31
votes
Accepted
Does Esperanto have a gender-neutral pronoun that can be used for humans?
In his Lingva Respondo called "Pri pronomo por «homo»", Zamenhof explicitly said that "ĝi" can be used as a gender-neutral pronoun. However, he also acknowledged the problem that "ĝi" can sound ...
- 8,349
19
votes
Accepted
Should I ever use the pronoun "ci"?
You should use ci about as often as you would use thou in English. Or less.
The purpose of ci was to provide an alternative, singular form of vi for use in translations (or pseudo-translations), when ...
- 13.7k
17
votes
Should I ever use the pronoun "ci"?
In the Unua Libro (the first book about Esperanto from 1887), ci doesn't appear at all. Later Zamenhof introduced it in order to be able to render in translated works the distinction that most ...
- 8,349
16
votes
Does Esperanto have a gender-neutral pronoun that can be used for humans?
Sadly, like English, Esperanto has several solutions, none of which are entirely satisfactory.
According to PMEG, li essentially has two meanings: one is used to refer to a male person when the sex ...
- 17.3k
13
votes
When do you use "si" and "sia" instead of "li" and "lia"?
You asked for short:
Use si/sia when both are true
the pronoun is not part of the subject.
the pronoun refers to the subject of the verb.
Regarding point 1: you'll never see la viro kaj sia edzino ...
- 21.3k
12
votes
Accepted
When I assign sex to an animal, does it become li / ŝi?
Zamenhof's intuition was that human beings could be li, ŝi, or ĝi, but that animals are always ĝi.
Kiam oni parolas pri bestoj, mi konsilas ĉiam uzi nur la senseksan pronomon “ĝi”, — ne sole kiam (en ...
- 13.7k
11
votes
Accepted
When do you use "si" and "sia" instead of "li" and "lia"?
Use si or sia when referring to the already-introduced subject of the sentence:
La virino rigardis la bildon antaŭ si -> "The woman looked at the picture in front of her", the picture is in front of ...
- 3,191
10
votes
Accepted
Should I use pronouns when speaking in the imperative?
The function of the form -u in Esperanto is broader than the imperative known from Western European languages, hence it sometimes is called "volitive".
It marks something not as real (indicative -a/i/...
- 5,550
10
votes
When I assign sex to an animal, does it become li / ŝi?
You can do it either way.
From Fratoj Grimm
“Refreŝigu vin. La bovino ne donados lakton, ŝi estas maljuna bruto, ŝi povas taŭgi nur kiel tirbesto aŭ en buĉejo.”
From Malnova Testamento
Kaj oni ...
- 21.3k
9
votes
Accepted
How to translate "they" when it is refering to a single company, group, or country?
Usually Esperanto prefers syntactical over semantic aggreement, hence as Nintendo is a singular, it should be ĝi.
However, there is no rule nor tradition forbidding the use of plural ili in such ...
- 5,550
8
votes
Accepted
Ĉu eblas uzi «kie» kiel relativan pronomon en abstrakta senco?
Ĝenerale jes.
La plej rilata sekcio en PMEG donas tri ekzemplojn de uzoj de kie anstataŭ en kiu(j), ĉe kiu(j): (1) artikolojn, kie estis videble; (2) bieno, kie floris rozoj, (3) ne troviĝas, kie ...
- 13.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Is it incorrect not to use "sia"?
The use of sia is mandatory, there are no exceptions.*
Every competent speaker will understand the sentence
Li eniris lian domon
as referring to two different men.
*There are cases of complex ...
- 5,550
6
votes
Should I ever use the pronoun "ci"?
I use Esperanto almost every day. I never use "ci", though I have heard it used many years ago in left wing (SAT) circles in Bordeaux. To show friendliness, I usually add a word, such as "Kiel vi, ...
- 351
5
votes
Is it incorrect not to use "sia"?
I look at it this way. "Si" and "li" are different pronouns. Using the wrong pronoun in Esperanto is just as wrong as using the wrong pronoun in another language.
In English you have to use "her" if ...
- 21.3k
4
votes
When do you use "si" and "sia" instead of "li" and "lia"?
The grammar at Lernu regarding pronouns has detailed information about the use of si and sia, available in many languages (the link is to the English version), that is too long to copy here with all ...
- 6,078
4
votes
Can the ĝi pronoun be used for a person?
Yes. From ReVo:
la infano ploras, ĉar ĝi volas manĝi...
...ĉu ĝi estas vi? jes, ĝi estas mi...
- 4,672
4
votes
When I assign sex to an animal, does it become li / ŝi?
When the sex is not known, you use ĝi
Ĝi is used principally with animals and objects. Zamenhof also prescribed it to be the epicene pronoun for use when the sex of an individual is unknown. https:/...
- 4,672
4
votes
"kiun" instead of "kion" as direct object pronoun
kio
Das-g mentioned a chapter of PMEG that explains the differences between relative kio and kiu. The subchapter about kio lists four main cases when kio is used.
1. when referring to a correlative ...
- 4,129
3
votes
Why is kio correct instead of kion?
Only "kio" is correct here. "kion" would be wrong.
"kio" is used as a relative pronoun here, so it's part of the relative clause. While that "kio" refers back ...
- 3,663
3
votes
Should I use pronouns when speaking in the imperative?
The -u ending is used whenever there is any kind of pressure to do something. It can be used in a few ways.
As a command
Iru! (Go)
As a firm suggestion
Vi iru al la kinejo. (You should go to the ...
- 21.3k
3
votes
Can the ĝi pronoun be used for a person?
In general ĝi should only be used to refer to things that don’t have a natural gender or where the gender is considered irrelevant, such as a young child or some animals. The definition in PIV is as ...
- 17.3k
2
votes
Does Esperanto have a gender-neutral pronoun that can be used for humans?
In the Gramatiko of the Fundamento de Esperanto, we read that ĝi is suitable for animals or things:
(fr) il, elle, pour les animaux ou les choses
(de) es; von Thieren oder Sachen
(ru) оно; о вещи или ...
- 191
2
votes
Should I use pronouns when speaking in the imperative?
Both are correct; the imperative being for making something reality.
legu = read!
vi legu = you read!, you have to read, you should read
Legu la artikolon, por ke vi komprenu la aferon.
Vi pli bone ...
- 3,988
2
votes
Accepted
Perdite/perdita en ŝiaj/siaj pensoj…
Pri la vortoj siaj kaj ŝiaj:
Joan, perdite en siaj pensoj, forgesis ŝlosi la pordon. Temas pri la pensoj de Joan.
Joan, perdite en ŝiaj pensoj, forgesis ŝlosi la pordon. Temas pri la pensoj de alia ...
- 3,449
1
vote
Ĉu iu ajn uzas pronomojn verbe?
Jes, kelkaj parolantoj uzas pronomojn verbe, kun la signifo: aparteni al la persono(j) difinita(j) de la pronomo:
Tio miis, vi ne estus devinta ĝin preni!
Se tiu domo mius, mi farbus ĝin tute malsame
- 5,308
1
vote
Perdite/perdita en ŝiaj/siaj pensoj…
La du frazoj bonas, sed la signifo estas malsama:
Joan, perdite en siaj pensoj, forgesis ŝlosi la pordon.
Perdite estas adverbo, ĝi rilatas la manieron, kiel ŝi forgesis ŝlosi la pordon. Oni povas ...
- 5,308
1
vote
Does Esperanto have a gender-neutral pronoun that can be used for humans?
Some Esperantists use gi, derived from the prefix ge-.
- 127
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible