The following words, which have already been used in the previous lessons, are always placed before nouns or pronouns, to show the relation (of position, etc.) between the thing for which the noun stands and another thing or an action.
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al, to, towards. apud, beside, near, by. da, of (indefinite quantity). de, of from, by. el, out of. en, in, into, within. ekster, outside. ĝis, until, till, as far as. inter, between, among. kontraŭ, against, opposite. kun, (in company) with. |
laŭ, according to. per, by means of, with. post, after, behind. pri, concerning, about. por, for, for the sake of. sen, without. super, above, over. sur, on, upon. tra, through. trans, across, on the other side. je, (has no definite meaning). |
(These words are called Prepositions, which means placed before).
The other simple prepositions are—
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anstataŭ, instead of. antaŭ, before. ĉe, at, with. ĉirkaŭ, about, around. krom, besides, except. malgraŭ, notwithstanding, in spite of. |
po, at the rate of. pro, for (cause), owing to. preter, past, beyond, by. spite, in despite of. sub, under. |
The prepositions anstataŭ, antaŭ (ol), and por are also used before Infinitive verbs, as anstataŭ diri, instead of saying (to say); antaŭ ol paroli, before speaking; por lerni, in order to learn.
In Esperanto all the prepositions except “je” have a definite meaning, and care must be taken to use the one which conveys the exact sense. The same word cannot be used for “with” in the two sentences “He went with his father” and “He cut it with a knife,” or for “about” in “He spoke about his child” and “They stood about the stove.” In the first example “with” his father is “kun”, in company with, Li iris kun sia patro, and “with” a knife is “per”, by means of, Li tranĉis ĝin per tranĉilo. “About,” in “about his child,” is “pri,” concerning, Li parolis pri sia infano, but “about,” in “about the stove,” is “ĉirkaŭ,” around, Ili staris ĉirkaŭ la forno.
When we cannot decide which is the correct preposition to use in any case, we may use “je,” the only preposition which has no special meaning of its own, or the preposition may be left out altogether, and “n” added to the noun or pronoun, provided that no want of clearness ensue (see Lesson 27), as Mi ridas pro lia naiveco, or, Mi ridas je lia naiveco, or, Mi ridas lian naivecon, I laugh at his simplicity.
When we wish to express “motion towards” something, and the preposition does not of itself express it, n is added to the noun or pronoun, as in the case of adverbs (see Lesson 12), Li estas en la domo, He is in the house; but, Li iras en la domon, He is going into the house.
Note.—There are three cases in which the noun or pronoun takes n. (i.). When it is the direct object of the verb, as Mi vidis lin, I saw him. (ii.). To show direction, as Li iris en la ĝardenon, He went into the garden. (iii.). When the preposition is left out. This is usually done in the case of dates and expressions signifying duration of time, as Georgo Vaŝington estis naskita la dudek-duan de Februaro de la jaro mil sepcent tridek du, George Washington was born the 22nd of February, 1732. Vi restos tie ĉi la tutan vivon (dum la tuta vivo), You will remain here your (the) whole life.
All the prepositions whose meaning allows of it can be used as adjectives, adverbs, etc., by adding the proper endings, as from antaŭ, before, we get antaŭa, former, antaŭe, formerly or previously, antaŭen, forward.
Prepositions are also joined to other words, and to prefixes or suffixes, as antaŭdiri, to foretell; apudmara urbo, a seaside town; senigi, to deprive of.
Sometimes the preposition is both prefixed to the verb and used after it before the noun, as Li eliris el la domo, kaj eniris en la ĝardenon, He went out of the house, and entered into the garden.