- Val slu (to listen) pyu (more) atentem (attentively). Val slu pyu atentem. – It's worth listening more attentively.
6.7. “state” verb: sta
- Komo (how) yu (you) sta? Komo yu sta? – How are you?
- Me (I) sta hao (good, well). Me sta hao. – I'm well.
Compound words[edit]
1. When sequence of two words acquires a new meaning, at least a little, the words are written together and a compound word appears.
1.1. The last word is the main one in a sequence:
- gun (to work) + taim (time) = guntaim (action time)
- surya (sun) + flor (flower) = suryaflor (sunflower)
- maus (mouse) + kapter (catcher) = mauskapter (mouse trap)
1.2. Some words are regularly used to make compound words:
a) jen
(person), man (man), gina (woman): jadu (sorcery) – jadujen (sorcerer/sorceress) – jadugina (sorceress) – jaduman (sorcerer)b) yuan
(employee): polis (police) – polisyuan (policeman)c) guan
(institution): kitaba (book) – kitabaguan (library)d) lok(o)
(place): habitilok (habitation)e) menga
(great amount): jenmenga (crowd)f) fin
(end): lekti (to read) – finlekti (to read completely)g) swa
(oneself): swa-luba (self-love), swa-kontrola (self-control)h) for
(ahead): for-gunsa (work continuation)i) kontra
(against): kontratoxin (antidote); kontrapon (to oppose)j) sin
(without): sinsensu-ney (meaningless)k) tra
(through): go (to go) – trago (to go through)
Interchange of one part of speech for another[edit]
1. Noun to adjective:
a) -ney
(for nouns ending with -а the short form is acceptable: resta-ney = reste): interes (interest) – interes-ney (interesting)b) -ful
(full of): luma (light) – lumaful (full of light, luminous)c) -lik
(similar in appearance or character): gina (woman) – ginalik (feminine, womanly)
2. Adjective to noun:
2.1. Suffixes.
a) -a
(only for adjectives ending in -e) (“something or somebody characterized with this quality”)- adulte (grown-up) – adulta (a grown-up person), konstante (constant) – konstanta (a constant)
b) -(i)taa
(makes abstract nouns): vere (true) – veritaa (truth), hao (good) – haotaa (goodness)c) -nesa
: gao (high) – gaonesa (highness) – gaotaa (height)d) -nik
(characteristic feature): hao (good) – haonik (good one)e) -ka
(a thing having the quality): mole (soft) – molika (pulp)2.2. Particles:
a) lo
: Lo zuy (most) muhim (important) es (is) luba (love). – The most important thing is love.b) -la
/ -las: Walaa (here is) dwa (two) rosa (rose). Sey-la (this one) es (is) rude (red), toy-la (that one) es (is) blan (white). – Here are two roses. This one is red and that one is white.c) wan
(only about people): Syao (little) wan bu (not) lai (to come). – The little one isn't coming.
3. Adjective to adverb: -(e)m
(the stressed vowel doesn't change) or the same forma) for adjectives ending in -e: klare (clear) – klarem (clearly)
b) for adjectives ending in a consonant: santush (satisfied, contented) — santushem (contentedly)
c) for other adjectives the form doesn't change: hao (good, well), kway (quick, quickly)
4. Noun to adverb: -nem
: amiga (friend) – amiga-nem (friendly)
5. Noun to verb:
a) -vati
: pao (a bubble) – paovati (to bubble)