Reading Strategies
Esperanto Reading 1
Chapter 1 · Reading Strategies
🔍 Reading Strategies — Legostrategioj
Grammar 1 taught you how Esperanto works and Basic 1 taught you what to say. This course is about reading, and it starts with the most useful habit: you do not need to know every word to understand a text. Esperanto gives you the tools to work out most of the rest.
Step 1: Read the endings
Every Esperanto word announces its job by its last letters, so before you look up anything you can sort a sentence into parts:
| Ending | Job | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -o | noun | lerno learning |
| -a | adjective | bona good |
| -e | adverb | bone well |
| -i | verb: infinitive | lerni to learn |
| -as, -is, -os | verb: present, past, future | lernas, lernis, lernos |
| -us, -u | verb: conditional, command | lernus, lernu |
| -j | plural | libroj books |
| -n | object (or direction) | libron a book (as object) |
So in a sentence you have never seen, look for the verb first (-as, -is, -os), then the nouns, then the words that describe them. The -n tells you which noun is the object, even if it comes first.
Step 2: Take the word apart
An unfamiliar word is often a familiar root with a familiar affix. Cut off the ending, look for the suffix or prefix, and read what is left:
| Word | Parts | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lernejo | lern (learn) + -ej- (place) + -o | school |
| instruisto | instru (teach) + -ist- (person with the job) + -o | teacher |
| knabino | knab (boy) + -in- (female) + -o | girl |
| malbona | mal- (opposite) + bon + -a | bad |
| manĝejo | manĝ (eat) + -ej- + -o | a place to eat, a canteen |
| interreto | inter (between) + ret (net) + -o | the internet |
Chapter 5 of Esperanto Grammar 1 listed the common affixes. In a reading text the skill is to apply them quickly, without a table in front of you.
Step 3: Spot the roots you already know
Much of Esperanto's vocabulary comes from the Romance and Germanic languages, so many roots are close to English, French or German. Words like teatro, muziko, telefono, universitato and restoracio can be read at sight, and a stranger-looking word is often a compound of two of them: stacidomo is stacio (station) + domo (house), a station building.
Step 4: Use the context, and keep going
- Read to the full stop. The word you are stuck on is often explained by the end of the sentence.
- Find the verb, then ask who does it. The subject has no -n.
- Guess, then check. Put your guess into the sentence. If it makes sense, move on.
- Look a word up only when it blocks you. Keep a short list of those words.
📖 A First Text — Unua teksto
Read the text once without looking at the word list. Then read it again with the list. A translation is at the end, to check your reading.
Mia taga vojo
| Esperanto | English | Esperanto | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| loĝi | to live (somewhere) | apud | near, beside |
| urbo | town | labori | to work |
| kie | where | instrui | to teach |
| mateno | morning | trajno | train |
| vojaĝo | journey | daŭri | to last |
| tridek | thirty | minuto | minute |
| dum | during | legi | to read |
| vespero | evening | laca | tired |
| ĝoji | to be glad | infano | child |
Show a translation
Hello! My name is Maria and I live in a small town near Edinburgh. I work in a school, where I teach the French language. In the morning I go to the school by train. The journey lasts thirty minutes, and during the journey I often read. In the evening I am tired, but I am glad, because the children are very friendly.
Taking it apart
| Part of the text | What to notice |
|---|---|
| Mia nomo estas Maria | mia is the possessive of mi with the adjective ending -a, and estas is the present of esti. |
| loĝas, laboras, instruas | Three verbs with the same ending -as: present tense, whoever the subject is. |
| lernejo | lern + -ej- + -o, a place of learning. |
| la francan lingvon | Adjective and noun both end in -n, so both belong to the object of instruas. |
| Matene, Vespere | Adverbs from mateno and vespero: "in the morning", "in the evening". |
| tridek minutojn | tri + dek (three tens); the -n on minutojn shows how long the journey lasts. |
| amikaj | Adjective from amiko (friend), plural to agree with infanoj. |
✏️ Try It Yourself — Ekzercoj
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Name the part of speech of each word from its ending: rapide, libroj, legas, granda, skribi.
Show answer
rapide adverb, libroj plural noun, legas present-tense verb, granda adjective, skribi infinitive.
2. Take vendisto apart, given that vendi means "to sell".
Show answer
vend + -ist- + -o: a person who sells, a seller or shop assistant.
3. A trinkejo is a place to drink. Which root and which suffix?
Show answer
trink (drink) + -ej- (place) + -o: a bar or pub.
4. In Matene mi iras al la lernejo per trajno, find the verb and the subject.
Show answer
The verb is iras (ending -as) and the subject is mi.
5. In Mi instruas la francan lingvon, which words are the object, and how do you know?
Show answer
la francan lingvon. Both francan and lingvon end in -n.
6. Guess the meaning of stacidomo from its parts.
Show answer
stacio (station) + domo (house): a station building.
7. Answer in English about the text: Where does Maria work? How does she travel? How long does the journey take?
Show answer
She works in a school. She travels by train. The journey takes thirty minutes.
8. Why is Maria glad in the evening, even though she is tired?
Show answer
Because the children are very friendly (ĉar la infanoj estas tre amikaj).
9. A newspaper says La aktuala situacio. Does it mean "the actual situation" or "the current situation"?
Show answer
The current situation: aktuala means current.
10. List the four steps of the reading method from this chapter in your own words.
Show answer
Read the endings to find the verb and the nouns; take unknown words apart into root and affixes; recognise roots you already know; use the context and keep reading.
Words used in this chapter
loĝi live · apud near · urbo town · labori work · kie where · instrui teach · mateno morning · trajno train · vojaĝo journey · daŭri last · tridek thirty · minuto minute · dum during · legi read · vespero evening · laca tired · ĝoji be glad · infano child · vendi sell · trinki drink · manĝi eat · ret- net · inter between · stacio station · aktuala current · eventuala possible