The famous constructed language [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto Esperanto] first appeared in Russian Poland in 1887, the product of a Polish-Jewish opthalmologist and amateur linguist, Dr. Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof. Dr. Zamenhof hoped that the worldwide adoption of a neutral international language would ease ethnic tensions and enable people of widely differing backgrounds to communicate with each other. The name of the language means "one who hopes." Esperanto is not officially aligned with any particular country or ethnic group; indeed, one can find Esperanto speakers in well over 100 countries around the world. [http://www.tejo.org/en/ps Pasporta Servo], a hospitality service for Esperanto speakers, includes more than 1,300 addresses in almost ninety different countries.

Pronunciation guide

Esperanto uses twenty-eight letters from the Roman alphabet, and is a phonetic language (each sound has a single letter and each letter represents a single sound). The letters Q, W, X, and Y are not used. Five of the letters have a circumflex on top of them (? ? ? ? ?) and one has a breve (?). Esperanto speakers represent these letters in situations where the circumflex cannot be used (e.g. unformatted e-mail where only basic ASCII characters can be used) either by placing an "x" after the letter; placing an "h" after the letter (this is the method approved by Esperanto's creator, Dr. Zamenhof); or placing the circumflex itself (^) after the letter. On the Internet, most Esperantists use the "x" method.

Words are always pronounced with the accent on the penultimate (next-to-last) syllable.

Vowels

; a : as in f'''a'''ther ; e : as in b'''e'''t ; i : as in mach'''i'''ne ; o : always short as in p'''o'''rous; never long as in '''o'''pen ; u : as in h'''oo'''p

Semi-Vowels

; ? : w as in sho'''w'''er ; j : y as in '''y'''oga

Consonants

; b : as in '''b'''oy ; c : ts as in ca'''ts''' ; ? : ch as in '''ch'''urch ; d : as in '''d'''own ; f : as in '''f'''ood ; g : always hard as in '''g'''ain ; ? : soft 'g' as in '''g'''em ; h : as in '''h'''eavy ; ? : guttural as in Scottish lo'''ch''', Spanish ''j'', or Hebrew '''ch'''ai ; ? : zh as in lei'''s'''ure ; k : as in '''k'''iwi ; l : as in '''l'''ap ; m : as in '''m'''anner ; n : as in '''n'''othing ; p : as in '''p'''ool ; r : rolled as in Spanish ; s : as in '''s'''ome (never like ''z'') ; ? : sh as in '''sh'''ould ; t : as in '''t'''on ; v : as in '''v'''an ; z : as in '''z'''oo

Common diphthongs

; a? : as in c'''ow''' ; e? : as in w'''ayw'''ard ; oj : as in j'''oy''' ; aj : as in '''ai'''sle ; ej : as in p'''ai'''n ; uj : as in r'''ui'''nous

Phrase list

Modern Esperanto, like English, does not distinguish between polite & intimate forms of address (e.g. the Spanish "tu" and "usted" for the intimate and polite 2nd person singular, respectively). There is only one form used in the 2nd person, both singular and plural.

Basics

; Hello. : Saluton. (''sah-LOO-tohn'') ; How are you? : Kiel vi fartas? (''KEE-ehl vee FAHR-tahs?'') ; Fine, thank you. : Bone, dankon. (''BOH-neh, DAN-kohn'') ; What is your name? : Kiel vi nomi?as? (''KEE-ehl vee noh-MEE-jas?'') ; My name is ______ . : Mi nomi?as _____ . (''mee nom-MEE-jas'') ; Nice to meet you. : Estas plezuro renkonti vin. (or simply "Plezuro.") (''EHS-tahs pleh-ZOO-roh rehn-KOHN-tee veen'') ; Please. : Bonvolu. (''Bohn-VOH-loo'') ; Thank you. : Dankon. (''DAHN-kohn'') ; You're welcome. : Nedankinde. (''neh-dahn-KEEN-deh'') (''Lit. "Not worthy of thanks"'') ; Yes. : Jes. (''yehs'') ; No. : Ne. (''neh'') ; Excuse me. : Pardonu min. (''pahr-DOH-noo meen'') ; I'm sorry. : Mi beda?ras. (''mee beh-DOW-rahs'') ; Goodbye : ?is revido. (''jees reh-VEE-doh'') ; I can't speak ______. : Mi ne parolas ______. (''mi neh pah-ROH-lahs'') ; Do you speak English? : ?u vi parolas la anglan? (''choo vee pah-ROH-lahs lah AHN-glahn'') ; Is there someone here who speaks English? : ?u estas iu ?i tie, kiu parolas la anglan? (''choo EH-stahs EE-yoo chee-TEE-eh KEE-oo pah-ROH-lahs lah AHN-glahn'') ; Help! : Helpon! (''HEL-pohn'') ; Good morning. : Bonan tagon (bonan matenon) (''BOH-nahn TAH-gohn (mah-TEH-nohn)'') ; Good afternoon. : Bonan posttagmezon. (''BOH-nahn pohst-tahg-MEHZ-ohn'') ; Good evening. : Bonan vesperon. (''BOH-nahn vehs-PEH-rohn'') ; Good night. : Bonan nokton. (''BOH-nahn NOHK-tohn'') ; I don't understand. : Mi ne komprenas. (''mee neh kohm-PREH-nahs'') ; Where is the toilet? : Kie estas la necesejo? (''KEE-eh EH-stahs la neh-tseh-SAY-oh'')

Problems

; Leave me alone. : Lasu min. (''LAH-soo meen'') ; Don't touch me! : Ne tu?u min! (''neh TOO-shoo meen!'') ; I'll call the police. : Mi telefonos la policejon. (''mee teh-leh-FOH-nohs lah poh-lee-TSEH-yohn'') ; Police! : Policon! (''poh-LEE-tsohn!'') ; Stop! Thief! : Haltu! ?telisto! (''HAHL-too! shteh-LEE-stoh!'') ; I need your help. : Mi bezonas vian helpon. (''mee beh-ZOH-nahs VEE-ahn HEHL-pohn'') ; It's an emergency. : Estas krizo. (''EH-stahs KREE-zoh'') ; I'm lost. : Mi perdi?as. (''mee pehr-DEE-jahs'') ; I lost my bag. : Mi perdis mian valizon. (''mee PEHR-dees MEE-ahn vah-LEE-zohn'') ; I lost my wallet. : Mi perdis mian biletujon/monujon. (''mee PEHR-dees MEE-ahn bee-leh-TOO-yohn/moh-NOO-yohn'') ; I'm sick. : Mi malsanas. (''mee mahl-SAH-nahs'') ; I've been injured. : Mi vundi?is. (''mee voon-DEE-jees'') ; I need a doctor. : Mi bezonas kuraciston. (''mee beh-ZOH-nahs koo-rah-TSEE-stohn'') ; Can I use your phone? : ?u mi rajtas uzi vian telefonon? (''choo mee RAI-tahs OO-zee VEE-ahn teh-leh-FOH-nohn?'')

Numbers

; '''0''' : nulo (''NOO-loh'') ; '''1''' : unu (''OO-noo'') ; '''2''' : du ; '''3''' : tri ; '''4''' : kvar ; '''5''' : kvin ; '''6''' : ses ; '''7''' : sep ; '''8''' : ok ; '''9''' : na? ; '''10''' : dek ; '''20''' : dudek ; '''30''' : tridek ; '''100''' : cent ; '''200''' : ducent ; '''1000''' : mil ; '''2000''' : dumil ; '''1,000,000''' : miliono ; '''4,325''' : kvarmil tricent dudek kvin ; '''1,446,782''' : miliono, kvarcent kvardek sesmil, sepcent okdek du

Time

; now : nun (''noon'') ; later : poste (''POHS-teh'') ; before : anta?e (''...'') ; morning : mateno (''maht-TEH-noh'') ; afternoon : posttagmezo (''...'') ; evening : vespero (''...'') ; night : nokto (''...'')

Clock time

; one o'clock AM : je la unua horo matene (''...'') ; two o'clock AM : je la dua horo matene (''...'') ; noon : tagmezo (''...'') ; one o'clock PM : je la unua horo posttagmeze (''...'') ; two o'clock PM : je la dua horo posttagmeze (''...'') ; two thirty PM : je la dua kaj duono posttagmeze (''...'') ; two nineteen PM : je la dua kaj dekna? minutoj posttagmezze (''...'') ; midnight : noktomezo (''...'')

Duration

; _____ minute(s) : _____ minuto(j) (''...'') ; _____ hour(s) : _____ horo(j) (''...'') ; _____ day(s) : _____ tago(j) (''...'') ; _____ week(s) : _____ semajno(j) (''...'') ; _____ month(s) : _____ monato(j) (''...'') ; _____ year(s) : _____ jaro(j) (''...'')

Days

; today : hodia? (''...'') ; yesterday : hiera? (''...'') ; tomorrow : morga? (''...'') ; this week : ?i tiun semajnon (''...'') ; last week : pasintan semajnon (''...'') ; next week : venontan semajnon (''...'')

; Sunday : diman?o (''...'') ; Monday : lundo (''...'') ; Tuesday : mardo (''...'') ; Wednesday : merkredo (''...'') ; Thursday : ?a?do (''...'') ; Friday : vendredo (''...'') ; Saturday : sabato (''...'')

Months

; January : januaro (''...'') ; February : februaro (''...'') ; March : marto (''...'') ; April : aprilo (''...'') ; May : majo (''...'') ; June : junio (''...'') ; July : julio (''...'') ; August : a?gusto (''...'') ; September : septembro (''...'') ; October : oktobro (''...'') ; November : novembro (''...'') ; December : decembro (''...'')

Writing time and date

Dates are written in day/month/year format. Ordinal numbers are written with an appended "-a" (''1-a de januaro'', ''unua de januaro'', first of January).

Colors

; black : nigra (''...'') ; blue : blua (''...'') ; brown : bruna (''...'') ; gray/grey : griza (''...'') ; green : verda (''...'') ; lime : citronkolora (''...'') ; navy (blue) : mariste blua (''...'') ; orange: oran?a (''...'') ; pink : roza (''...'') / rozkolora (''...'') ; purple : purpura (''...'') ; red : ru?a (''...'') ; turquoise : turkiskolora (''...'') ; violet : viola (''...'') / violkolora (''...'') ; white : blanka (''...'') ; yellow : flava (''...'')

Transportation

Bus and Train

; How much is a ticket to _____? : Kiom kostas bileto al _____? ; One ticket to _____, please. (bus, train) : Mi volus bileton al _____. ; Where does this train/bus go? : Kie ?i tiu trajno/a?tobuso iras? ; Where is the train/bus to _____? : Kie estas la trajno/a?tobuso al _____? ; Does this train/bus stop in/at _____? : ?u tiu trajno/a?tobuso haltas en/?e _____? ; When does the train/bus for _____ leave? : Kiam la trajno/a?tobuso por _____ lasos? ; When will this train/bus arrive in _____? : Kiam tiu trajno/a?tobuso alvenos en _____?

Directions

; north : nordo (''...'') ; south : sudo (''...'') ; east : oriento (''...'') ; west : okcidento (''...'')

Taxi

Lodging

Money

Eating

; fruit (pl.) : fruktoj (..) ; apple : pomo (..) ; banana : banano (..) ; pineapple : ananaso (..)

; vegetables : legomoj (..) ; broccoli : brokolo (..) ; carrot : karoto (..) ; potato : terpomo (..)

Dietary requirements

; Dietary requirements. : Dietaj bezona?oj. (..) ; I am a... : Mi estas... (mee EST-ahs) ; ...vegetarian. : ...vegetarano. (veh-geh-tah-RAH-noh) ; ...vegan. : ...vegetalano. (veh-geh-tah-LAH-noh) / ...vegan. (veh-GAH-noh) ; ... coeliac. : ...celiakiulo. (..) ; I don't eat... : Mi ne man?as... (mee neh MAHN-jahs) ; ...meat. : ...viandon. (vee-AHN-dohn) ; ...fish. : ...fi?a?on. (fee-SHAH-zhohn) ; ...seafood. : ...marman?a?on. (..) ; ...eggs. : ...ova?on. (oh-VAH-zhohn) ; ...dairy products. : ...lakta?on. (lahk-TA-zhohn) ; ...gluten. : ...glutenon. (..) ; ...wheat products. : ...tritika?ojn. ; ...nuts. : ...nuksojn. (..) ; ...peanuts. : ...arakidojn. (..) ; ...soy products. : ...soja?on. (..)

Bars

Shopping

Driving

Authority