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I am mildly confused about this pair of roots. I learned about trink- first in words like trinki, trinkaĵo, trinkigi etc. Later I found drinkejo used for a pub, so my conclusion was that the latter has the connotation of drinking alcohol while the former would be any generic beverage. But then in ESPDIC I found that many translations are applicable to both (jen an excerpt of the search results on ^[td]rink):

drinkaĵo: (alcoholic) drink, booze
drinkejo: bar, pub, canteen, tavern, saloon
trinkaĵo: beverage, drink
trinkejo: bar, pub
trinko: drink, beverage

which seems quite symmetric, at least in these words. There still seems to be more cases supporting my guess, like

drinkemulo: boozer, alcoholic, drunkard, drunk
drinki: to drink (to excess)
drinkulo: boozer, alcoholic, drunkard, sot
trinkakvo: drinking water
trinkĉokolado: chocolate milk, hot chocolate

but there's also

trinkaĉi: to booze (it up)
trinki je ies sano: to drink to someone’s health

Unfortunately, most words do not have a direct equivalent (t- and d- used with the same affixes) which makes it harder to investigate further using this method. So, to what extent can I interchange these two?

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    I agree with what Lee Miller said in this discussion. --esperanto.stackexchange.com/questions/1948/… -- "ESPDIC aims specifically to document all usages of words in Esperanto, whether they're good or bad. I have significant hesitation about recommending it as a reference for people learning Esperanto."
    – Tomaso Alexander
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 13:07

2 Answers 2

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It looks like your source contains some errors.

The distinction is fairly simple.

  • trinki - to drink (something).
  • drinki - to drink alcohol to excess.

As a result, the right verb to use with a glass of wine is trinki.

Both trinkejo and drinkejo are common expressions for bar. The difference is nuance. You're more likely to encounter drunk people in a drinkejo. For what it's worth, drinkejo seems to be slightly more common.

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  • So much for trusting online resources :-) But how is trinkejo and drinkejo the same then? Or is it not? I also checked Wiktionary for these ones.
    – La Vo-o
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 13:06
  • I also just saw Vortaro about the above question (finding basically that trinkejo covers all of drinkejo and more). I need to remember to use it more.
    – La Vo-o
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 13:11
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    I've added info on trinkejo and drinkejo in my response. I've also commented about ESPDIC on your original question.
    – Tomaso Alexander
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 13:12
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    Quite amusing that drinki (from engl. to drink) refers to the excessive alkohol consumption... Wonder what that says about the view of English people abroad :)
    – Oliver Mason
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 15:10
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    Christian - that's definitely pushing the meaning of the word drinki - trinkegi is better. You can get away with it as a joke, I suppose.
    – Tomaso Alexander
    Commented Nov 12, 2016 at 16:09
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I learned that the correct usage is to use 'trinki' for non-alcoholic drinks and to use 'drinki' for alcoholic drinks. In real life tho, since Esperanto does not have any official leadership to say what is correct and what is not, just like English, then use them how you want. If you are understood, then horay!

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  • Bonvenon ĉe Esperanto Language Stack Exchange! Welcome to Esperanto Language Stack Exchange! Please note that even without an "official leadership", if you use a language vastly different from common consensus, you won't be understood or will be misunderstood (people will understand something different than you intended). That being said, there are entities, such as the Akademio de Esperanto, that (by community consensus and tradition) are regarded as authorities on what is and what isn't correct Esperanto.
    – das-g ♦
    Commented Jun 19, 2020 at 9:55
  • @das-g, I could say the same thing to you. Why do you think you are right and i'm wrong? You give no reference to where you get the impression that the way i learned it is wrong. And you don't express why you think my understanding is wrong. You only insinuate that it is wrong. That is not helpful at all.
    – Shawn Kovac
    Commented Jul 1, 2020 at 6:54
  • About "trinki" vs. "drink", I didn't claim that you're wrong. Nor do I know how you learned or claim that it was the wrong way. My comment was in reply to "In real life tho, since Esperanto does not have any official leadership to say what is correct and what is not, just like English, then use them how you want." and "If you are understood, then horay!" Off course, no one can force you to use either language according to established rules or customs (and it's good that they can't) and off course language (gradually) develops by change of usage.
    – das-g ♦
    Commented Jul 1, 2020 at 8:39
  • But understanding is only possible through implicit or explicit common conventions, thus just using a language (any language) as one pleases, can easily cause not being understood or being misunderstood. Just wanted to point that out.
    – das-g ♦
    Commented Jul 1, 2020 at 8:40

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