LINGWA DE PLANETA GRAMMAR with examples

Lingwa de Planeta (LdP for short) is a neutral international auxiliary language on the basis of the ten most widely spoken world languages including six western European — English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian — and Chinese, Russian, Hindi, and Arabic. LdP also includes words from other languages to some extent. See more detailed general description at  http://lingwadeplaneta.info/

Contents

Alphabet and pronunciation

Stress

Pronouns and related words

Verbs

Nouns

Adjectives

Adverbs

Comparison

Numerals

Word formation

Prepositions, conjunctions

Interjections, particles

Syntax

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Alphabet

The LdP alphabet is based on the Latin one and contains 25 letters:

 There is no letter «q», and «c» is used only in combination «ch».

Consonants

The combination «ng» at the end of a word is pronounced as one sound: [ŋ] (like in «doing») is preferred, but [n] is also possible. In the middle of a word this combination is read exactly as combination of «n» plus «g».

The letter «x» denotes the combination of letters «ks». Between vowels it is recommended to read it as the combination of letters «gs». In the position before a consonant may be read as [s].

Double consonants are not used.

Vowels

The letter «y».

The letters «i» and «y» denote the same sound [i]. The use of «y» basically indicates that the sound is not stressed: pyu [piú]. Besides, «y» at the end of a word indicates that the word is not a verb: krai to cry — skay sky.

Stress

The main rule is: the vowel before the last consonant or «y» is stressed:

máta mother, suóla sole (of footwear), matéria matter, nóve new, kórdia heart, aktór actor, aván forward, krokodíl crocodile, dúmi to think, jámi to gather, báya berry, jaopáy signboard.

In words of the shape (C)CVV like háo good, well, krái to cry the first vowel is stressed.

In the combination "au" "a" is stressed:

áusen outside, áudi to hear, áuto car, máus mouse, káusa cause.

In the combinations "ai", "ei" — "i" is not stressed:

máini to mean, fáil file, bréin brain, méil mail.

There are 4 consonant endings which are never stressed. These are –en, –us, –um, –er: ínen inside, íven even, désnen to the right of, vírus virus, fórum forum, sírkum around; ínter between, kompyúter computer.

The endings of nouns and adjectives -ik-, -ul- are unstressed:

gramátika, pedagógika, públika, Áfrika, Amérika, polítike, lógike, únike, psikológike; stímula, ángula. This doesn’t apply to compound words with –fula like handafúla handful.

Non-standard stress is indicated through a doubled vowel: kwantitaa quantity, kwalitaa quality (and all abstract nouns derived from adjectives via the stressed suffix –(i)taa); namastee hello, adyoo good-bye, bifoo before, malgree in spite of, shosee highway, milyoo milieu. The use of a doubled vowel is justified by that the stress in LdP is basically quantitative. A doubled vowel in a word with a single vowel (like in 'zoo') is not regarded to be a stress mark.

Stress and word formation.

Plural endings –(e)s, adverb suffix –em and noun suffix –ing do not change stress: suólas soles, kórdias hearts, naturálem naturally (from naturále natural), físhing fishing (from físhi to fish).

Compound words are stressed according to meaning: auslándajén foreigner.

All the suffixes beginning with a consonant are in fact one- or two-syllable semantic particles, so words formed with them may be regarded as compound ones, with the corresponding stress: pártiayuán a party member, sindómnik a homeless person, gínalík womanly (from gína woman), kúsishil tending to bite (from kúsi to bite), ófnitúl opener, vídibíle visible.

A text with stress indicated

Bashán om humanístike transfórma de sosietáa

Namastée, káre amígas!

Me jói sinsérem por vídi yu, me jói ke nu es snóva pa húnta e ke nu mog diréktem diskúsi kwéstas kel agíti nu óli.

Probléma, ke nu zun durán yo pyú kem shi yar, es do tal natúra, ke ye óltáim pyú de sey kwéstas e li bikám óltáim pyú agúde.

Álso, fórmuli-yen nuy jawábas a li, nu mus bi óltáim pyú skrupulóse.

In may repórta sedéy me wud yáo detalísi plúri prinsíp-ney tésa prisénti-ney bay me in pási-ney yar.

Dan, al konklúsi may bugrán bashán, me shwo-te, ke fo nu es tótem evidénte ke humanístike transfórma de sosietáa es buevítibíle.

Pronouns and Related Words

Personal pronouns

me — I

yu — you (sg., pl.)

ta — he, she, it (common for animate)

lu — he

ela — she

it — it (inanimate)

nu — we

li — they

Pronoun yu

General pronoun for 2^nd person. If it’s necessary to stress that you address a group, not a single person, you can use combinations like “yu oli” (you all), “yu ambi” (you both), “yu tri” (you three). Also it's possible to use "yu un" (you one) to clarify that you've switched from a group to an individual.

Pronoun ta

General pronoun for animate objects in 3^rd person singular.

Kwo ta shwo? — What does he/she say?

Me vidi ta — I see him/her (or an animal).

Es doga. Ta nami Sharik — It’s a dog. Its name is Sharik.

This pronoun can be used instead of lu and ela, which is comfortable for native speakers of languages without genders and special pronouns for "he" and "she" (e.g., Chinese, Finnish). Besides, it is convenient to use this pronoun in situations when the gender of a person is not defined exactly:

Es sempre hao si jen jan kwo ta yao. – It is always good when a man (or it may be a woman as well) knows what he/she wants.

Pronoun it

The pronoun it relates to inanimate objects:

Se es auto. It go kway. — This is a car. It goes fast.

It does not have the meaning "this, that" (as reference to the actions, conditions or events mentioned in the preceding or following statement); these meanings are expressed by pronouns "se" (this) and "to" (that):

Me jan to. — I know that. ("Me jan it" would mean "I know it (something inanimate)").

Declension of personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are invariable:

Me jan ke yu lubi me. — I know that you love me.

Me dumi mucho om yu — I think much about you.

Ob yu dumi-te mucho om me? — Did you think much about me?

Ela lubi lu. — She loves him.

Lu lubi ela. — He loves her.

The dative case is marked with the preposition "a":

Dai a me sey kitaba, plis! — Give me please this book!

Me dai sey kitaba a ela. — I give this book to her.

Lu diki a nu luy nove bao. — He shows us his new bag.

Dai a li pyu taim. — Give them more time.

Possessive forms of personal pronouns

These may be regularly derived with the help of the particle “ney”:

But there are also shorter forms:

may — my

yur — your (sg., pl.)

suy — its, his, her, one's (general for 3^rd person singular)

luy — his

elay — her

nuy — our

ley — their

Suy is the universal possessive pronoun for the 3^rd person singular. It can be used instead of ta-ney, lu-ney, ela-ney, it-ney:

Suy jamile okos. – His/her beautiful eyes.

Es auto, suy kolor es rude. – This is a car, its colour is red.

It is natural to use "suy" or "ta-ney" in situations when the gender of a person is not specified:

Jen yusi ta-ney jansa fo adapti a milyoo. — Man uses his knowledge in order to adjust to the environment.

Demonstrative pronouns se and to

se — this (as a noun)

to — that (as a noun)

sey — this, these (before a noun, as an adjective)

toy — that, those (before a noun, as an adjective)

se — this. Used as a noun. Se, as compared with to, indicates a closer (in time or place) object, action, event, etc.

Se es auto. — This is a car (these are cars). (‘Se’ may be omitted in such sentences: Es auto. — This is a car, literally "is car").

Me jan se. — I know this.

to — that. Used as a noun. To, as compared with se, indicates a more remote (in time or place) object, action, event, etc.

Se es auto e to es bisikla. — This is a car, and that is a bicycle.

To es avion, bu faula. — That is an airplane, not a bird.

Me ve shwo a yu om to. — I shall tell you about that.

Me jan to. — I know that/it.

"To-es" — "that is".

The expression "to ke" denotes "the thing(s) which, what":

To ke yu shwo a me es prave. — What you tell me is right.

sey — this, these (before a noun, as an adjective).

Sey auto es hwan. — This car is yellow.

Sey autos es hwan. — These cars are yellow.

Ob sey dafta es yu-ney? — Is this copybook yours?

Sey daftas bu es yu-ney, es me-ney. — These copybooks aren't yours, they are mine.

toy — that, those (before a noun, as an adjective).

Sey auto es hwan e toy auto es blu. — This car is yellow, and that car is blue.

Hu es toy jen? — Who is that man?

Ob toy dafta es yu-ney? — Is that copybook yours?

Toy daftas bu es yu-ney, es me-ney. — Those copybooks aren't yours, they are mine.

Sey-la, toy-la

Sey-la, toy-la — this (one) or that (one), the one — may replace objects already mentioned.

Examples:

Dai a me kitaba! – Kwel? – Sey-la on tabla. — Give me the book! – Which one? – The one on the table.

Dai a me kitabas! – Kwel? – Sey-las on tana. — Give me books! – Which ones? – These ones on the shelf.

Walaa dwa kitaba. Sey-la es hao e toy-la es buhao. — Here are two books. This one is good, and that one is bad.

Walaa daftas. Sey-las es fo skribi e toy-las es fo rasmi. – Here are copybooks. These are for writing, and those are for drawing.

Interrogative and relative pronouns

kwo

what: Kwo es? What is it? Me jan kwo yu dumi. – I know what you think.

ke

1) that (relative pronoun): me jan ke yu lubi me – I know that you love me;

2) begins a modifying group after a noun, without prepositions:

Kitaba ke yu tralekti-te — The book that you have read;

Dom ke nu jivi — The house in which we live.

Jen ke me shwo — The man I am talking about.

Dao ke yu go — The way you are going.

kwel

what, which (interrogative): Kwel es lu? — What is he like? Kwel de li? —Which (one) from them?

kel

Which, what (relative):

jen kel zai lekti kitaba – the person that is reading a book;

kitaba om kel nu shwo-te — the book about which we spoke.

Combination "lo kel" means "what, which" as a noun: ela lai-te sunem, lo kel joisi-te me gro — she came quickly which pleased me much.

In the genitive kel-ney: profesor kel-ney kitabas nulwan lekti – the professor whose books nobody reads.

komo

1) How, in what way: Komo lu zin-te hir? — How did he enter here? Me bu jan komo lu zin-te hir. — I don't know how he entered. 2) How, how much: Komo gao es toy baum? — How high is that tree?

kom

1) As (in comparisons, references): gran kom elefanta – big as an elefant; kom me yo shwo-te – as I've already said; 2) as, in the capacity of: nau me gun kom disainer – now I work as a designer.

kwanto

how much, as much, how many, as many:

kwanto it kosti? — how much does it cost?

Me bu ve pagi tanto kwanto lu yao – I will not pay as much as he wants.

tanto

so much, so many, thus much:

tanto kway kom posible – as quick as possible.

Me es gro-fatigi-ney! Bu gai gun tanto. – I am so tired! I shouldn't work so much.

tanto kwanto treba – as much as needed

tanto ke me jan – as far as I know

bu tanto…kom – not so much…as.

Other

way – why

wen – when

wo – where; fon wo – where from, a wo – where, where to

Indefinite personal pronoun oni

Makes impersonal sentences like: oni shwo – they say; oni samaji ke... – one understands that..., it's clear that...

Reflexive pronoun swa

Common reflexive pronoun for all persons and numbers:

yu jan swa — you know yourself

ela heni swa — she hates herself;

me he wosh swa — I washed myself

lu he rasi swa — he shaved himself

li senti swa hao — they feel themselves good.

The possessive form is swa-ney (one's own, my own, your own, our own, thier own):

bay swa-ney okos — with one's own eyes.

The pronoun wan

It means «an individual».

Pyan wan — (someone who is) drunk.

Adulte wan — an adult.

Wan kel es hir, chu! — (The one) who is here, come out!

Wan kel jan, ta bu shwo. – He who knows, he doesn’t speak (the one who knows, doesn’t speak).

Toy wan kel yao mog go wek. — Those who want may go away.

The system of pronouns and adverbs

In LdP there is a system of compound pronouns and adverbs. Its important elements are:

koy — some

eni — any, whatever

kada – every

otre — other, another

ol — all, the whole of

nul — no (whatever), none (whatever)

These elements combining with others (loko – place (the suffix "lok" means "place" too), taim – time, ves – time (instance), wan – an individual, komo – how, -sa – noun suffix) may produce compound pronouns and adverbs:

koysa  — something

koywan  — someone

koylok  — somewhere

koytaim  — "somewhen", sometime

koygrad  — to some degree

koykomo  — in some way

enisa  — anything, whatever

eniwan  — anybody, anyone, any (person)

enilok  — anywhere

enitaim  — anytime

enikomo  — in any way

kadawan  — everyone

kadalok  — everywhere

oltaim — all the time, constantly

nullok  — nowhere

nulgrad  — not in the least

nulwan  — nobody

nulves  — not once, never

unves — once, one day

koyves — sometimes

otreves — next time, another time

enives — ever (at any time)

otrelok — in another place.

But there are also short, simple words for some concepts:

always — sempre

never  — neva

nothing — nixa

everything — olo
all, everybody — oli.

Verbs

Verb types

There are two verb types: i-verbs (type 1) and other verbs (type 2).

i-verbs are the verbs that end in «consonant+i», e.g.:

vidi – to see

audi – to hear

fini – to finish

sidi – to sit

dumi – to think

fobisi – to frighten

pri — to like

chi — to eat

pi — to drink.

Monosyllabic i-verbs like pri, chi, pi constitute a specific subtype characterized by that in derivation their –i is always preserved, e.g.:

chi — chier, chiing

pi — pier, piing

(ρf.: swimi — swimer, swiming).

Examples of type 2 verbs:

jan — to know

gun – to work

zun – to be occupied with, devote oneself to

shwo – to say, to speak

go – to go

yao – to want

lwo – to fall

flai – to fly

krai – to cry

prei – to pray

joi – to rejoice, be happy

jui – to enjoy, revel in

emploi – to employ

kontinu – to continue.

Verbs with prefixes fa- and mah-, which contain adjectives, are type 2 verbs too:

fa-syao – to diminish, become smaller (syao small)

fa-muhim – to become more important (muhim important)

mah-hao – make better, improve (hao good).

The main verb form

This is the form of the infinitive, present tense and imperative. The same form is used in subordinate clauses expressing a wish:

treba dumi one should think

me (yu, ta, nu, yu, li) dumi I (you, he/she, we, you, they) think

dumi! think!

me yao ke yu dumi hao om to I’d like you to think well about it (“I want that you think well about it”);

tu samaji es tu pardoni to understand is to forgive

es taim fo samaji ke... it’s time to understand that...

nu samaji se we understand this

samaji! understand!

wud bi muy hao, si yu samaji ke... it would be very good if you understand that…;

tu go a kino es hao it is good to go to the cinema

lu sal go a kino he is going to go to the cinema

lu go a kino he goes (or is going) to the cinema

go ahir! go here!

me nadi ke yu go a kino I hope that you go to the cinema.

Negation is formed by means of the particle bu placed before a verb or tense particle:

Me bu samaji — I don’t understand.

Lu bu yao — He doesn’t want.

Bu go dar! — Don’t go there!

Bu shwo ke yu bu jan-te! — Don’t say that you didn’t know!

Verb forms

Verb forms are basically the main verb form plus a particle before or after the verb. If a particle comes after the verb, it is written with a hyphen. Thus, the main verb form is always evident, and its stress is preserved.

Particles before the verb:

ve — future tense marker;

he — past tense marker;

zai — marker of continuous aspect;

wud — conditional marker;

gwo — remote past tense marker («some time ago, earlier in life, have been to somewhere or used to do smth»);

sal — immediate future marker («to be about to do smth.»);

yus — immediate past marker («have just done smth»; the word «yus» means «just»);

gei — marks the passive of becoming.

Particles after the verb:

–te — past tense marker (means the same as he);

–she — present active participle marker;

–yen — verbal adverb marker, "while -ing";

–ney — passive participle marker, or (for intransitive verbs) past active participle marker.

Examples:

chi — to eat

ve chi — will eat

he chi, chi-te — ate or have eaten

zai chi — is eating

ve zai chi — will be eating

zai chi-te — was eating

ve he chi, ve chi-te — will have eaten

he chi-te — had eaten

wud chi — would eat

wud chi-te — would have eaten

gei chi — is being eaten

ve gei chi — will be being eaten

gei-te chi — was being eaten

es chi-ney — is eaten

bin chi-ney — was eaten

ve bi chi-ney — will be eaten

chi-she — eating (active part.): chi-she kota — the eating cat

chi-yen — (while) eating (verbal adverb)

afte chi — having eaten

gwo chi — used to eat

sal chi — about to eat

yus chi-te — have just eaten.

Future tense

Examples:

me ve shwo – I shall say (speak)

nu ve go – we shall go

ela ve lekti – she will read

yu ve gun – you will work

ve pluvi – it will rain

me bu ve go – I won’t go.

Past tense

There are 2 particles meaning the past tense or the finished action: he (before verb) and –te (after verb):

me he shwo, me shwo-te – I said or I have said

he pluvi, pluvi-te – it rained

me bu he jan, me bu jan-te – I didn’t know.

Both particles are equal in meaning. LdP doesn't distinguish between present perfect and past, but there is no problem if Europeans use he the same way they use the perfect tenses in their languages.

Why are there two? To give you some freedom of choice and to avoid accumulation of too many particles in one place. It is practical to use –te when there are other particles before the verb: zai chi-te, wud chi-te.

When –te and he are used together, they are equal to the English past perfect tense:

Wen lu lai-te a dom, ela he kuki-te akshamfan — When he came home, she had cooked supper.

The combination of ve with one of the particles is equal to the English future perfect tense:

Wen lu ve lai a dom, ela ve he kuki akshamfan (or: ela ve kuki-te akshamfan) — When he comes home, she will have cooked supper.

The verb ‘bi’ to be is special, and it has the past form bin:

Wo yu bin? – Where were you? Where have you been?

Imperative mode

To stress the imperative meaning, or to make it clearer, the particle ‘ba’ may be used after verb:

Go ba dar! — Go there!

Kan ba hir! — Look here!

Nu go ba! — Let's go!

Nu begin ba! — Let's begin!

Ta lai ba! — Let him come!

There is also the particle ‘hay’ (‘may, let’) expressing a wish or permission:

Hay olo bi hao! — May everything be good!

Hay forsa bi kun yu! — May the force be with you!

Hay oni shwo to ke oni yao. — Let them say what they like.

Continuous aspect

It is marked by ‘zai’ before the verb:

Me zai go fon shop. — I am going from the shop.

Nau lu zai gun om se. – now he is working on this.

Me zai go-te fon shop, wen me miti-te lu — I was going from the shop when I met him.

Ob yu es libre manya klok dwa? – Manya klok dwa me ve zai lekti kitabas in kitabaguan. Are you free tomorrow at 2? – Tomorrow at 2 I shall be reading books in the library.

The use of "zai" is not obligatory. It is used only if the continuous aspect of action should be stressed.

Present active participle

Formed with –she:
Tuza sidi-she in bush ek-salti aus e lopi kway-kway nich kolina. —  A hare sitting in the bush jumped out and ran very quickly down the hill.

Basically the same meaning is conveyed through the suffix –anta, which some nouns in LdP have: komersi to trade — komersanta trader, kolori to color — koloranta colorant, konsulti to consult — konsultanta consultant. But these words are not active participles, they are nouns with their own meaning.

Instead of active participles, constructions with kel may be used:

Tuza kel sidi in bush. — The hare that is sitting in the bush.

Constructions with kel are preferable when a direct object is involved:

Kota kel chi fish. — The cat that eats fish.

Verbal adverb

This is formed with –yen: vidi-yen seeing, jan-yen knowing.

It should be noted that simultaneity of actions may be also expressed through the preposition «al» (at, in the process of):

Al pasi bus-stopika me he vidi ke ela stan dar (=Pasi-yen bus-stopika…) — Passing by the bus-stop I saw her standing there;

Al vidi lu me krai-te: «Namastee!» (=Vidi-yen lu…) — Seeing him I cried: ‘Hello!’

Constructions “afte + verb” mean “having done smth”: afte vidi having seen, afte smaili having smiled, afte audi having heard.

Afte audi om se, me he desidi miti lu — Having heard about this, I decided to meet with him.

Conditional tense

This is formed with the help of particle wud in both main and subordinate clauses:

Me wud yao audi farka-ney opinas. — I’d like to hear different opinions.

Yu wud mog zwo to si yu wud yao. — You could do that if you’d like to.

Me wud go adar si me wud hev taim. — I would go there if I had time.

Yeri me wud go-te adar si me wud hev-te taim. — Yesterday I would have gone there if I had time.

Me bu wud go adar. – I wouldn’t go there.

The immediate future and past

These are the constructions “to be about to do smth” and “to have just done smth”. The first one is “sal + verb”, the second is “yus + verb in past tense”:

Me sal chifan. – I am going to have a meal.

Me yus he chifan. – I have just had a meal.

Ta sal go a skola. – he (she) is about to go to school.

Ta yus he lai. – He (she) has just come.

Remote past tense

The remote past tense is formed with “gwo + verb” and expresses some action as a fact of the indefinitely remote past, which is connected with the present moment only in terms of having the corresponding experience. This is something that was taking place or used to take place some time ago:

Me gwo bi in Paris. — I have been to Paris.

Me gwo jivi in Paris. — I used to live in Paris.

Me gwo flai kelkem kadalok in munda. — I have flown everywhere in the world.

Me gwo audi musika de Prokofiev. — I have heard music by Prokofiev (I have had such an experience).

Ta gwo zun sporta. — He used to go in for sports.

Tense marking

There are 2 variants of tense marking in LdP: the full and the simple one.

The full variant is when you mark verb tense according to sense and without tense concordance (independent from whether it is a main or subordinate clause). Basically it means that the tense in an indirect quotation (he said that he was leaving) should be the same as in a direct quotation (he said, "I am leaving"). Examples:

Me jan-te kwo lu ve yao. — I knew what he would like.

May amiga ve skribi a me wo ta bin in saif. — My friend will write me about where he was last summer.

May amiga he skribi a me ke ta bin morbe bat nau ta sta hao snova. — My friend wrote to me that he had been ill but now he was well again.

Gela diki-te a nu suy nove kukla kel mog ofni e klosi okos. — The girl showed us her new doll which could open and close its eyes.

Me vidi-te ke lu zai lai e go-te versu lu. — I saw that he was coming (to me), and (I) went to meet him.

The simple variant is when you don’t mark verb tense at all but use words like ‘today’, ‘yesterday’ etc. and the context to convey the information about time of action. This variant is appropriate in speech. Examples:

Preyeri me zai chu shop e miti may amiga. – The day before yesterday I was leaving the shop and met my friend.

Aftemanya me go fishi. – The day after tomorrow I’ll go fishing.

Yeri pluvi e sedey bu pluvi. — Yesterday it rained, and today it isn’t raining.

Laste mes me kan filma om polisyuan e lai-she mes me kan otre filma. — Last month I watched the film about a policeman, and next month I’ll watch another film.

However, even in texts repeated past-tense marking is quite often superfluous, e.g., in narrating a series of past events. Example:

Transitivity

The prefix “fa” (“to get, to become”) may serve as an intransitivity marker:

astoni “to astonish”  — fa-astoni “to be (become) astonished”.

The causative prefix “mah” may serve as a transitivity marker:

lwo “to fall” — mah-lwo “to drop, let fall”.

Many verbs in LdP may be intransitive and transitive in the same form, the same as the English verbs, for example ‘begin’ (‘to begin smth’ vs ‘the film begins’) and ‘develop’ (‘to develop a theory’ vs ‘to develop into a nice personality’). Usually, if the verb is followed by an object, the verb is transitive, otherwise it is not:

me begin gun I begin to work — kino begin the cinema begins.

If ambiguity may arise, one can use the prefixes “fa” and “mah”.

 Participles with -ney

Passive participle is marked with "-ney":

pi-ney akwa — the drunk water.

If you want to say that the water is being drunk, add "zai":

zai-pi-ney akwa — the water that is being drunk.

With intransitive verbs –ney is a past active participle marker:

apari-ney jen — the person that has appeared

morti-ney jen — the dead person.

With some verbs both meanings are possible:

adapti-ney — adapted (either “that has become adapted” or “that has been adapted”).

To specify the exact meaning, if needed, use transitivity markers:

fa-adapti-ney — that has become adapted

adaptisi-ney — that has been adapted.

The passive of state

The passive of state is formed by "bi" and "verb+ney"; it indicates a state as a result of a finished process:

Olo es yo shwo-ney, ye nixa fo shwo pyu. — Everything has already been said; there's nothing more to say.

Toy auto bin kupi-ney char yar bak. — That car was bought 4 years ago.

 The passive of becoming

The passive of becoming, formed by the auxiliary verb ‘gei’ and verb, indicates an unfinished process:

Dwar gei ofni lentem. — The door is being opened slowly (=gets opened) (compare: dwar es ofni-ney – the door is opened).

To gei zwo. — That is being done (compare: to es zwo-ney – that is done).

Autos gei kupi kada dey. — Cars are bought every day.

The past tense is formed with ‘gei-te’; the future with ‘ve gei’:

Se gei-te zwo tak e to ve gei zwo otrem. — This was (being) done so, and that will be (being) done otherwise.

Verb doubling

This expresses that an action takes some time or is repeated many times. There may also be a connotation of certain ease and lack of constraint :

Nu shwo-shwo ba idyen. — Let’s talk (chat) a little.

Nau treba kan-kan atenta-nem. — Now you should look carefully (keep an eye on smth).

Treba dumi-dumi idyen. — One should think a little.

Kwo yu zwo-zwo? — What are you doing now?

The verb ‘bi’ (to be)

This is an exceptional verb. It has the infinitive ‘bi’, the present tense form ‘es’ and the past tense form ‘bin’.

‘Es’ does not need a subject in clauses like

Es hao. – This (it) is good.

Bu es posible. – This (it) is not possible.

In aphoristic sayings the link-verb ‘es’ might be dropped:

Tu shwo fasile, tu zwo mushkile. – To say is easy, to do is difficult.

Char gamba hao, dwa gamba buhao. – Four legs good, two legs bad.

The infinitive and the infinitive particle "tu"

The infinitive particle ‘tu’ is used when the infinitive has a meaning close to that of a noun (substantivization):

Tu shwo veritaa es hao. – To tell the truth is good.

Tu begin es lo zuy mushkile. – To begin is the most difficult thing.

Tu chi fish es hao fo sanitaa. – To eat fish is good for health.

Tu pluvi es muhim fo rekola. – Raining is important for the crop.

If the infinitive is placed after another verb, ‘tu’ is not used:

Ta pri chi masu. – He likes to eat beef.

Me wud yao lagi sub surya nau. – I would like to lie under the sun now.

Me nadi vidi yu sun. – I hope to see you soon.

Oli jen mus gun. – All people must work.

Sempre gai samaji lo shefe. – One should always understand the most important thing.

Lu pregi-te pi. – He asked to drink.

Ela fogeti-te klefi dwar. – She forgot to lock the door.

Stopi shwo! – Stop talking!

In cases where the infinitive completes the meaning of a noun or adjective, it uses the same preposition as a noun would — though that preposition may differ from its English equivalent:

mogsa de lopi longtaim – the ability to run for a long time (=mogsa de longtaim-ney loping)

Lu es tro fatigi-ney fo go. – He is too tired to go. (=Lu es tro fatigi-ney fo going.)

Lu es fatigi-ney por go. – He is tired of walking. (=Lu es fatigi-ney por going.)

kitaba fo lekti – a book to read (=kitaba fo lekting)

Ob yu es tayar fo go? – Are you ready to go? (=Ob yu es tayar fo going?)

Es taim fo samaji to. – It is time to understand this. (=Es taim fo samaja)

Sembli ke problema fo diskusi yok. – It seems that there are no problems to discuss. (=Sembli ke problema fo diskusa yok.)

Ela go-te a market fo kupi yabla. – She went to the market to buy apples.

Ela afsosi por kupi grin yabla. – She is sorry to have bought green apples.

Me joi al vidi yu. – I am glad to see you.

Me he lai por vidi luma in yur winda. – I came because of seeing light in your windows.

In subordinate clauses after the relative words "ob", "wo", "komo", etc., the infinitive is used without "tu":

Ela he findi plasa wo kupi hwan yabla. – She found a place (where) to buy yellow apples.

Me bu es serte ob go adar o bu go. – I am not sure whether to go there or not.

Lu jan komo zwo to. – He knows how to do it.

The particle "tu" may be used to mark the infinitive group:

Lu he wadi a me tu bringi un interes-ney jurnal. – He promised me to bring an interesting magazine. (But: Lu he wadi bringi un interes-ney jurnal a me).

Se bu es fasile, tu begin rasmi in may yash. – It is not easy to take up drawing at my age.

The verb ‘ye’ (there is)

The verb ‘ye’ means "there is":

In shamba ye mucho stula. — In the room there are many chairs.

Stula dar ye. — There are chairs there.

The negative meaning (absence of smth) is expressed through "bu ye" or "yok" (not available). The latter is placed after the object under discussion:

Bu ye stula in shamba. — There are no chairs in the room.

Stula in shamba yok. — There are no chairs in the room.

Mani ye-bu-ye? — Is there any money (to use)?

Mani yok. — No money available.

The helping verb ‘fai’

It has the general meaning ‘to do, to perform an action’ and is used in combination with nouns and adverbs:

fai kwesta — to make (ask) a question;

fai kasam — to make (take) a vow;

fai fiasko — to not succeed;

fai interes om koysa — to take an interest in smth;

fai bak! — may mean "set back" or "throw back!" etc.

fai avan! — may mean "throw forward!" etc.

As distinct from ‘zwo’ (to do, to make) ‘fai’ is a helping verb and may be used only in combinations, so “Do it!” is “Zwo to!”

In speech the combination ‘fai+noun’ may sometimes replace verbs that you cannot remember. In such a case ‘fai’ means ‘to use the object in some usual way, to act in usual way in connection with the object’:

fai kitaba — to read a book;

fai kama — to sleep or lie on a bed;

fai kaval — to ride a horse;

fai gitara — to play guitar;

fai kino — to watch a cinema or to go to the cinema;

fai (defai) butas — to lace (unlace) shoes.

Modal verbs

Mog — can, may: Me bu mog lekti: kitaba yok. – I cannot read: there is no book. Yu mog zwo to kom yu yao. – You may do it as you like. Bu mog — one can't, it is impossible: Bu mog jivi sin chi. – One can't live without eating.

Darfi — to have permission, be allowed, (one) may: Lu darfi gun kom leker. — He is allowed to work as a doctor. Me darfi zin ku? — May I come in?

Yao — want: Kwo yu yao? – What do you want? Me yao aiskrem. – I want ice-cream. Me wud yao safari kun yu. – I would like to go on the trip with you.

Mus — must; have to: Oli jen mus chi fo jivi. – All people must eat in order to live. Manya me mus go a ofis. – Tomorrow I must go to the office.

Treba — it is necessary; require: Treba zwo se olo til aksham. – It is necessary to do it all till the evening. Treba kaulu to. – One should consider this. Sey kwesta treba kaulusa. – This question requires consideration. Treba pyu jen. – More people are needed/required. ("Treba" has a wider meaning than "nidi" and "gai").

Nidi  — need: Lu nidi yur helpa. – He needs your help. Durtitaa sempre nidi ahfi swa. – Craftiness always needs to hide.

Gai — (one) should, (one) ought, supposed to: Me gai lekti mucho. – I should read a lot. Yu bu gai lanfai. – You should not be lazy. Sempre gai zwo olo tak kom gai. – One should always do everything as needed.

Majbur — be compelled to, have to, there is no other way but: En-pluvi, nu majbur go a dom. — It begins to rain, we have to go home. Meteo es bade, majbur deri avion-ney departa. — The weather is bad, the plane’s departure has to be delayed. Si me bu findi kitaba, majbur kupi nove-la. — If I don’t find the book, I’ll have to buy a new one.

Pri — to like: Me pri flor. – I like flowers. Me pri sey flor. – I like this flower. May kinda pri rasmi. – My child likes to draw.

"Intensive" verbs

Some verbs are used to add specific meanings to the action description.

Pai — (the basic meaning "to get, receive") imparts the meaning "to succeed, achieve, obtain":
nulwan pai kapti ta — nobody managed to catch it
pai kreki nuta — to (succesfully) crack the nut
pai ofni ken — to open can (at last)
nu pai zwo to  — we did it.

 Lwo — (the basic meaning "to fall") conveys the depth of transition into another state/condition:
lwo in plaki — burst into tears
lwo in ridi — burst out laughing; start roaring with laughter
lwo in pyani — take to hard drinking
lwo in lekti nove kitaba — to become thoroughly engrossed in reading a new book.

 Dai — (the basic meaning "to give") conveys unexpectedness of action for observers or its unexpected intensity:
dai shwo — blurt out, plump out
ta lai e dai darbi ta in nos — he came and all of a sudden hit him in the nose
ta dai kwiti molya — he took and abandoned his wife.

Verb prefixes

de(s) – opposite action ("des" if before a vowel):

desharji discharge, delodi unload, desorganisi disorganize.

ek- – denotes that something is done only one time or rather suddenly (from Hindi "ek" one):

tuki to knock — ek-tuki to give a knock

krai to cry — ek-krai to cry out

salti to jump — ek-salti to jump up.

en- — denotes the beginning of action:
en-somni to fall asleep

en-lubi to fall in love

en-krai to start crying

en-tuki to begin knocking
en-jan to come to know, find out

fa – conveys the meaning "to get, to become":

akwa fa-warme – the water is getting warm

fa-tume – it is getting dark

fa-gran – to get bigger, enlarge

fa-syao – to diminish, get smaller

fa-dey – it dawns

luy wangas fa-rude – his cheeks redden

Fa-garme-te. – It became hot.

Jiva fa-hao oltaim pyu.  – Life is always getting better.

When used with verbs, makes them intransitive:

astoni “to astonish” – fa-astoni “to be (become) astonished”.

mah — causative prefix meaning "to make, render, transform into, bring into a condition" (synonymous with the suffix –isi). It is practical to use it with adjectives like ‘hao, gao’. E.g.:

treba mah-hao situasion – one should improve the situation.

This prefix also modifies verbs:

jal to burn, be burning — mah-jal to burn (smth).

Lu zai mah-jal papir. – He is burning the papers.

It should be noted that there is also a link-verb ‘mah’ meaning the same as the English “make”:

mah li zwo to – make them do it

mah kaval lopi – make the horse run

se ve mah yu fogeti to – this will make you forget it

se bu ve mah yu triste – this will not make you sad

mah koywan felise – to make someone happy

mah butas repari-ney – to have the boots repaired

mah gunsa zwo-ney – to get the work done.

mis – equal to the English mis-: misyusi to misuse, miskalkuli to miscalculate.

ras – separation, division, or dispersion:

muvi to move — rasmuvi to move apart

dai to give – rasdai to distribute, give out to many

sendi to send – rassendi to send out/round

lwo to fall – raslwo to fall to pieces.

ri – again, anew: riapari to reappear, rizwo to redo.

tra – through(out): tralekti to read through (from begining to end); tranochi to spend the night.

Verb suffixes

isi — makes transitive verbs, means "to make, render, transform into, bring into a condition" (same as mah-):
agni fire — agnisi fire up, burn up

detal detail (noun) — detalisi detail (verb)

iri be angry — irisi anger, enrage

aktive active — aktivisi activate

klare clear — klarisi clarify

elektre electric — elektrisi electrify.

If added to a noun ending in –ia, "–ia" is dropped:

mifologia mythology — mifologisi mythologise.

ifi — makes intransitive verbs, means "to get, to become" (same as fa-):

agni fire — agnifi flame up, burst into flame

iri be angry — irifi get angry

aktive active — aktivifi become more active

klare clear — klarifi become clear(er)

elektre electric — elektrifi electrify, become electric.

Nouns

Noun endings

Most nouns end in –ΰ or consonants (but, as a rule, not 'b', 'g' or 'd'):

lingwa – language

gramatika – grammar

kino – cinema

vagon – carriage

situasion – situation

aksham – evening

chay – tea

profesor – professor

dwar – door

nivel – level

mes – month

fish – fish

chokolat – chocolate

handak – ditch

taraf – side.

Only rare nouns end in –i, –e, –u: avenu avenue, shampu shampoo, madu honey; kafee cafe, shosee highway; mani money, gari cart; taxi taxi.

The word "ski" ski, to ski has the same form as a noun and as a verb.

Plurals

The basic noun form does not convey the grammatical meaning of singularity. To specify singularity, use "un" one. In order to specify plurality, the plural form of noun may be used. Its ending is –(e)s. If a noun ends in a vowel, add –s; otherwise add –es:

lingwa language/languages – lingwas languages;

boy boy/boys – boys boys;
aksham evening/evenings – akshames evenings.

When speaking generally about a group or class of uniform objects, plural endings are not used:

Yan chi bush. – Sheep eat bushes.

Amiga sempre helpi. – A friend always helps.

Bobra es animal. – Beavers are animals.

After any indication of plurality (numerals; quantifiers like ‘mucho’ many, much, ‘kelke’ several, some, ‘shao’ little, ‘ambi’ both, grupa de a group of, menga de a lot of, ‘para’ a pair of; plural subject, personal pronouns 'nu' we, 'li' they), as a rule, plural endings are not used:

pet jen – five people

tristo dolar – three hundred dollars

trishi kilometra – thirty kilometers

mucho yar – many years

shao jen – few people

kelke pes sukra – some pieces of sugar

oli dey – all days

oli jen – all people

Sey jenta es hao guner. – These people are good workers. («Jenta» means «folk, (a particular group of) people»).

Li es may amiga. – They are my friends.

Luy amigas es studenta. – His friends are students.

Toy kelke rosa es jamile. – Those roses are beautiful (lit.: Those some roses are beautiful).

A note: plural endings may be used after “mucho” and “shao” in order to specify that countable objects are implied (in cases where a noun may be countable as well as uncountable):

shao ananas – few pineapples or little of pineapple
shao ananases – few pineapples
shao de ananas – little of pineapple
mucho fish – many fishes or much fish
mucho fishes – many fishes
mucho de fish – much fish.

In case of pair objects the plural endings are usually used:
okos – eyes
labas – lips
handas – hands
plechas – shoulders.

Sex indication

There is no grammatical gender. Animate nouns may be of both sexes: doga – a dog (never mind whether male or female), amiga – friend (generally); gova – a bull or a cow (such notion is practical in plural form: govas – cows and bulls); swina – a pig of any sex; gansa – a goose or a  gander (gansas – geese).

If there is need to indicate sex, it may be done two ways.

The first, more frequent, way is the use of particles ‘man’ and ‘gin’: man-doga male dog, gin-doga female dog, man-studentas male students (‘studentas’ are students generally), man-gova bull, gin-gova cow, man-swina boar.

Another, less frequent, way is the use of suffixes –o for masculine and –ina for feminine. If a noun ends in –a, the latter is dropped, otherwise the suffix is simply added: rega king/queen — rego king — regina queen; dogo – male dog, dogina – female dog; studento – male student, studentina – female student; govo – bull, govina – cow; swino – male pig, swinina – female pig; ganso – gander, gansina – female goose.

It is obvious that it is not always needed to indicate sex, so it is correct to say:

ela es hao leker – she is a good doctor

ela es hao amiga – she is a good friend

Juchka es stupide doga – Zhuchka is a silly dog.

In several cases different words are used for the male and female:

mata/patra — mother/father

oma/opa — grandmother/grandfather

docha/son — daughter/son

kindocha/kinson — granddaughter/grandson

tia/onkla — aunt/uncle

sinior/madam — sir/madam.

Genitive

Genitive is formed with the particle –ney (hyphenated): sedey-ney sivilisasion — the today's civilization; mata-ney kitaba — mother’s book; Alex-ney jaketa — the jacket of Alex.

"-ney" is in fact not only a genitive particle, it is a modifier-making particle. See Constructions with the modifier-making particle -ney (in Syntax section).

Nouns meaning action

The correspondence between noun’s form and its meaning is basically the following:

Examples:

adi to add — ada addition (both act of adding and what is added)

konvinsi to convince — konvinsa persuasion, conviction; convictions, beliefs

konekti to connect — konekta connection

judi to judge — juda judgement (both judging and decision)

reflekti to reflect — reflekta reflection (action as well as image)

inviti to invite — invita invitation

inuspiri to inhale — inuspira inhalation

lubi to love — luba love

darbi to strike — darba strike

jivi to live — jiva life

joi to rejoice — joisa joy

gun to work — gunsa work

jan to know — jansa knowledge

begin to begin — beginsa beginning

kan to look — kansa a look

flai to fly — flaisa flight

krai to cry — kraisa a cry

prei to pray — preisa prayer

zwo to do — zwoing doing

go to go — going going; course

swimi to swim — swiming swimming

fishi to fish — fishing fishing

ski to ski — skiing skiing

boxi to box — boxing boxing

fumi to smoke — fuming smoking

bru to brew — bruing brewing

piloti to pilot — piloting piloting.

A note: if verb ends in –i, that ending is replaced with –ing; in other cases –ing is added. The only exception is monosyllabic i-verbs (ski to ski, fri to fry): in their case –ing is added (skiing, friing). An important remark: "ng" in this suffix may be read simply as "n". The suffix is never stressed.

Further examples:

shuti to shoot — shuta a shot — shuting shooting

gloti to swallow — glota a swallow — gloting swallowing

kiki to kick — kika a kick — kiking kicking

kliki to click — klika a click — kliking clicking

salti to jump — salta a jump —salting jumping

lansi to throw — lansa a throw — lansing throwing.

The concretizing suffixes –(i)ka, –tura, –wat

The suffix –(i)ka has the meaning "object, thing, something concrete":

mole soft — molika pulp

nove new — novika something new, novelty

metal metal —  metalka a metal thing

brili to shine — brilika something shining

ofni to open — ofnika opener

plei to play — pleika toy, plaything.

Derivation: in adjectives ending in –e and nouns ending in –a, this last vowel is transformed into –ika; in other cases –ka is added. With monosyllabic i-verbs, -ika is added with a hyphen:

ski — ski-ika

pi — pi-ika.

It should be reminded that the ending –ika is unstressed.

On the whole, one can regard this suffix as an equivalent of "kosa" (thing) or "koysa" (something). Thus the suffix –(i)ka is polysemantic, the exact meaning of a word following from the context. In order to be more precise, one can use the suffixes –er (tool, device), –tura (stresses the result, product of action), or –wat (indicates the object of action).

The suffix –tura denotes an end result/product of action:

produkti to produce — produktura produce, output

mixi to mix – mixitura mixture

solvi to dissolve — solvitura solution

texi to weave – texitura fabric, tissue

sekwi to follow – sekwitura consequence

derivi to derive — derivitura derivative

shwo to say — shwotura saying.

Derivation: just added to a verb, however -titura=> -tura, -ditura=> -dura.

NB: In some words like ‘temperatura’, ‘natura’ ‘tura’ is not a suffix.

The suffix –wat denotes object of action:

pi to drink — piwat beverage

chi to eat — chiwat food, eaten things

rosti to roast — rostiwat roast (meat)

sendi to send — sendiwat something sent

konteni to contain — konteniwat contents.

Derivation: just added to a verb.

One can distinguish between mixiwat (smth mixed, an ingredient) and mixitura (mixture, a result of mixing), solviwat (dissolved thing) and solvitura (resulting solution).

The suffixes of doer and tool

The suffix –er means both doer (person) and tool/ device/appliance.

When added to a verb, the final –i of the verb is dropped (except for the monosyllabic verbs ending in –i). When added to a noun, the final –a of the noun is dropped. In other cases –er is just added:

kapti to capture — kapter trap or trapper

vendi to sell — vender seller

kondukti to conduct (heat etc.) — kondukter conductor

zwo to do — zwoer doer

shwo to speak — shwoer speaker

ofni to open — ofner opener

banka bank — banker banker

ski to ski — skier skier

politika politics — politiker politician

milka milk, milki to milk — milker milker (person or device)

astronomia astronomy — astronomier astronomer

historia history — historier historian

plei play — pleier player (person or device)

milion million — milioner millionaire

yuwel jewel — yuweler jeweller.

To specify the meaning of doer, the suffix –sha may be used which is derived from the active participle marker –she; it is used only with verbs:

milki to milk — milki-sha milker (person)

plei to play — plei-sha player (person)

lekti to read — lekti-sha reader (person) (lekter is a device)

kapti to catch — kapti-sha catcher.

To specify the meaning of tool/ device/appliance, one may use the suffixes -(i)ka (see above) or compound words with «tul» («tool, instrument»):

ofni to open — ofnika opener

plei play — pleika toy, plaything

vinti to screw — vintitul screwdriver

komuniki to communicate — komunikitul means of communication.

The suffix –ista denotes a person in relation to a certain doctrine (‘ism’) or profession: komunista communist,  metodista methodist, dentista dentist, artista artist, spesialista specialist. This suffix is basically applied to other nouns.

The words ending in –or, –ator.

LdP also imports common European words ending in –or, –ator which mean either doer or tool: kalkulator calculator, ventilator ventilator, aktor actor, direktor director, profesor professor.

NB: Not every word meaning a tool must have a suffix. Many verbs are derived from tool-nouns: hamri to hammer from hamra hammer.

Abstract nouns meaning quality

Abstract nouns meaning quality (as such) are formed with the suffixes –nesa and –(i)taa:

feble weak – feblenesa weakness;

dule tender – dulenesa tenderness (–nesa is simply added);

diverse diverse – diversitaa diversity;

probable probable – probablitaa probability;

amiga friend – amigitaa friendship.

If a word ends in the vowel e/a, it is transformed into –itaa. For adjectives like ‘gao, lao’ and those ending in a consonant the suffix has the form –taa:

shao little (in quantity) – shaotaa scarcity;

karim kind, good – karimtaa kindness;

donishil generous – donishiltaa generosity.

The suffix –(i)taa differs in that the nouns formed with it have a broader meaning: not only that of quality but also that of a particular phenomenon connected with this quality:

reale real – realenesa realness – realitaa reality (world);

gao high – gaonesa highness – gaotaa height;

vere true – verenesa trueness – veritaa truth.

The suffix –nesa also derives from verbs nouns with the meaning of the state which results from the action (-edness) or is otherwise connected with action:

adapti to adapt – adaptinesa adaptedness

koni be acquainted with – koninesa acquaintance;

godi be fitted/suited (for) — godinesa suitability, fitness.

A special case.

For adjectives which are longer than 2 syllables and end in -ente or -ante, abstract nouns end in -ensia or -ansia correspondingly: presente present — presensia presence; abundante abundant — abundansia abundance.

Other suffixes

The suffix –yuan means "employee, worker, organization member": kafeeyuan cafe worker; partiayuan party member; polisyuan policeman; shopyuan shop worker, koalisionyuan coalition member.

The suffix –nik (when it is added the word's last vowel may be dropped) denotes a person as bearer of some characteristic feature or adherent of smth: batalnik scrapper; fobnik coward; shwonik chatterer; novnik novice; sindomnik homeless person; fishnik enthusiastic fisherman; ginnik womanizer; sportnik lover of sport, pyannik drunkard, safarnik confirmed traveller.

The suffix –inka denotes one small part of smth: ramla sand – ramlinka grain of sand, snega snow – sneginka snowflake, pluva rain – pluvinka drop of rain.

The suffix –menga denotes a certain multitude, gathering of uniform objects: moskamenga swarm of flies; jenmenga crowd.

The suffix –tot (from «tota» – a whole) means a whole, aggregate, system:

antra gut – antratot intestine.

Compound words with jen, man, gina

auslanda foreign countries – auslandajen foreigner — auslandagina female foreigner — auslandaman male foreigner

samtaimjen contemporary — samtaimgina female contemporary — samtaimman male contemporary

jadu sorcery — jadujen sorcerer/sorceress — jadugina sorceress, witch — jaduman sorcerer

lao old — laojen old person — laogina old woman — laoman old man

When combined with verbs, jen, man, gina do NOT denote "a person doing smth":

lubijen loved one (cf. lubi-sha  a loving person)

sendijen envoy (cf. sender sender)

dronigina drowned woman

konijen acquaintance.

In other words,

lubi-ney jen = lubijen

sendi-ney man = sendiman

droni-ney gina = dronigina

koni-ney jen = konijen.

Names of countries, peoples and languages

Names of countries are written with a capital letter and are close to how they sound in the official language of the country:

Espania  – Spain

Jungwo  – China

Portugal  – Portugal

Rusia  – Russia

Nipon – Japan

Doichland  – Germany

Frans – France

Ingland  – England.

In case the country has two names or two official languages, it may have also an alternative name, especially if those names are not similar to each other:

Suomi / Finland  – Finland

Bharat / India  – India.

But: Belgie – Belgium (based on Dutch, the country's name in the two other official languages, German and French, sounds similar).

Composite names are translated into LdP:

Unisi-ney Statas de Amerika (USA) – The United States of America.

A compound word from country's name and 'jen' (man) denotes an inhabitant/subject of the country (written with a hyphen):

Suomi-jen  – an inhabitant of Finland

Rusia-jen  – an inhabitant of Russia

Jungwo-jen  – an inhabitant of China

USA-jen  – a person living in the USA.

These compound words should not be mixed with words for etnicity (a Russian, a Finn).

For etnicity and the corresponding language a special word is used. It is close to how people refer to themselves. It plays the role of noun as well as adjective. "jen" and "lingwa" may be used for precision. Examples:

ruski  – Russian; a Russian; the Russian language

me es ruski (jen) – I am Russian

me shwo ruski (lingwa) – I speak Russian

ruski fabula – a Russian fairy tale

inglish  – English; an Englishman/-woman; the English language

me bu shwo inglish  – I don't speak English

doiche  – German; a German; the German language

doiche exaktitaa – German punctuality

amerikan – American (expressing the culture and national values of the USA); an American

fama-ney amerikan poeta — a famous American poet

ta es amerikan, ta shwo inglish – he/she is American; he/she speaks English

espaniol  – Spanish; a Spaniard; the Spanish language

portuges  – Portuguese; a Portuguese; the Portuguese language

me shwo espaniol, yoshi me samaji portuges – I speak Spanish; also I understand Portuguese

han  – Chinese (ethnic); a Chinese; the Chinese language

Ta es han (jen), ta shwo han (lingwa). – He/she is a Chinese; he/she speaks Chinese.

Me es Jungwo-jen, bat me bu es han (jen). – I live in China, but I am not a Chinese.

hindi  – Hindu (ethnic); a Hindu (ethnic); Hindi

suomen – Finnish; a Finn; the Finnish language

ukrainska – Ukrainian; a Ukrainian; the Ukrainian language

Ela es ukrainska jen, ela shwo ukrainska. — She is a Ukrainian; she speaks Ukrainian

ukrainska-ruski lexikon — a Ukrainian-Russian dictionary

nihon – Japanese; a Japanese; the Japanese language

romale – Gipsy; a Gipsy; the Gipsy language

jamile romale gana – a beautiful Gipsy song.

A hint on how to pronounce proper names. 

If a proper name ends in several consonants and produces a difficult consonant cluster together with a following word, it’s recommended to insert a neutral sound (which however isn’t written). For example, it’s recommended to pronounce

Doichland-jen

as if it were written

Doichlanda-jen.

Adjectives

Adjective endings

Most of adjectives end in –e:

forte – strong

basike – basic

gamande – haughty;

or (if derived from nouns) in –ney:

sekret secret — sekret-ney secret, confidential;

abyas habit — abyas-ney habitual.

Besides, there are adjectives some ending in –an:

blan – white

gran – big

suan – sore;

some ending in –ao (of Chinese origin):

hao – good

gao – high

syao – little (in size)

lao – old;

some ending in –im (of Arabic origin):

muhim – important

karim – kind, good

rahim – merciful;

also some adjective suffixes (–ful, –lik, –shil, –val) end in a consonant: joisaful joyful, ginalik womanly, gunshil industrious. Then there are some adjectives ending in –u and –y: blu blue, kway quick.

Nouns and adjectives

One may qualify an object by placing a noun before another noun:

lingwa kanunes – language laws, akwa sportas – water sports, westa feng – western wind.

A noun with the modifier-making particle –ney becomes an adjective:

Sey feng es westa-ney. – This wind is western.

Other ways of qualifying an object are:

1)      using the preposition 'de': kanunes de lingwa laws of language;

2)      using the preposition 'do' which introduces a specific characteristic or purpose of an object that may be described in several words: gela do grin okos green-eyed girl; okula do surya sun glasses; jen do lignagamba a man with a wooden leg; es kosa do ridi this is ridiculous.

Adjective suffixes

The suffixes –ale and –are have a general meaning. They are taken ready-made into LdP together with common European words (as a rule, abstract ones) and are not productive. They are very rare among most frequent words; one can mention among the latter only the following:

kordia heart — kordiale cordial, sentra centre — sentrale central.

The suffix –ike (unstressed) derives adjectives which mean 'relating or pertaining to this noun': osean ocean — oseanike oceanic; sistema system — sistemike pertaining to system; fanata fanatic — fanatike fanatical; harmonia harmony — harmonike harmonious; historia history — historike historical. If added to a noun ending in  –a or –ia, those suffixes are dropped. Nouns ending in –ika produce adjectives ending in –ike: publika — publike, gramatika — gramatike.

The suffix –tive means 'doing or capable of doing, connected with doing'. It is added to a verb, then -titive=>-tive, -sitive=>-sive:

puni punish — punitive punitive;

nutri nourish — nutritive nutritive; akti to act – aktive active, konvinsi to convict – konvinsive convincing, sugesti to suggest – sugestive suggestive, atrakti to attract – atraktive attractive;

exklusi to exclude – exklusive exclusive, explosi to explode — explosive explosive.

The suffix –lik means "characteristic of, similar in appearance or character": matalik maternal, motherly; amigalik friendly; manlik manly; ginalik womanly; domlik homely, cozy; suryalik sun-like.

The suffix –ful means "possessing (esp. in great quantity), full of": joisaful joyful; jivaful lively, sprightly, vivacious; lumaful spotlit, luminous, alight; misteriaful mysterious; danjaful dangerous.

The suffix –bile corresponds to '-able, -ible': samaji – samajibile understandable, vidi – vidibile visible, audi – audibile audible, perseptibile perceptible; chi to eat – chibile edible.

The suffix –ish means "to some extent, somewhat, moderately": blan white – blanish whitish, interes-ney interesting — interes-nish more or less interesting; hao good — haoish passable.

When adding this suffix, the final –e of adjectives or –a of nouns is dropped; ‑ney => -nish.

The suffix –shil means "having inclination or tendency to": gun to work — gunshil industrious; kusi to bite — kusishil tending to bite; fobi to fear — fobishil timorous.

The suffix –val means "worthy": admirival admirable; sey filma es goval this film is worth going to see; sey geim es pleival this game is worth playing.

Substantivation of adjectives and participles

The particle 'lo' imparts to the adjective the meaning "that which is":

lo hao the good, what is good, lo buhao the bad, what is bad, lo resta-ney the rest, lo vidi-ney the seen, what is seen, lo vendi-ney the sold, what is sold, lo sekwi-she what follows, lo shwo-ney the said. This particle may be dropped if there is another qualifier: olo uuparen-shwo-ney everything above-said, olo jamile everything beautiful.

Lo tal bu mus repeti. – Such a thing must not happen again (repeat).

If the adjective has the suffix –e, changing it to –a produces a noun with the meaning “something or somebody characterized with this quality”:

yunge young — yunga young man/woman (yungo young man, yungina young woman)

saje wise — saja sage

jamile beautiful — jamila beautiful woman/handsome man (jamilo handsome man, jamilina beautiful woman)

garibe alien, extraneous — gariba stranger

konstante constant (adj.) — konstanta constant (noun)

absolute absolute (adj.) — absoluta absolute (noun).

Using the pronoun wan (“an individual, one”) has a similar effect:

adulte adult (adj.) — adulte wan adult (noun)

Kapti-ney wan bu shwo-te nixa. — The captured (person) did not say anything.

Adjectives with plural endings are used in the role of nouns:

Flori ba, yunges! — Bloom, young ones!

Koys go-te a desna, otres a lefta. — Some went to the right, others to the left.
Om morta-neys gai shwo sol hao. — Speak only good of the dead.

The particle “la”, in plural “las” (written with a hyphen) placed after adjective or participle may be optionally used as a substantivator or a substitute word, in order to avoid repetition of the same noun:

Hir ye kelke rosa, ob yu preferi blan-las o hwan-las? — Hwan-las.

There are roses here; do you prefer the white or the yellow ones? — The yellow.

Walaa dwa kitaba. Sey-la es hao e toy-la es buhao. – Here are two books. This one is good, and that one is bad.

Place in a sentence

The adjective usually precedes the noun. However, to stress it or to add a poetic connotation it may be placed after the noun: you may say "She has large blue eyes" either as

"Ela hev gran blu okos" or

"Ela hev okos gran blu" or

"Ela hev gran okos blu".

Verbs from adjectives

The prefix mah- or suffix –isi mean "to make, render, transform into, bring into a condition":

garme hot — mah-garme, garmisi heat up

lenge cold — mah-lenge, lengisi cool.

The prefix fa- or suffix –ifi mean "to get, to become":

garme hot — fa-garme, garmifi get hot, heat up

lenge cold — fa-lenge, lengifi get cold, cool down.

The suffix –fai makes verbs with meaning "to be such or act correspondingly":

hwan yellow — hwanfai appear/show yellow

podle mean, base — podlefai act meanly, behave like a scoundrel

dule tender — dulefai act in a tender way, indulge in caresses.

It is admissible to derive verbs with the suffix –i from adjectives, under the following conditions: 1) the meaning of verb is clear from the context; 2) one should not derive nouns in –a from such verbs. Such verbs may be transitive as well as intransitive. Examples:

topale lame

lu topali he limps

topaling limping, lameness;

garme hot

lu garmi akwa he heats up water

akwa zai garmi the water is heating up

garming heating;

tayar ready

ela tayari sabahfan she prepares breakfast

fan zai tayari the food is preparing

tayaring preparation.

Wherever ambiguity is possible, use –isi, –ifi or –fai.

Adverbs

Adverbs of manner are formed from adjectives by changing –e to –em:
klare clear — klarem clearly.

If the adjective ends in a consonant, –em is added:

santush satisfied, contented — santushem contentedly.

In other cases the adverb has the same form:

hao – good; well

kway – quick; quickly

Adverbs may be derived from nouns and verbs with "–nem" (from –ney) or  "–shem" (from –she):

amiga friend — amiga-ney friend's, friendly — amiga-nem in a friendly way

rega king/queen — rega-ney king's/queen's, kingly/queenly, regal — rega-nem regally

ofensi to offend — ofensi-ney offended, resentful — ofensi-nem offendedly

respekti to respect — respekti-she respecting — respekti-shem in respecting way, respectfully

grumbli to grumble — grumbli-she grumbling — grumbli-shem grumblingly

ahfi to hide, conceal — ahfi-shem stealthily.

Other kinds of adverbs may end differently:

poy – then, later

wek – away

uupar – up

for – further, on, forth.

Here are some spatial and temporal adverbs and prepositions:

avan – forward (where to?)

avanen – ahead (of) (at what place?);

aus – out (where to?)

ausen – outside (at what place?);

bak – back(wards)

baken – behind;

in – in

inu – into

inen – inside;

a flanka – sideways

flanken – on one side;

a lefta – to the left

leften – at the left (of);

a desna – to the right

desnen – at the right (of);

nich – down(wards)

nichen – down (at what place?);

uupar – up(wards)

uuparen – up (at what place?);

miden – in the middle of;

afte – after

aften – afterwards, later on;

bifoo – before

bifooen – formerly.

One can see that the spatial adverbs expressing movement towards a certain point end in different ways, while those expressing being in (at) a certain point end in –en (this ending is unstressed).

Some adverbs are composed of (abridged) words:

kadalok – everywhere

enitaim  — anytime

koygrad  — to some extent.

The preposition pa (of a wide meaning) introduces an adverbial phrase:

pa fortuna – fortunately

pa aksham – in the evening

pa un-ney kansa – by first sight

shwo pa LdP – speak LdP.

Comparison

The comparative degree of adverbs and adjectives is formed with the help of the words 'pyu' more ('...kem' ...than) and 'meno' less ('...kem' ...than); the superlative degree is formed with the help of the words  'zuy' most and 'minim' least.

hao – good; well

pyu hao – better

zuy hao –the best

bade – bad

pyu bade – worse

zuy bade – the worst.

Es zuy muhim kwesta. –  It’s the most important question.

Sey kamisa es pyu hao kem toy-la. – This shirt is better than that one.

Pyu hao tardem kem neva. – Better late than never.

Ela es meno atenta-ney kem lu. – She is less attentive than he.

minim long – the least long

Lu hev zuy shao mani .–  He’s got the least money.

Lo zuy hao es tu returni. –  The best thing is to return.

Me pri diverse fruta, bat banan, me pri it zuy. — I like diverse fruits, but bananas I like most.

Equality of comparison:

sam… kom – as... as:

Lu es sam riche kom ela. – He is as rich as she is.

The adverbs 'mucho' many, much and 'shao' little (in quantity) have special comparative forms:

meno – less (one can also say “pyu shao”)

zuy shao –  the least

pyu – more.

The superlative of 'mucho' is 'maiste' the most:

Lu hev maiste mani. — He has got the most money.

'Maiste' is also an adjective:

maiste parta — the most part

in maiste kasu — in most cases

maiste jen — most people.

Expressions like “as soon as possible”, “as little as possible” are expressed by means of  'tanto... kom posible', 'zuy ... posible':

Lai tanto kway kom posible. (Lai zuy kway posible.) – Come as soon as possible.

Shumi zuy shao posible. – Make as little noise as possible.

Safara mus bi zuy kway posible. – The journey should be as quick as possible.

The expression 'the more…, the more'  — 'kem pyu... tem pyu...':

Kem pyu lao, tem pyu stupide. — The older, the sillier.

The word 'tem' (derived, like 'kem', from Russian comparative conjunctions) also means 'so much the':

Tem pyu hao. — So much the better.

Es tem pyu surprisive ke… — It’s all the more surprising that…

Numerals

The cardinal numbers

nol – 0

un – 1

dwa – 2

tri – 3

char – 4

pet – 5

sit – 6

sem – 7

ot – 8

nin – 9

shi – 10

shi-un – 11 (the numerals from 11 to 19 are written with a hyphen; the accent is on the second syllable)

shi-dwa – 12

shi-tri – 13

shi-char – 14

shi-pet – 15

shi-sit – 16

shi-sem – 17

shi-ot – 18

shi-nin – 19

dwashi – 20 (20, 30...90 are written together, the accent on the first syllable)

dwashi-un – 21

dwashi-dwa – 22...

trishi – 30

charshi – 40

petshi – 50

sitshi – 60

semshi – 70

otshi – 80

ninshi – 90

sto – 100

sto-un – 101

sto-dwa – 102 ...

dwasto – 200

tristo – 300

charsto – 400

petsto – 500

sitsto – 600

semsto – 700

otsto – 800

ninsto – 900

mil – 1000

milion –million

25473 – dwashi-pet mil charsto-semshi-tri (mil, milion are written separately, the others with a hyphen)

The ordinal numerals

These are formed with the help of the particle “-ney”:

un-ney – first

dwa-ney– second

tri-ney – third

char-ney – forth...

shi-ney – tenth

shi-un-ney – eleventh...

sto-petshi-char-ney – one hundred fifty forth.

un-nem – firstly; at first

dwa-nem – secondly

tri-nem – thirdly

char-nem – in the forth place...

shi-nem – in the tenth place

shi-un-nem – in the eleventh place...

sto-petshi-char-nem – in the one hundred fifty forth place.

Others

haf — half

un-e-haf — one and a half

–ka — the suffix forming nouns from numerals (e.g. 'petka' may denote something which has the number 5, or grade of "five" signifying "excellent", or a five-dollar note, etc. Such nouns are practical with rather small numbers, up to 100)

unka — one

dwaka — two, deuce

trika — three

charka — four

petka — five…

shika — ten

shi-dwaka — dozen

dwashika — twenty

trishika — thirty

stoka — a hundred

–fen —forms fractions:

un de dwafen — one half

un de trifen — one third

sem de shifen — seven tenths

tri de stofen — three hundredths

pet de otfen — five eighths.

Decimal fractions are pronounced with the help of the word koma (comma):

tri koma pet — 3,5

dwa koma semshi pet — 2,75

One can also say "dwa koma semshi pet de stofen".

trifenka — one third

charfenka — a quarter

shifenka — a tenth part

stofenka — a hundredth part

milfenka — a thousandth part

dwaple — double

triple — triple

charple — quadruple; and so on with the suffix –ple.

With the adverbial suffix –em:

dwaplem — by twos, two by two (French “à deux, tous les deux”, German “zu zweit”)

triplem — by threes (French “à trois, tous le trois”, German “zu dritt”).

A noun after a numeral is not pluralized:

pet jen – five men

dwa oko – two eyes

tristo dolar – three hundred dollars

sem pes sukra – seven pieces of sugar.

A composite modifier "numeral + noun of measure + adjective":

tri metra glube riva — a river three meters deep

Sey mur es dwa metra gao. — This wall is 2 meters high.
«Govo, pagi-ney shi yar bak! - Trupa grauli. - Nu bu fai dela om osta kel es shi yar lao!» — “A bull paid ten years ago!” the Pack snarled. “What do we care for bones ten years old?”

Days of the week, months

Names for days of the week are compounds from a number and the particle 'di', Monday is counted as the first day:

undi — Monday

dwadi — Tuesday

tridi — Wednesday

chardi — Thursday

petdi — Friday

sitdi — Saturday

semdi — Sunday.

Names for months are based on Latin ones, which are spread very widely. However, compounds ("month"+number) are also admissible:

January — januar (mes-un)

February — februar (mes-dwa)

March — marto (mes-tri)

April — april (mes-char)

May — mey (mes-pet)

June — yuni (mes-sit)

July — yuli (mes-sem)

August — augusto (mes-ot)

September — septemba (mes-nin)

October — oktoba (mes-shi)

November — novemba (mes-shi-un)

December — desemba (mes-shi-dwa).

Dey sem de mey — The seventh of May.

Dey dwashi-un de mes-nin. — The twenty first of September.

Word formation

LdP tends to keep words unchanged, so it basically uses either (hyphenated) particles or suffixes beginning with a consonant which are simply added to a word. We believe that this makes word structure clearer and understanding easier.

Diminutive and augmentative particles and suffixes

There is an augmentative particle gro–, a diminutive particle –ki (these particles are hyphenated), an augmentative suffix "gron", and a diminutive suffix "kin".

The suffixes are used to make notions which qualitatively differ from the basic noun:

dom house — domkin a house that is inherently small (cabin, hut) — domgron a house that is inherently large (mansion);
denta tooth — dentagron tusk;

barela barrel — barelakin keg.

As to the particles, they modify the meaning within the limits of a given quality; gro– is used before the modified word, –ki after it:

dom-ki a little house; gro-dom a big house.

The suffixes are used to form nouns only, while the particles may be used with different parts of speech: gro-danke thank you very much, gro-gran huge, gro-gao very high; lu gro-pi vodka kom akwa he swills vodka like water; gro-chifan to guzzle, overeat; zai gro-pluvi it is pouring; zai pluvi-ki it drizzles; treba chifan-ki one should have a snack, somni-ki to take a nap. It should be noted that there is also an intensifying adverb "gro", so that the mentioned phrases may also be constructed as: lu pi vodka gro, kom akwa; chifan gro; zai pluvi gro. "Gro" expresses a greater extent of augmentation/intensification, than "muy" (very): muy hao! very well! gro-hao! great! excellent!

The particles may also be used with proper nouns: Jon-ki Johnny.

The suffix "kin" with names of animals means animal's young (in this case it may be understood as a shortening of "kinda" child):

doga dog — dogakin pup

kota cat — kotakin kitten.

Particles NEY, SHE and their derivatives

ney – genitive particle; modifier-making particle; with verbs denotes passive participle; makes ordinal numerals. Ex.:
mata mother — mata-ney klaida mother's clothes
Jen man/woman — jen-ney human
rude-fas-ney jen — red-faced person
gran-oko-ney gela — big-eyed girl
yu-oli-ney idea — the ideas of all of you
vidi to see — vidi-ney seen
tri-ney — third.

nem – the adverbial form from –ney:
parta-ney partial — parta-nem partially, partly
un-ney first — un-nem at first, firstly
ofensi-ney offended, resentful — ofensi-nem resentfully.

she – active participle marker:
ahfi to hide, conceal — ahfi-she hiding
respekti to respect — respekti-she respecting.

shem – the adverbial form from –she:
respekti-she respecting — respekti-shem respectfully
ahfi-she hiding — ahfi-shem stealthily
dumi-she thinking — dumi-shem thoughtfully, pensively.

sha – suffix of doer:
milki to milk — milki-sha milker (person)
kapti to catch — kapti-sha catcher
kan to look — kan-sha onlooker, viewer.

The list of productive affixes

Hyphenated prefixes

ek – denotes that something is done only one time or rather suddenly (from Hindi "ek" one): tuki to knock — ek-tuki to give a knock, krai to cry — ek-krai to cry out.

en – denotes the beginning of action: en-somni to fall asleep, en-stan to stand up.

fa – conveys the meaning "to get, to become": gran big — fa-gran to increase, hao good — fa-hao to improve, become better.

fuy – the prefix of disgust, repugnance: fuy-jen a nasty person.

gin – feminine prefix: gin-yan ewe, gin-leker female doctor, gin-doga bitch. Synonymous with the suffix –ina.

gro – augmentative/intensifying particle: kitaba a book — gro-kitaba volume, folio; hao good — gro-hao great, excellent.

haf – half: haf-dey half a day, haf-ora half an hour.

mah – causative prefix meaning "to make, to bring into a condition": hao good — mah-hao to improve, make better; jal to burn, be burning — mah-jal to burn (smth).

man – masculine prefix: man-yan ram, man-leker male doctor, man-doga male dog. Synonymous with the suffix –o.

pro – pro: pro-guverna sirkula pro-government circles, pro-westa stata a pro-Western state.

swa – self- (directed at oneself): swa-luba self-love, swa-kontrola self-control.

shma – disparaging prefix: shma-kaval nag, shma-dom shack.

stif – "step": stif-mata stepmother, stif-patra stepfather.

 Prefixes

bu – negation: gran big — bugran not big, not great, komparibile comparable — bukomparibile incomparable.

de(s) – opposite action ("des" if before a vowel): desharji discharge, desorganisi disorganize.

dus – "bad, mal-, ill-": fauha smell – dusfauha fetor, stench; trati to treat – dustrati to maltreat; dusfama-ney ill-famed; dustaim bad times.

ko – joint action or being: koexista co-existence; kosenti to feel with; kojen companion, helpmate. Hyphenated if a word begins with "o": ko-operati to cooperate.

kontra – counter-: kontratoxin antidote.

mis – incorrectly, wrongly: misyusi to misuse, miskalkuli to miscalculate.

no – makes antonyms: juste just — nojuste unjust; pinchan ordinary — nopinchan extraordinary.

pra – means 1) remote kinship: praopa great-grandfather, prajanmer forebear; 2) primordiality, antiquity: pralingwa parent language; prajen ancestor, forefather.

pre – precedence, pre-, fore-: previdi to foresee; pre-existi to preexist; prenam forename; preyeri the day before yesterday; pregoer predecessor, prejuda prejudice.

ras – separation, division, or dispersion: muvi to move — rasmuvi to move apart; dai to give – rasdai to distribute, give to several people; sendi to send – rassendi to send out/round; lwo to fall – raslwo to fall to pieces.

ri – again, anew: riapari to reappear, rizwo to redo.

sin – -less: sinsensu-ney senseless, sinvalor-ney of no value.

tra – through(out): tralekti to read through (from begining to end); tranochi to spend the night.

Suffixes

bile – "-able, -ible": samaji – samajibile understandable, vidi – vidibile visible; chi to eat – chibile eatable.

dan – denotes container: chaydan teapot; nayudan butterdish, milkadan milk-can.

em – adverb suffix: klare clear — klarem clearly.

er – "doer or tool": plei play — pleier player (person or device).

fen — forms fractions: un de trifen one third; sem de shifen seven tenths.

ful – "possessing (esp. in great quantity), full of": joisaful joyful; jivaful lively, sprightly, vivacious; lumaful spotlit, luminous, alight; misteriaful mysterious; danjaful dangerous.

guan – "institution, establishment": fanguan dining room; frisiguan hairdresser's; kitabaguan library; printiguan printing-house.

ifi – "to get, to become": iri be angry — irifi get angry; klare clear — klarifi become clear(er).

(i)ka – "object, thing, something concrete". In adjectives ending in –e and nouns ending in –a, this last vowel is transformed into –ika; in other cases –ka is added. With monosyllabic i-verbs, -ika is added with a hyphen: nove new — novika something new, novelty; ski to ski — ski-ika smth for skiing; plei to play — pleika toy, plaything.

ike – (unstressed) derives adjectives of relation from nouns: osean ocean — oseanike oceanic; harmonia harmony — harmonike harmonious; historia history — historike historical. If added to a noun ending in –a or –ia, these endings are dropped. Nouns ending in –ika produce adjectives ending in –ike: publika — publike, gramatika — gramatike.

ina – feminine suffix: amiga friend – amigina girl/female friend; doga dog – dogina bitch. Synonymous with the prefix gin-.

inka – denotes one small part of smth: ramla sand – ramlinka grain of sand, snega snow – sneginka snowflake, pluva rain – pluvinka drop of rain. If added to a noun ending in –a or –ia, these endings are dropped.

ish – means means "to some extent": blan white – blanish whitish, interes-ney interesting — interes-nish more or less interesting; hao good — haoish passable. When adding this suffix, the final –e of adjectives or –a of nouns are dropped; ‑ney => -nish.

isi – "to make, to bring into a condition": detal detail — detalisi detail; iri be angry — irisi anger, enrage; klare clear — klarisi clarify. If added to a noun ending in –ia, "ia" is dropped: mifologia mythology — mifologisi mythologise.

ista – denotes a person in relation to a certain doctrine (‘ism’) or profession: ateista atheist, dentista dentist, artista artist.

(i)taa – makes abstract nouns from adjectives: probable probable – probablitaa probability.

jen – "man, person": samlandajen fellow countryman, lubijen loved one, sendijen envoy.

lik – "characteristic of, similar in appearance or character": matalik maternal, motherly; amigalik friendly; manlik manly; ginalik womanly; domlik homely, cozy; suryalik sun-like.

lok – "place": habitilok dwelling (-place), habitation, twolilok threshing-floor; koylok  — somewhere; enilok  — anywhere.

menga – denotes a certain multitude, gathering of uniform objects: moskamenga swarm of flies; jenmenga crowd.

nesa – makes abstract nouns from adjectives: dule tender – dulenesa tenderness.

nik – denotes person as bearer of some characteristic feature or adherent of smth: batalnik scrapper; fobnik coward; shwonik chatterer; pyannik drunkard, safarnik confirmed traveller. When it is added the word's last vowel may be dropped.

o – masculine suffix: doga dog – dogo male dog, amiga friend – amigo boy/male friend. Synonymous with the prefix man-.

ple – numerals suffix: dwaple — double, twofold; triple — triple, threefold.

sa – noun suffix of general meaning, a part of pronouns koysa something; enisa anything. Forms nouns from the verbs of type 2: flai to fly — flaisa flight; gun to work — gunsa work, jan to know — jansa knowledge.

shil – "having inclination or tendency to": gun to work — gunshil industrious; kusi to bite — kusishil tending to bite; fobi to fear — fobishil timid, timorous.

-te (hyphenated) – past tense marker: ta shwo-te he said.

val – "worthy": admirival admirable; sey filma es goval this film is worth going to see; sey geim es pleival this game is worth playing.

yuan – "employee, worker, organization member": kafeeyuan cafe worker; partiayuan party member; polisyuan policeman; koalisionyuan coalition member.

The prefixes anti-, arki-, auto-, bi-, ex-, mono-, multi-, poli-, pseudo-, retro-, which occur in technical and scientific words, need not be explained. They are not hyphenated.

Compound words

In compound words the modifying word stands before the main word: guntaim working time; flaifish flying fish, suryaflor sunflower; akwagarmiser water-heater, mauskapter mouse trap, lernikitaba textbook, sendijen envoy, saltikorda skipping-rope.

The adjective suffix –e may be dropped: garibjen stranger (garibe jen), platbota flat-boat (plate bota).

Prepositions, conjunctions

A

1) preposition of aim, direction, "to": treba go a shop – one should go to the shop, lu he returni a Moskva – he returned to Moscow; 2) dative case preposition, "to": me dai kitaba a ela – I give the book to her; me rakonti a yu – I tell you, ela shwo a lu – she says to him.

Afte

After (in temporal as well as spatial meaning); in (in temporal meaning): un afte otre – one after another; afte se – after this, afte tri dey – in three days; aftemanya – the day after tomorrow.

Al

1) with verbs denotes simultaneity of actions (= "verb+yen"): Al pasi bus-stopika me he vidi ke lu stan dar. – Passing the bus-stop I saw him standing there; al shwo om se – when speaking about it; al kupi auto – when buying a car;

2) introduces current circumstances, situation, denotes simultaneity: al to – at that, in the process; al bakdao – on the way back; al klosi-ney dwar – behind closed doors, with doors closed; al sey halat – under these conditions; al un-ney kansa – at first sight; me joi al vidi yu – I am glad to see you.

Along

Along: along riva – along the river, along gata – along the street.

Aus

(preposition and adverb) out (of): 1) expresses movement outwards: lai aus! – come out! Lu go-te aus shamba – he went out of the room; 2) denotes material: botela aus glas – bottle made of glass, glass bottle.

Ausen

(preposition and adverb) outside (at what place?), beyond the limits of: ausen dom — outside the house; me jivi ausen urba — I live out of town; dwar bu ofni fon ausen – the door does not open from outside; ausen ye frosta — it freezes outdoors; ausen-temperatura – the outside temperature; lo ausen – the outside.

Avanen

(preposition and adverb) ahead (of): avanen kolona – ahead of the column; lu es dalem avanen – he is far ahead; may kloka es pet minuta avanen – my watch is 5 minutes fast.

Baken

(preposition and adverb) behind (at what place?): surya bin baken badal – the sun was behind the clouds; urba resti baken – the city stayed behind; may kloka es pet minuta baken – my watch is 5 minutes slow.

Bay

1) introduces a means or tool, "by", "with", "by means of": ta he darbi ta bay stik – he/she hit her/him with a stick; treba replasi lao bataria bay nove-la – one should replace the old battery with new one; bay forsa – by force; ela lai-te bay avion – she came by airplane; bay tren – by train; sendi leta bay aviameil – to send a letter by air mail; bay to ke – in that, by the fact that: ais farki fon akwa bay to ke it es twerde – ice differs from water in that it is solid; 2) refers to doer or author: se es zwo-ney bay me – this is done by me; kitaba bay Gogol – book by Gogol.

Bifoo

Before (in temporal as well as spatial meaning): Wosh handas bifoo chifan! – Wash your hands before eating! Lu zai stan-te bifoo me. – He was standing before me. Bifoo ke lu en-somni – before he fell asleep. Bifoo-ney – former.

Bikos

Because (=por ke).

Bli

(preposition and adverb) near, nearby, beside, close by: bli may dom – near my house; bli klok char  – around 4 o'clock (one may say also "sirke klok ρhar"); ela zai sidi bli – she was sitting beside.

Dabe

In order to, in order that: dabe oli samaji problema... – in order that everyone understands the problem... dabe zwo olo kom gai... – in order to do everything as needed...

Dank a

Thanks to: dank a lu – thanks to him; dank a fakta ke... – thanks to the fact that...

De

The preposition of genitive case, "of": lingwa de planeta – the language of planet, deskovra de Amerika bay Columbus – the discovery of America by Columb. The preposition may also denote an amount or portion of something: tasa de chay – a cup of tea (but 'tasa chay' is also admissible).

Depos

Since, starting from, for (in temporal meaning): me es hir depos klok shi — I have been here since ten o'clock; depos ke me lai hir – since I came here; depos longtaim – long since.

Do

Preposition introducing a specific characteristic, distinctive feature, or purpose of object: gela do grin okos – green-eyed girl; okula do surya – sun spectacles; jen do lignagamba – a man with wooden leg; es kosa do ridi – this is ridiculous, mashina do skribi – typewriter.

Duran

During: duran gwer – during the war; duran laste dwa yar – in the course of the last two years; duran ke – while; duran to – meanwhile.

E

And: me e yu – me and you; me sal go a kino, e yu? – I am going to go to the cinema, and you? See «i»

Ewalaa

(coordinating conjunction introducing new, often little expected circumstances): Ta en-chi ewalaa ye tro mucho pepa. — As he began to eat, he felt that there is too much pepper added. Me zin shop ewalaa may amiga zai kupi pan. — When I entered the shop, I saw that my friend was buying bread. Pa un dey saja zai prei, ewalaa orla pasi, mah-lwo maus inu saja-ney handas. Saja ofni okos, ewalaa ye maus in handas. — One day when the sage was praying, an eagle happened to pass by and the eagle dropped a mouse in the hands of the sage. The sage opened his eyes, and there was a mouse in his hands.

Exepte

Except: oli exepte me – everyone except me.

Fo

For: 1) indicates the object, aim, or purpose of an action or activity: es fo yu – this is for you, me lai-te fo vidi yu – I came to see you; fo ke – in order to (=dabe); 2) indicates duration or a specific time: fo kelke taim – for some time; mita aranji-ney fo klok dwa – the meeting arranged for two o'clock.

Fon

From: me zai go fon teatra – I am going from the theatre. Fon kapa til peda – from head to foot. Fon sabah til aksham — from morning till evening.

I

"i… i..." – "both... and...": i lu i ela – both he and she; i sey-las i toy-las – these as well as those.

In

In: 1) refers to place: nu jivi in Rusia – we live in Russia. 2) refers to time: in petdi – on Friday; in lai-she yar – in the next year; 3) expresses other meanings: in nove palto – in a new overcoat; kreda in Boh – belief in God; in tal kasu – in such case.

Inen

(preposition and adverb) inside, within: inen dom – within the house; dwar es klosi-ney fon inen – the door is closed from inside; inen me – within me; lu es inen – he is inside, he is in; inen-temperatura – the inside temperature; lo inen – the inside.

Inplas

instead (of), in place (of): Go dar inplas me! – Go there instead of me! Inplas resti lu go-te for. – Instead of remaining here he went on. Lu plei inplas gun. – He plays instead of working.

Inter

between: inter dwar e winda – between the door and the window. Lu lai-te inter klok ot e shi de sabah. – He came between 8 and 10 in the morning. Mutuale samaja inter jenmin. – Mutual understanding between the peoples.

Inu

(preposition and adverb) into: Ela go-te inu shamba. – She went into the room. Kan inu! — Look inside! Nulwan mog transformi fer inu golda. – Nobody can change iron into gold.

Kontra

(preposition and adverb) 1) against, contrary to: kontra may vola – against my will; 2) opposite, in front of (in space): Dom es kontra. – The house is on the opposite side. 3) against (contact from an opposite direction) apogi kontra mur — lean against the wall;

(prefix) kontratoxin – antidote; kontrakosa — opposite (noun).

Krome

Besides: krome ke nu es fatigi-ney, nu bu hev pyu taim. – We are tired, and besides we don't have any more time. Krome to – besides that, moreover.

Kun

With, along with: ela shwo kun smaila – she said with a smile; filma kun Jackie Chan – a film with Jackie Chan; kompari kun koysa – to compare with smth; lu klosi-te dwar kun shum – he closed the door with a noise; kun forsa – with force (cf.: bay forsa – by force).

Malgree

In spite of.

Miden

Amid, in the middle; among: miden shamba – in the middle of the room; miden amigas – among friends. Miden li ye diverse jen. — There are various people among them.

Nich

(preposition and adverb) down(wards): go nich – to go down; nich kolina – down the hill.

Nichen

(preposition and adverb) down (at what place?), at the lower part of: lu es nichen – he is down; nichen bey – at the lower part of back; nichen kolina – at the bottom of the hill. Nicha – bottom, lower part.

Obwol

Though, although: Obwol me jan urba aika hao, sey plasa, me totem bu jan it. – Although I know the city quite well, this place is completely unknown to me.

Oda (the short form is 'Ξ')

Or: yu o lu – you or he; "oda... oda..." – "either... or...".

Of

Indicates that a mechanism or connection is off: radio es of – the radio is off; mah-of radio – to switch the radio off.

Om

About, concerning, on (refers to the subject of activity): me he dumi om yu – I thought about you. Nau om otre kosas. – Now about other things. Li oli ridi-te om sey insidenta. – They all laughed about this incident. Nu zai gun om sey problema. – We are working on/at this problem.

On

On: 1) indicates that something is on a surface: on tabla – on the table; 2) indicates that a mechanism or connection is on: radio es on – the radio is on; mah-on radio – to switch the radio on.

Pa

Preposition of wide meaning, often can be used instead of other prepositions, 1) indicates place, time (at, on, in): pa dom – at home; pa mur – on the wall; pa gata – in the street; sidi pa tabla – sit at the table; London lagi pa Tems – London lies on the Thames; ob mani es pa yu? – is the money with you? pa vesna – in spring; 2) introduces an adverbial phrase: shwo pa inglish – speak (in) English; pa un-ney kansa – at first sight; ta jivi pa shi kilometra fon mar – he lives 10 km from the sea; pa exponenta – exponentially; pa ol mogsa – with all one's might; pa char – four (together); pa fortuna – fortunately.

Per

Per, for each (every): 6% per yar — 6% per year. Pinchan dwashi dolar per jen – Usually 20 dollars per head. 100 gram per kilo – 100 gram per kilo.

Po

Refers to distribution in portions: olo es po dwa dolar – everything costs 2 dollars apiece; po tri – in threes; po shao, shao-po-shao – little by little.

Por

Due to, because of: Ela bu lai-te por bade meteo. – She did not come because of bad weather. Lu zwo se por gamanditaa. – He does this out of vanity. Danke por yur atenta! – Thank you for your attention!

Pro

Pro, in favor of: li es pro guverna – they support government.

Pur

1) For, in exchange for: kupi pur mani – to buy for money; rekompensa pur gunsa – recompense for the work; lu gun pur shi dolar per wik – he works for 10 dollars per week; 2) for, in place of: lu chifan pur tri jen – he eats for two men.

Relatem

In relation to: lu es neutrale relatem sey kwesta – he is neutral in relation to this question.

Segun

According to, in accordance with: segun laste investiga – according to last investigations; pikter segun vokasion – painter by vocation. Segun ke — as, in proportion as: Segun ke – as, in proportion as: segun ke presa fa-syao, volum fa-gran — as pressure diminishes, the volume grows.

She

At -'s house/place, with. Corresponds to the French chez, indicating 1) abode: lu resti-te she nu – he remained with us/at our house; me ve bi she me – I shall be at my house; me jivi bu dalem fon she yu – I live not far from you; me zai lai fon she ela – I am coming from her house; sta ba kom she yu! – make yourself at home! 2) land, country: she ruski jenta – among Russians, in Russia; she dushman – in enemy territory, among the enemy; 3) author: she Homer – in Homer; 4) found in/among (person or animal): es abyas she lu – it is a habit with him; instinkta she animal – instinct in animals.

Sin

Without: sin me – without me.

Sirke

Approximately, about, around: dar he ye sirke dwashi jen – there were about 20 people; sirke mil dolar – around 1000 dollars.

Sirkum

(preposition and adverb) around: sirkum dom – around the house, kan sirkum – to look around. Lo sirkum – surroundings.

Sobre

Above, over: sobre may kapa – above my head, sobre urba – over the city.

Sub

Under: sub tabla – under the table; sub nuy kontrola – under our control.

Til

Till, until: til nau – until now. Fon kapa til peda. – From head to foot. Til aksham! – Till the evening! Til manya! – Till tomorrow!

Tra

Through; over, across, to (on) the other side of: Lu zai go-te tra urba. – He was going through the town. Tra winda oni vidi gao baum. – Through the window one can see a high tree. Lu gun-te om to tra mucho yar. — He worked on this through many years. Kaval salti-te tra bariera. – The horse leaped over the barrier. Lu jivi tra osean. – He lives over/across the ocean.

Uupar

(preposition and adverb) up(wards): kan uupar – to look up; uupar kolina – up the hill.

Uuparen

(preposition and adverb) up (at what place?); at the upper part of: lu es uuparen – he is up there; uuparen kolina – at the top of the hill. Fon uuparen – from above. Uupara – top, the upper part/side.

Versu

Towards: versu westa – to the west. Me turni-te versu dom. – I turned towards home. Elay senta versu lu. – Her feelings towards him.

Via

Via: via radio – via radio; a London via Paris – to London via Paris; me en-jan-te sey habar via may visin – I learned this news through my neighbour.

Interjections, particles

Greetings

Greetings like «Good day!» have a similar structure in LdP:

Good morning! — Hao sabah!

Good day! — Hao dey!

Good evening! — Hao aksham!

Good night! — Hao nocha!

Any major greetings from major languages are also acceptable:

Namastee!

Salam!

Marhaba!

Heloo!

Ola!

Hay!

Chao!

Sdrastvuy(te)! Sdraste!

Privet!

Haloo!

Salve!

Salut! Salud!

Many of these greetings are also used to say goodbye.

Adyoo

Goodbye! Adieu! Shwo adyoo – to say goodbye.

Aa!

An exclamation of understanding, recognition: Aa, es yu! –  Ah, it's you! Aa, me samaji. — Oh, I see.

Written with two letters for distinction from the conjunction "a" (but pronounced the same way).

Afsos!

Alas!

Ah!

Ah!

Ahaa!

Aha!

Ay!

Ouch!

Ba

Imperative particle: Go ba dar! – Go there! Kan ba se! – Take a look at this! Nu go ba! – Let's go! Ta lai ba! – Let him come!

Danke

Thank you.

Den

Accusative particle, used in the case of inverted word order:

Me chi yabla. – Kwo yu chi? – Den yabla me chi!

I am eating an apple. – What are you eating? – The apple I am eating!

Hay

May, let (wish; leave): Hay olo bi hao! — May everything be good! Hay forsa bi kun yu! — May the force be with you! Hay oni shwo to ke oni yao. — Let them say what they like.

Hey!

Hey! (calling for another's attention)

Hi

An emphatic particle, emphasizing the previous word; it is pronounced with a certain stress: me hi zwo-te se – it's me who did it; lu ve go dar hi – it's there that he will go.

Hm

Hm, ahem.

Huraa!

Hurrah!

Fuy

1) fie, faugh; 2) a prefix of distaste, disgust: fuy-jen – a nasty, repulsive person.

Kamon!

Come on!

Ku

An interrogative particle at the end of a sentence or directly after the word to which it relates: Yu lai ku? – Will you come? Me lai, hao ku? – I shall come, OK? Me darfi zin ku? – May I come in?

Magari

I wish, if only: Magari ta lai! — If only he would come!

Non

No: Non, me bu go. — No, I am not going.

Ob

1) An interrogative particle at the beginning of a sentence; 2) whether, if:  Ob ta lai? – Will he/she come? Me bu jan ob ta lai. – I don't know whether he/she will come. Kan, ob lu lai-te. – Take a look if he has come.

Oo

1) Oh (an exclamation expressive of surprise, pain, pleasure, etc.): Oo es ya jamile! – Oh, how beautiful! Oo ya! – Oh yes!

2) O (marks address): Hay fortuna go kun yu, oo Shefa de wulfas! – Good luck go with you, o Chief of the Wolves!

Written with two letters for distinction from the conjunction "o" or.

Shsh!

Hush! Sh!

Swaagat!

Welcome!

Swasti!

Good luck! May fortune favour you! Everything good to you!

Tfu!

Ptooey!

Uf!

An exclamation expressing tiredness or relief, appeasement: Uf, sey bao es grave! – Oh (gosh), this bag is heavy! Uf, me sta fatigi-ney! – Gosh, I am tired! Uf, pa fin me es pa dom! – Oh, at last I am at home!

Viva

Long live! Viva unitaa de Arda! – Long live the unity of the Earth!

Walaa

Walaa nu. – Here we are. Walaa fin. – That's all.

Wek

1) Away, off. Wek! – Get out, go away! Lu go-te wek – He went away. Lu es wek – He is away. 2) Starting signal: Un, dwa, tri, wek! — One, two, three, go!

Wel

Well (interjection): Wel, e poy? – Well, what next? Wel, wel... me bu jan kwo shwo. — Well, well... I don't know what to say.

Ya

1) Yes (affirmative interjection). 2) Emphatic particle, "you know", "indeed": Lu es ya experta. — He is an expert, you know. Yu jan ya ke me bu pri fish. – But you know that I don't like fish. Ya munda es gro-jamile! – What a beautiful world! Es ya gro-gao baum! – This tree is so big!

Yok

There is no, not available: Mani yok! – I have no money! No money available. Problema yok! – No problem! "Yok" is placed after the object under discussion and used when its absence/unavailability is stressed.

Syntax

Word order

Word order is direct: subject — predicate — object. This is natural for a language without case endings: "lu vidi yu" means something quite different than "yu vidi lu".

An accusative particle "den" placed before the object makes it possible to change its place, e.g. for the sake of emphasis:

Me pren yabla — I take an apple.

Kwo yu pren? — What do you take?

Den yabla me pren! — The apple I take!

Pronouns in unstressed form before verbs, as in Romance languages (e.g. "je t’aime"), are not used in LdP.

Interrogative sentences

There are two interrogative particles. One of them (ob) is placed at the beginning of an interrogative sentence, the other (ku) at the end or directly after the word to which it relates. It is practical to use "ob" with longer sentences and "ku" with shorter ones:

Ob yu mog shwo a me, wo es zuy blise fanshop? — Can you tell me, where is the nearest food store?

Yu lai ku? – Will you come?

Me lai, hao ku? – I'll come, OK?

The particle "ob" also plays the role of the conjunction "whether":

Me bu jan, ob lu es in dom – I don't know whether he is at home.

While ob relates to the whole clause, ku may shift the interrogative emphasis to the word that stands before it:

Yu bu gun! — Me ku bu gun?

You don’t work! — Who, me?

There is one more variant of building interrogative sentences: you repeat a verb placing the negative particle "bu" in the middle:

Yu go-bu-go? — Are you going (or not)?

Ye-bu-ye koy idea? — Are there any ideas?

There is no necessity to use special pronouns (as "anything" instead of "something" in English questions). A question word like "kwo" what or "kwel" which may be placed at the beginning of interrogative sentence, although it may not be the subject:

Kwo yu dumi om to? – What do you think about it?

Subject-predicate inversion is allowed only in the case of “es”:

Wo es may kalam? – Where is my pen?

The expression "isn't it?" is "bu ver?":

Es hao filma, bu ver? – It's a good film, isn't it?

Negative sentences

The negative particle "bu" is used in negative sentences:

Me bu jan — I don't know.

Bu is always placed before a tense particle:

Nu bu go. — We don't go.

Nu bu ve go. — We won't go.

Nu bu he go. — We didn't go.

Nu bu wud go. — We wouldn't go.

Multiple negations are allowed:

Lu bu samaji nixa. – He doesn't understand anything.

The constuction with na before a noun

The particle na allows to place subordinate clauses before a noun:

Ta jivi na planeta. — The planet on which he lives.

Me dumi na kwesta. — The question I am thinking about.

hao sidi na stula — a chair that is comfortable to sit on

Eventi pa septemba na konferensa. — The conference to take place in September (or: The conference that has taken place in September).

At the beginning of the subordinate clause ended with na one may optionally put the noun group marker ti, in order to delimit the whole modifier:

Me kwesti ta om ti ta jivi na planeta. — I asked him about the planet on which he lives.

Me bu yao diskusi ti yu shwo na kwesta. — I don’t want to discuss the question that you mention.

The constuction with ke after a noun

A modifying group (containing subject) may be placed after a noun and "ke".

Dom ke nu jivi. — The house in which we live.

Jen ke me shwo. — The man I am talking about.

Dao ke yu go — The way you are going.

This constructions with na and ke let us avoid subordinating conjunctions.

Compound sentences

When building compound sentences, the subject and predicate of each clause should be clearly marked off. There should not be infinitive phrases:

Me yao ke yu go adar (not "Me yao yu go adar"). — I want you to go there.

Me he vidi ke lu stan dar (not "Me he vidi lu stan dar"). — I saw him standing there.

Topic subclauses

One of the ways of building a sentence is to mention the key word of your idea (topic) and then to comment on it:

Sey winda, treba shanji it tanto kway kom posible. — This window— (it) should be changed as soon as possible.

Sey aksham, ob yu sal go a koylok? — Are you going to go anywhere this evening?

Impersonal sentences

Impersonal sentences do not have a subject:

Pluvi – it rains.

Bikam-te klare ke treba akti kway. – It became clear that one should act quickly.

Sembli ke problema fo diskusi yok. – It seems that there are no problems to discuss.

Lai-te a may kapa ke... – It came to my mind that....

Punctuation

Separated with commas are: 1) homogeneous parts of the sentence; 2) various parenthetical or explanatory clauses. Separation of subordinate clauses is optional.