Being Colloquial in Esperanto - A Reference Guide

Aug 22, 2026

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Being Colloquial in Esperanto - A Reference Guide is an English-language reference grammar for learners who have completed a basic Esperanto course. It focuses on how Esperanto is actually used by thoughtful speakers and writers, using American English as the standard and providing many fully translated, often colloquial examples. The guide avoids highly innovative linguistic analyses, emphasizes grammar explanations and usage conventions, and aims to help learners avoid errors while understanding real-world phrasing.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages347

Reading Time8 h 54 min

AccessFree to download

Preface & Acknowledgements

Purpose and audience

American English standard

Background of Esperanto

Approach to usage and style

Book structure and Part I

Being Colloquial in Esperanto A Reference Guide David K. Jordan As explained in its preface, my book Being Colloquial in Esperanto , originally published in 1992, was intended to answer the questions of American learners of that language who had completed an introductory textbook. It therefore consists of more complete descriptions of Esperanto than would be appropriate in an introductory work, but it is also characterized by very many examples, always fully translated. In addition, it tries to use the most familiar vocabulary possible to discuss Esperanto grammar, eschewing innovative analyses in favor of sometimes less precise terms already known to most readers. Like many another reference work, Being Colloquial in Esperanto is likely to be more useful in electronic format than in paper. The on-line rendering of this book still requires proofing, and active links among its many parts have yet to be fully developed. The web version differs from the paper one in that a small number of proof errors have been corrected and a few minor additions or trivial modifications have been included. The full paper version is still in print and available from the book service of Esperanto USA. The normal citation form for the paper edition is: JORDAN, David K . 1999 Being colloquial in Esperanto: a reference guide. Revised edition. El Cerrito, CA: Esperanto League for North America. ISBN:0-939785-04-8 The full colophon of the paper edition is: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jordan, David K . , 1942- Being colloquial in Esperanto: a reference guide /David K . Jor ix,232 [p. cm](p. cm) . Includes index. ISBN 0-939785-04-8 (alk. paper) 1. Esperanto — Grammar . I. Title . PM8211 .J67 1999 499’.9925—dc21 99-36515 CIP (First edition © 1992 University Press of America . Original title: Being Colloquial in Esperanto: A Reference Guide for Americans . ) Preface & Acknowledgements Preface This book is directed principally to speakers of English who have completed a basic course in Esperanto, either with a teacher or alone, and who seek a moderately complete Esperanto reference grammar in English with many examples. It is not intended as a first introduction to Esperanto, and hence is not arranged as a text book. There is of course tremendous variation in English usage around the world. This book uses American English as its standard. Esperanto was originally the creation of Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof (1859-1917), who, after years of experimentation, finally made his project public in 1887 in a simple list of sixteen grammatical rules and a vocabulary of a scant 900 roots. To this day Esperanto has a well-deserved reputation for being uncomplicated and logical. This does not imply that Esperanto words, sentences, or turns of phrase correspond exactly with those of English (or any other language) . Other languages, after all, have no reputation at all for being logical! Further, in the course of the century and more of its use, Esperanto has been substantially refined and expanded by its community of speakers, just as Zamenhof intended. Conventions of style and usage have grown up through active usage of the language in different situations and for different goals. Learners of Esperanto therefore often have questions about Esperanto usage. This book seeks to take account of how Esperanto is actually used by thoughtful speakers and writers today, and to provide answers to the kinds of questions English-speaking learners tend to ask. (A couple of reviewers of the first edition took exception to this approach, arguing that one should not admit to “beginners” that speakers were ever inconsistent with each other or ever had stylistic disagreements, or that any corner of Esperanto could possibly harbor illogicallity, or even that Esperanto had evolved or was continuing to evolve. But then one reviewer also argued that examples should never be funny either. So much for reviewers.) It has always se

FAQs

Who is Being Colloquial in Esperanto written for?

It is directed mainly to English speakers who have completed a basic Esperanto course and want a moderately complete reference grammar in English with many examples.

What language standard does the book use?

The book uses American English as its standard for explaining grammar and usage.

How does the book present Esperanto grammar and usage?

It provides fuller descriptions than an introductory text while relying heavily on many fully translated, colloquial examples. It also references style, taste, and usage points that are often left unexplained.

Aug 22, 2026

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