- May (my) mata (mother) es (is) talimer (teacher). May mata es talimer.– My mother is a teacher.
- May (my) sista (sister) yao (to want) bikam (to become) leker (doctor). May sista yao bikam leker.– My sister wants to become a doctor.
- Sey (this) gela (girl) es (is) muy (very) jamile (beautiful). Sey gela es muy jamile.– This girl is very beautiful.
- Es (is) jamile (beautiful) hir (here). Es jamile hir.– It's beautiful here.
4. Impersonal sentence (without the subject)
- Pluvi (to rain) gro (much). Pluvi gro.– It rains / is raining much.
- Treba (it's necessary) shwo (to talk). Treba shwo.– It's necessary to talk.
- Es (is) garme (hot). Es garme. – It's hot.
5. Negation: negation particle bu is placed before the verb group.
- Lu (he) bu (not) somni (to sleep). Lu bu somni. – He doesn't sleep / isn't sleeping.
- Me (I) bu (not) wud (would) yao (to want) resti (to remain) dar (there). Me bu wud yao resti dar.– I won't stay there.
If there is at least one negative word in the phrase, the whole phrase gets a negative meaning. If there are several of them, that only emphasizes the negative meaning.
- Lu (he) bu (not) samaji (to understand) nixa (nothing), neva (never)! Lu bu samaji nixa, neva!– He doesn't understand anything, ever!
6. General question: the particle ob (is placed before the phrase):
- Ob yu (you) lubi (to love) me (I)? Ob yu lubi me? – Do you love me?
Possible answers: ya (yes), non (no), doh
a) Ob yu lubi me? – Ya, me lubi. Non, me bu lubi. – Do you love me? – Yes, I do. No, I don't.
b) Ob yu bu lubi me? – Ya / non, me bu lubi. Doh, me lubi. – Don't you love me? – No, I don't. Yes, I do.
Other ways to make a general question:
a) "bu ver?" (is placed after a phrase, with a comma):
- Es (is) hao (good) meteo (weather), bu (not) ver (really)? Es hao meteo, bu ver? – The weather is good, isn't it?
Possible answers: ver (yes, it's true), bu es ver (no, it isn't true).
b) Repeating of the verb with "bu" particle:
- Yu lai-bu-lai? – Are you coming (or not)?
7. Special question
In a special question the question word is put in the beginning of the phrase, the word order doesn't change. The inversion can occur only in the phrase with the verb "bi / es/ bin": Wo (where) es (is) may (my) kalam (pencil)? – Where is my pencil?
hu – who: Hu (who) somni (to sleep)? Hu somni? – Who sleeps?
kwo – what: Kwo (what) yu (you) vidi (to see)? Kwo yu vidi? – What do you see?
kwel – what sort of, which: Kwel (what) flor (flower) yu (you) pri (to like)? Kwel flor yu pri? – What flower do you like?
komo – how: Komo (how) yu (you) zwo (to make) se (this)? Komo yu zwo se? – How do you make this / have you made this?
way – why: Way (why) yu (you) bu (not) somni (to sleep)? Way yu bu somni? – Why don't you sleep?
wen – when: Wen (when) yu (you) lai (to come)? Wen yu lai? – When are you coming?
wo – where: Wo (where) es (is) may (my) docha (daughter)? Wo es may docha? – Where is my daughter?
a wo – where, to what direction: A wo (where) yu (you) yao (to want) go (to go)?A wo yu yao go? – Where do you want to go?
fon wo – where from: Fon wo (where from) yu (you) lai (to come)? Fon wo yu lai? - Where do you come from?
kwanto – how many, how much: Kwanto (how many) bonbon (sweets) yu (you) he ("past tense") chi (to eat)? Kwanto bonbon yu he chi? – How many sweets have you eaten?
8. Emphasizing of the whole phrase meaning: ya (before or after the predicate)
- Me (I) ya lubi (to love) yu (you)! Me ya lubi yu! – I love you indeed!
- Es (is) ya hao (good) dey (day)! Es ya hao dey! – What a good day!
9. Emphasizing of a single word: hi (in assertion), ku (in a question)
- Me (I) hi bu (not) yao (to want) somni (to sleep). Me hi bu yao somni. – Personally I don't want to sleep.
- Yu (you) ku bu (not) yao (to want) somni (to sleep)? Yu ku bu yao somni? – Is it you who doesn't want to sleep? Compound Sentence[edit]
1. The sentence topic: one can specialize the topic of the sentence at the beginning.
- Sey (this) aksham (evening), ob ("if") yu (you) ve ("will") go (to go) a ("to") koylok (somewhere)? Sey aksham, ob yu ve go a koylok? – Are you going somewhere tonight?
2. Simple sentences may be combined into complex ones by conjunctions or combination "preposition + ke":
- Me (I) pri (to like) gani (to sing) e (and) yu (you) pri (to like) rasmi (to draw). Me pri gani e yu pri rasmi. – I like to sing and you like to draw.
- Me (I) wud ("would") yao (to want) lekti (to read) bat (but) kitaba (book) yok (there is no). Me wud yao lekti bat kitaba yok. – I would like to read but there is no book.
- Me (I) promeni (to go walking) obwol (although) pluvi (to rain). Me promeni obwol pluvi. – I'm walking although it's raining.
- Me (I) mog (can) go (go) adar (there), bat (but) sol (only) kun (with) ke ("that") yu (you) go (to go) toshi (too). Me mog go adar, bat sol kun ke yu go toshi. – I can go there, but only if you also go.
3. One simple sentence may be a constituent of another sentence. It may take place of:
3.1. the object
a) with the conjunction ke:
- Me (I) vidi (to see) ke ("that") ela (she) rasmi (to draw). Me vidi ke ela rasmi. – I can see that she is drawing.
b) with preposition + the conjunction ke:
- Me (I) shwo (talk) om (about) ke ("that") yu (you) bu (not) gun (to work). Me shwo om ke yu bu gun. – I talk about the fact that you don't work.
c) with the particle ob:
- Me (I) bu (not) jan (to know) ob ("if") ta (he / she) es (is) in (in) dom (house). Me bu jan ob ta es in dom. – I don't know if he / she is at home.
d) with a question word:
- Me (I) jan (to know) kwo (what) yu (you) yao (to want). Me jan kwo yu yao. – I know what you want.
e) After perception verbs (vidi (to see), kan (to look), audi (to hear), slu (to listen) etc.) there are can be "noun + participle" combination:
- Me (I) vidi (to see) ela (her) rasmi-she (drawing). Me vidi ela rasmi-she. – I see her draw.
3.2. attribute
a) If the attribute phrase is before the noun, use ti .. na to mark it:
- { Ti yu (you) vidi (to see) na boy (boy) } janmog (can) gani (to sing) hao (well). Ti yu vidi na boy janmog gani hao. – The boy that you see can sing well.
b) If the attribute phrase is after the noun, it is introduced by the conjunction ke:
- { Boy (boy) ke ("that") yu (you) vidi (to see) } janmog (to know how) gani (to sing) gro-hao (greatly). Boy ke yu vidi janmog gani gro-hao. – The boy that you see can sing beautifully.
- { To (that) ke ("that") yu (you) shwo (to say) } es (is) hao (good). To ke yu shwo es hao. – The thing that you are talking about is good.