using a consistent system of prefixes, suffixes, and roots.

This flexibility makes the language expressive but also keeps it easy to understand. Unlike in German, where extremely long compound words are common, Esperanto tends to keep things readable. In fact, Esperanto speakers usually prefer clarity over complexity. You won't find anything like the famously long German word "Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän" in normal Esperanto use, although that doesn't stop beginners from using their new-found powers for evil!

Tio estas malfermita libro (That's an open book).

The prefix "mal-" is one of the most useful tools in Esperanto. It simply means "the opposite of." For example, "fermi" means "to close," so "malfermi" means "to open." If something is "fermita," it is closed. If it is "malfermita," it is open.

This shows how Esperanto builds words in a very logical and consistent way. With just one root word and one prefix, you can instantly double your vocabulary. From "fermi" and "malfermi" alone, you can get:

- fermita (closed)
- malfermita (open)
- Mi fermas la libron (I am closing the book)
- Mi malfermas la libron (I am opening the book)

The ending "-ita" is a grammatical detail that marks something as having been acted on in the past (a past passive participle), but even without diving into the grammar (Esperanto has just 16 rules), you can see how useful and predictable the language is.

Tio estas Seulo, la ĉefurbo de Sud-Koreio (That's Seoul, the capital of South Korea).

The word for city in Esperanto is "urbo." The suffix "-eg" makes something bigger, so "urbego" means a very large city. The opposite suffix is "-et," which makes things smaller - "urbeto" means a small town or village.

Esperanto lets you build words easily using consistent suffixes and prefixes:
- urbo = city
- urbeto = village
- urbego = big city

Similarly, you can create words like:
- bona = good
- boneta = somewhat good
- bonega = great
- malbona = bad
- malbonega = terrible

The consistency of grammar rules allows you to expand your vocabulary very quickly.

The word "krajono" comes from the French word crayon, and like many Esperanto words, it's based on international roots.

You can describe the pencil with simple adjectives:
- ligna krajono = wooden pencil
- ruĝa krajono = red pencil
- malnova krajono = old pencil

As always in Esperanto, the noun ends in -o, and the adjective in -a. To make it plural, just add -j: "krajono" becomes "krajonoj" and "ruĝa krajono" becomes "ruĝaj krajonoj" for "red pencils."

Tio estas ĝojige idilia neĝkovrita ponto (That's a delightfully idyllic snow-covered bridge). Or if you're in a hurry, the answer is "ponto".

The word "ponto" comes from the Latin pontis, meaning "bridge." You'll find similar words in several languages, such as "puente" in Spanish, "pont" in French, "ponte" in Italian, and "ponte" in Portuguese.

The adjective "neĝkovrita" breaks down as follows:

- "Neĝ-" = snow
- "kovri" = to cover
- "-it-" = past passive participle ending (meaning "covered")
- "-a" = adjectival ending

So, "neĝkovrita" literally means "snow-covered."

Jes, tio estas biciklo (Yes, that's a bicycle).

The word "biciklo" is borrowed from the English word "bicycle," with changes only to spelling to follow the pronunciation rules.

- biciklisto = cyclist (a person who rides a bicycle)
- bicikli = to cycle, to ride a bicycle (verb form)

As with many Esperanto words, "biciklo" follows the simple rule of having an -o ending for nouns. The verb "bicikli" is formed by removing the -o and adding the appropriate verb ending: "Ni biciklu!" is "Let's go cycling!"