People and Groups
Esperanto Word-Building
Chapter 3 · People and Groups
👥 People and Groups — Homoj kaj grupoj
One root can name an idea, and a handful of suffixes turn it into the people connected with it: who has it, who does it for a living, who belongs to it, who leads it, who descends from it. This chapter covers nine of them and, more importantly, how to choose between the ones that sound alike.
The person suffixes
| Suffix | Meaning (ReVo) | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -ul- | a being characterised by what the root expresses | riĉulo rich person, timulo coward, fiulo villain |
| -in- | female | fratino sister, heroino heroine, ĉevalino mare |
| -ist- | a person whose regular activity it is; or an adherent of a doctrine | dentisto dentist, ĝardenisto gardener, esperantisto |
| -an- | a member of a group; an inhabitant of a country | urbano townsman, kursano course member, kanadano Canadian |
| -estr- | the one who actually directs | ŝipestro captain, urbestro mayor, vilaĝestro village head |
| -id- | offspring, descendant | hundido a dog's offspring, ĉevalido young horse, reĝido prince |
| -ar- | a collection of the same kind of beings or things | homaro humankind, arbaro forest, tendaro camp, militistaro army |
Two prefixes for family
| Prefix | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ge- | both sexes together, in the plural | gepatroj parents, geedzoj husband and wife, gefratoj brothers and sisters, gesinjoroj Mr. and Mrs. |
| bo- | related by marriage | bofrato brother-in-law, bogepatroj parents-in-law |
When both are used, bo- comes first: bogepatroj. ReVo says this is the order in the Fundamento, and notes that the later dictionary PIV2 prefers the reverse.
-ul-, -ist- and -an-: which one?
These three overlap, and learners confuse them. A working rule:
| Ask | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Is the root a quality? | -ul- | riĉa rich → riĉulo a rich person |
| Is the root an activity or doctrine, and is it this person's regular work or cause? | -ist- | ĝardeno garden → ĝardenisto gardener |
| Is the root a group, place or country that the person belongs to? | -an- | Kanado → kanadano |
Stacking suffixes
The suffixes combine from left to right, each acting on everything before it. ReVo has ŝipanaro (a ship's crew), and estrarano (a board member):
| Word | Parts | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| ŝipanaro | ŝip + an + ar + o | ship + member + collection: all the members of the ship, the crew |
| estrarano | estr + ar + an + o | leader + group + member: a member of the leadership body, a board member |
| multinfanulino | mult + infan + ul + in + o | many + child + person + female: a mother of many children |
Order changes the meaning. ŝipanaro and estrarano use the same two suffixes but name different things.
📖 A Short Text — Mallonga teksto
Find the suffixes and say what each one adds.
Mia familio
Show a translation
My sister is a dentist. Her husband is a Canadian, and her parents live in a village. The village head is their friend.
✏️ Try It Yourself — Ekzercoj
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Choose -ul-, -ist- or -an- for: a person who is rich; a person who works with gardens; a person from Canada.
Show answer
riĉulo (quality), ĝardenisto (regular work), kanadano (belongs to a country).
2. Make the female forms of frato, heroo, ĉevalo.
Show answer
fratino, heroino, ĉevalino.
3. Take apart urbestro, militistaro and reĝido.
Show answer
urb + estr + o (town leader, mayor); milit + ist + ar + o (soldiers collectively, an army); reĝ + id + o (a king's child, a prince).
4. What do gepatroj and patroj mean? How do they differ?
Show answer
gepatroj is a father and a mother together (parents); patroj is several fathers.
5. Build the word for "parents-in-law", and say why the prefixes are in that order.
Show answer
bogepatroj. The Fundamento puts bo- first, which is also the order ReVo gives (the later dictionary PIV2 prefers the reverse).
6. Why is kirurgisto not preferred over kirurgo?
Show answer
Because kirurgo already names the person. ReVo says not to add -ist- to such words.
7. What is the difference in order between ŝipanaro and estrarano?
Show answer
ŝipanaro is member then collection: the whole crew. estrarano is collection then member: one member of the board. The suffixes act in order, so the result differs.
8. Which suffix would you use for "a group of trees"? Give the word.
Show answer
-ar-: arbaro (a forest).
9. Is gepatro (singular) a good word for "one parent"? What does ReVo suggest?
Show answer
It is disputed. The traditional sense of ge- is "both together", so ReVo suggests gepatrano (one of the parents) and advises against singular uses like geknabo.
10. Write one sentence of your own about a family member, a job and a place, using at least two suffixes from this chapter.
Show answer
One possibility: Mia onklino estas instruistino kaj loĝas en urbo. (My aunt is a teacher and lives in a town.) Here -in- marks female and -ist- the profession.
Words used in this chapter
riĉulo rich person · dentisto dentist · kanadano Canadian · vilaĝestro village head · hundido young dog · homaro humankind · gepatroj parents · bofrato brother-in-law · ŝipanaro crew · edzo husband · onklino aunt