Esperanto Language Trivia

1. This 1975 Stephen Spielberg movie about a giant "sharko" would have a very different name in Esperanto: "Makzeloj". Name the movie.

From Quiz Movie Titles in Esperanto

Answer: Jaws

"Makzelo" (pronounced "mahk-ZEH-loh") is the singular form of "Jaw" in Esperanto. All Esperanto nouns end in "o" and are made plural by adding "j" ("oj" sounds like "oy" in "boy"). The clue "sharko" (properly "ŝarko" but the FunTrivia code won't allow the "ŝ" symbol in the question box in some games) is pronounced similarly in English: "SHARK-oh". To make a word meaning "a baby shark" (i.e. "shark pup"), we can use the suffix "--id", which indicates "offspring": "ŝarkido" (pronounced "shar-KEE-doh"). You may have noticed that the penultimate syllable always gets the accent in Esperanto.

From Quiz A "Good" Esperanto Quiz

Answer: A good person

It can also mean a kind of buddy or pal, someone who is friendly and fun to be around.

From Quiz More Beginner's Esperanto

Answer: bad

The direct opposite of "good" is "bad", and based on the information provided, the direct opposite of "bona" is "malbona", meaning "bad".

From Quiz Esperanto for Beginners

Answer: Good day! Hello!

"Bona" is an adjective meaning "good" and "tago" a noun meaning "day". The first word has its roots in the Romance languages, while the second is based on the German word having the same meaning.

From Quiz Movie Titles in Esperanto

Answer: The Godfather

"Baptopatro" (pronounced "bahp-toh-PAH-troh") literally means "baptism father". "Patro" ("PAH-tro") is the word for "father". By using the feminine suffix "--in", you can make "patrino" ("pah-TREE-noh"), which translates to "mother". "La" is the Esperanto word for "the" which does not change for gender or number.

From Quiz A "Good" Esperanto Quiz

Answer: bad

"MAL--" is the biggest reason so few words need to be learned to speak Esperanto well. Instead of learning "BIG" and "SMALL", you need only learn one word and then use "MAL--" to indicate the opposite: "BONA"/"GOOD" and "MALBONA"/"BAD". "AMI"/"TO LOVE" and "MALAMI"/"TO HATE". "HELPI"/"TO HELP" and "MALHELPI"/"TO HINDER". "BELA"/"PRETTY" and "MALBELA"/"UGLY".

From Quiz More Beginner's Esperanto

Answer: a sick person

"MAL--" (opposite) + "SAN--" (healthy) + "--UL--" (person) + "--O" (noun) means "a sick person".

From Quiz About Esperanto

Answer: Creating a common second language

Esperanto is not designed to replace your current language. It was designed to make discussions among people of other national languages fair in that no one was speaking in their native tongue while the other relies on translations or his or her own limited knowledge of the language.

From Quiz Esperanto for Beginners

Answer: "one", "two", and "three"

"Mother", "Father" and "Son" would be "Patrino", "Patro", and "Filo", and while there are one or two variations of Esperanto, all of them have these three words, the first three ordinal numbers: "one", "two", and "three". Their origins lie in the Romance languages.

From Quiz Movie Titles in Esperanto

Answer: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Esperanto version of the title shows a good use of the prefix "mal--", which indicates the opposite of the root word. The Esperanto word "bona" means "Good" in English. Therefore, "La Bona, la Malbona..." literally means "The good, the opposite of good [bad]". "Bela" is the Esperanto word for "pretty", and prefixing the word with "mal--" makes it the opposite: "la Malbela" is "the Ugly".

From Quiz More Beginner's Esperanto

Answer: a school

"LERN--" (learn) + "--EJ--" (place) + "--O" (noun ending) = "a place to learn" or more colloquially, "a school".

From Quiz About Esperanto

Answer: 16

The rules are esoteric to someone unfamiliar with the study of languages, but yes, you can break down the grammar of Esperanto into just 16 rules.

From Quiz Esperanto for Beginners

Answer: What is that?

"Kio estas tio?" translates as "What is that (thing)?" To say "What is that for", you must re-arrange the words, because Esperanto forbids sentences ending in prepositions: "Por kio estas tio?"

From Quiz Movie Titles in Esperanto

Answer: 12 Angry Men

"Dek du" (pronounced "deck doo") is Esperanto for "twelve". It literally means "ten [and] two". "Kolera viro" is an angry man. Plurals are made by adding the letter "j". Notice that the adjective is made plural as well as the noun: "koleraj viroj" (pronounced "koh-LEH-ri VEE-roy").

From Quiz A "Good" Esperanto Quiz

Answer: so-so

"--ET--" is a very useful suffix and can double your vocabulary. "DOMO" is a "HOUSE" while "DOMETO" is a "COTTAGE". "URBO" is a "CITY", while "URBETO" is a "VILLAGE". In this way, you can make a great many words from just one. With adjectives, it often implies the English suffix "--ISH". "BLUA" is "BLUE", "BLUETA" is "BLUISH, SOMEWHAT BLUE".

From Quiz Movie Titles in Esperanto

Answer: The Silence of the Lambs

"La Silento" (pronounced "lah see-LEHN-toe") translates to "the silence". "Ŝafo" ("SHAH-foe") is the word for "sheep". The suffix "--id" denotes the offspring of the root word. So "ŝafido" ("sha-FEE-doh") is the Esperanto word for "lamb". Again, to make a noun plural, you add "j": "ŝafidoj" ("sha-FEE-doy"). "Silenti" ("see-LEHN-tee") is an intransitive verb meaning "to be silent". So, to say "the lambs are silent", in Esperanto, one could simplify the sentence to: "La ŝafidoj silentas".

From Quiz A "Good" Esperanto Quiz

Answer: Great

"--EG--" is a very useful suffix and can help increase your vocabulary immensely. "GRANDA" is "BIG", "GRANDEGA" is "HUGE". "MALGRANDA" is small, while "MALGRANDEGA" is "TINY" (the opposite of "HUGE"). "DOMO" is a "HOUSE" while "DOMEGO" is a "MANSION". "URBO" is a "CITY", while "URBEGO" is a "METROPOLIS". In this way, you can make a great many words from just one.

From Quiz More Beginner's Esperanto

Answer: Parents

The answer is "parents". "GE--" (both genders) + "PATR--" (father) + "--OJ" (plural noun) = "parents"

From Quiz About Esperanto

Answer: France

French was the language of international communication then, much like English is now. The United States was not a member of the League of Nations, and Russia ceased to exist shortly before the end of World War I (replaced by the USSR). Two years after the French delegate vetoed the resolution, he called for the language to be taught in French schools.

From Quiz Esperanto for Beginners

Answer: It is blue and green and large

"Blua" and "verda" are both colors. "Granda" means "big" or "great", but not in the sense of "grandiose", which is "grandiosa".

From Quiz Movie Titles in Esperanto

Answer: The Matrix & Matrix

"Matrico" (pronounced "mah-TREE-tsoh") is the Esperanto word for Matrix. "La" is the definite article that does not change for gender or number; in fact, Esperanto has no grammatical gender.

From Quiz A "Good" Esperanto Quiz

Answer: Goodness

"--EC--" typically translates to "--NESS" in English, but there are many other forms in the English language such as "--ICITY", "-TION", and so forth. It indicates the quality of the root word, in this case "BONA". Affixes can be their own words, too! "ECO" is a "QUALITY".

From Quiz Esperanto for Beginners

Answer: people

Two of the words end with the suffix "-ist-" which indicates a professional (like the suffix -ist" in English). The words translate to: "man" (think "virile"), "student", "worker" (think "labor"), and "policeman".

From Quiz Movie Titles in Esperanto

Answer: It's a Wonderful Life

"Estas" (pronounced "EH-stahs") usually means "is", "am", or "are", but when there is no real subject of the sentence, as in this case, it can mean "there are", "there is", "it is", etc. "Miri" (pronounced "MEE-ree") means "to wonder". If you add the suffix "--ind", which denotes "worthy of", you get "mirinda" ("mee-REEN-dah") which means literally "worthy of wonder" or more simply, "wonderful". "Vivo" ("VEE-voh") comes from the same Latin root that gives us "vivacious".

From Quiz A "Good" Esperanto Quiz

Answer: A good (thing)

The suffix "--AĴ--" (pronounced AZH) creates something concrete from the root word. "BONA" is "GOOD". "BONAAĴO" is something that is good. In this case, it can mean any number of things. A good example of how it works is by looking at the noun "MANĜO", meaning a "MEAL". "MANĜAĴO" is a thing associated with a meal, and is the word for "FOOD" (literally, a Meal-thing).

From Quiz About Esperanto

Answer: a green star

Esperanto actually has its own flag: a field of green with a white block in the upper-left corner in which appears the green star.

From Quiz Esperanto for Beginners

Answer: Animals

The words mean: "mouse" ("muso"), "dog" ("hundo"), "insect" ("insekto"), and "cat" ("kato").

From Quiz Movie Titles in Esperanto

Answer: The Green Mile

"Verda" is the Esperanto adjective meaning "green". To make it a noun, change the "a" to "o": "verdo". You can add the diminutive suffix "--et" to turn "green" into "greenish": "verdeta". "Mejlo" (pronounced "MAY-loh") is the Esperanto word for "mile".

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Last Updated Jun 14 2025 5:49 AM

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