(2) If he ever comes, … → Se il ul-tempe venos, …
Ever, in compound words like whenever, wherever, whoever, is translated irge, irga, etc.:
• Do whatever you like → Facez irgo quon vu volas.
• Whatever might be his anger, … → Irga quala (or, quanta) esas ilua iraco…
• Whoever they may be, … → Irge qui li esas, …
• Whenever I hear the birds singing, … → Irga kande me audas la uceli kantar…
• Whichever is here, … → Irga qua esas hike,
• Give me anything whatever → Donez a me irgo.
• Let it be ever so small → Irge quante mikra ol esos, …
• We have bought ever such a tiny cottage → Ni kompris tote mikra rurdometo.
The word just can be (1) an adjective meaning correct, translated justa; (3) an adverb meaning the moment before now translated jus; (4) an adverb meaning the moment now coming, translated quik; (5) an adverb meaning exactly, translated exakte, juste:
(1) He made a very just remark → Il facis tre justa remarko.
(2) Be just and fear not → Esez yusta e ne timez.
(3) She has just come → El jus arivis.
(4) She is just coming → El esas nun venanta (quik venonta).
• I will just do it, and then I am ready → Me quik facos lo, e lore me esos pronta.
(5) It’s just the thing I want → Ol esas juste to quon me deziras.
Both, as a pronoun, is translated we two, they two, the two: as an adverb, at the same time together; or, in many cases, by the use of also:
• They both went to the station → Li du iris a la staciono.
• We were both agreed → Ni du konkordis.
• Both the men were drunk → Omna du viri esis ebria.
• Both I and my brother think so → Me ed anke mea frato opinionis tale.
• All the tourists were both hungry and thirsty → Omna turisti sam-tempe hungris e durstis.
• The address was both on the paper and on the envelope → La adreso esis sur la papero ed anke sur la kuverto.
Lesson XX
Generally speaking, the English order of words is the clearest, since English, having few inflexions, has to arrange its words logically, subject, verb, object:
› Me amas il, I love him.
The adjective (if there is only one, and not too long) is better placed before the noun:
› Longa voyo, A long way.
(Voyo longa would, of course, also be correct).
Adverbs are also normally placed before the word they modify:
› Il vere dicis, ke il tote komprenas.
The adverbs ne and tre must always be placed before their word:
› Me tre amas il, I like him very much.
› Ne tote, Not entirely (= not quite).
› Tote ne, entirely not (= not at all).
Any noun, adjective, or pronoun can be made an accusative, but only when it is the direct object of a verb and placed before the subject. This is done by adding an -n:
• A fine story, he told me! Bela rakonton il facis a me!
• It was they that I called, Lin me vokis.
The pronouns il, el, ol, are abbreviations for ilu, elu, olu, and their accusatives would be ilun, elun, olun:
› Elun me tante amis! She it was whom I loved so!
But the accusative is not necessary, if the object is preceded by the subject:
› Me li vidis, I saw them (= I saw them).
Nouns can be united as in English to do away with a preposition:
• A tea-cup (= a cup for tea), te-taso (= taso por teo).
• A steam-ship, vapor-navo.
The -o- between the words depends on the euphony: skribo-tablo or skrib-tablo, but tablo-tuko (not tabl-tuko). The hyphen is often better inserted:
• fervoyo-vagono (rather than fervoyovagono).
When the compound is formed with adjectives or adverbs, it may be useful to write the termination:
• English-speaking people, Angle-parolanti.
• Sky-blue, Ciel-blua.
• Sunburnt, Sun-brulita.
• A dark-eyed, curly-headed little boy, Nigr-okula loklo-hara pueruleto.
Compound words formed with prepositions take the preposition first and remain in the same order as in English:
› sub-tera, subterranean.
Such compound words do not require the usual affixes, as the relation is expressed by the preposition:
› nacion-al-a, national.
› inter-nacion-a, international.
Again
› natur-al-a natural.
› super-natur-a supernatural.
In compound words formed by a preposition and a verb, care should be taken not to let the compound form alter the object of the verb. For instance:
› Me vidas la stoni di la fundo tra la aquo,
• I see the stones at the bottom through the water.
becomes as a compound:
› Me tra-vidas la stoni di la fundo, en la aquo (not: me travidas la aquo).
The adjective travidebla, therefore, cannot mean transparent; it only applies to the stones, and means visible through (the water). (The word transparent is diafana: Stoni travidebla tra diafana aquo).
Many verbs, in the L.I. as in English, can be transitive or intransitive:
› Mea laboro komencas, duras, cesas (intransitive);
› Me komencas, duras, cesas mea laboro or laborar (transitive).
The following are used without a subject, and are followed by an infinitive:
oportas = it is necessary.
importas = it is important.
konvenas = it is convenient.
decas = it is proper.
suficas = it is sufficient.
› Oportas levar ni frue morge,
• It is necessary to raise ourselves early tomorrow (= We must get up early tomorrow).
Other impersonal verbs can be formed by the use of esar with an adjective:
› Esas utila vakuigar la barelo,
• It is useful to empty the barrel.
The logical relation of words must be strictly adhered to in derivation. We cannot, for example, derive the verb to address, from the noun address, except by means of the affix -iz, to cover with: