Roots and Endings
Esperanto Word-Building
Chapter 1 · Roots, Endings and the Dictionary
🧱 Roots and Endings — Radikoj kaj finaĵoj
Esperanto Grammar 1 gave you the idea in one chapter: you learn a root once and make the rest. This course is the training for it. This first chapter lays the foundation: what a root is, what an ending does to it, how to read a dictionary entry, and which words are not built at all.
One root, four jobs
Take the root dank-. On its own it means thanks. Add an ending and it takes a job:
| Word | Parts | Job | Meaning (ReVo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| danko | dank + -o | noun | a word or gesture of thanks (dankon! thank you!) |
| danki | dank + -i | verb (infinitive) | to thank |
| danka | dank + -a | adjective | thankful, grateful |
| danke | dank + -e | adverb | thankfully; because of |
The verb then takes its tense ending in place of -i: dankas (thanks), dankis (thanked), dankos (will thank). The noun takes -j and -n: dankoj (thanks, plural), dankon (thanks, as an object). Nothing else changes: the root stays the same.
Reading a dictionary entry
The online dictionary Reta Vortaro (ReVo) organises its entries by root. Its headword shows the root and the ending of the main form separated by a slash, so the entry for to work appears as labor/i. The root is labor-, and the entry then lists its family:
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| labori | to work |
| laboro | work, a task |
| laboristo, laborulo | a manual worker, a labourer |
| laborema | hardworking |
| mallaborema | lazy |
| kunlabori, kunlaboro | to collaborate, collaboration |
| senlabora | idle, unemployed |
You cannot yet make all of these. By the end of the course you will be able to build every one of them from labor- and take them apart again. For now, notice how the dictionary groups them: you look up the root, not each separate word.
Not every form is listed
The rule of Esperanto is that you may put any ending on any root. A dictionary does not list every possible result. ReVo's entry for ripoz- (rest) lists ripozi (to rest), ripozo (a rest, a break) and ripozejo (a place of rest), among others, but no separate ripoza or ripoze. A reader would still understand them as "of rest" and "at rest", but a careful writer asks whether a form is established before using it.
| You find | What to do |
|---|---|
| The form is listed | Use the dictionary's meaning. |
| The form is not listed but the root and ending are clear | You can usually understand it. Before writing it yourself, check whether a listed word already says what you mean. |
| The meaning seems different from the root + ending | Look it up, because it may be a fixed word with its own sense. |
Words with no ending
A few small words are complete as they stand and take no ending: the article la, conjunctions like kaj (and) and sed (but), the negative ne, and most prepositions, such as al (to) and en (in). These are not built and cannot be taken apart. Some can still be used as building material: kunlabori (to collaborate) is made with kun (with) and senlabora (idle) with sen (without). Chapter 8 returns to this.
Note also danke al (thanks to), a preposition made from the adverb danke, and ne dankinde ("don't mention it"), where dankinda means deserving thanks.
📖 A Tiny Dialogue — Mallonga dialogo
Read it, then find the root dank- and help- in each line.
Dankon pro la helpo
Show a translation
"Thank you for the help!" "Not at all. I'm glad to help." "You are very helpful. I thank you."
Here helpema is built from help- with the suffix -em- (inclined to), which Chapter 5 teaches. Try to guess it from the context first.
✏️ Try It Yourself — Ekzercoj
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Give the root and the part of speech: danko, danki, danka, danke.
Show answer
The root is dank- in all four. danko noun, danki verb (infinitive), danka adjective, danke adverb.
2. Give the root of each: dankas, dankoj, dankan, dankajn.
Show answer
dank- each time. The extra letters are the verb ending -as, the plural -j, the object -n, and both together.
3. From the root help-, make the verb "to help" and the noun "help".
Show answer
helpi and helpo.
4. From the root kant- (sing), make "to sing" and "a song". Then say "I sang" and "I will sing".
Show answer
kanti (to sing), kanto (a song); Mi kantis (I sang), Mi kantos (I will sing).
5. How does ReVo show the root of to work in its headword?
Show answer
With a slash between the root and the ending: labor/i.
6. Which of these needs no ending, and why: kaj, libro, al, vidi?
Show answer
kaj and al are small words (a conjunction and a preposition) that stand as they are. libro and vidi are root + ending.
7. sen means "without". Guess the meaning of senlabora.
Show answer
"Without work": idle or unemployed.
8. In Mi dankas vin, find the verb, its root, and the object.
Show answer
The verb is dankas (root dank-, present tense -as); the object is vin, marked with -n.
9. dankinda means "deserving thanks". What does ne dankinde say to someone who thanks you?
Show answer
It is a polite reply meaning "not worth thanking", that is, "don't mention it" or "you're welcome".
10. You meet a new word, ripozejo. Write the three steps you follow to understand it.
Show answer
Remove the ending (-o, a noun); find the root and any affix (ripoz- rest + -ej- place); then check the dictionary: ReVo gives "a place where one rests", and also "a grave".
Words used in this chapter
radiko root · finaĵo ending · danki thank · helpi help · labori work · ripozi rest · kanti sing · vortaro dictionary · ĝoje gladly · sen without · kun with