Esperanto - Some Basic Nouns Trivia Quiz

Answer: Apple

In English, a pome is a type of fruit in the rose family, such as apples and pears. The word comes from the Latin "pōmum". The same root is used for apple in French (pomme) and in Catalan (poma). So the word in Esperanto for apples would be "pomoj" with the "oj" combination pronounced as "oi".

Answer: Friend

The root for "amiko" comes from the Latin "ami" or "amic", which also gives us the English words amiable and amity, among others. Several European languages have a word for friend based on the same root: French (ami), Spanish (amigo) and Italian (amico), for example. The Esperanto word for friendship is "amikeco"; the "eco" suffix denotes qualities or attributes.

Answer: City

This one is a little tricky, but hopefully you made the connection with "urban". The Esperanto word "urbo" derives from the Latin "urbs" and "urbem" for city, which is also the source of the English words "urban" and "suburbs".

Answer: Parents

"Patro" is father in Esperanto and "patrino" is mother. While "patro" can be used to indicate a single parent, the plural "patroj" means two male parents, as "patrinoj" means two female parents. The prefix "ge" in Esperanto indicates both sexes together.

The root for the words is the Latin "pater" or "parens", which also brings us the Spanish "padre", French "parent", German "Vater" and English "father" and "parent".

Answer: House

Esperanto was developed by a Polish doctor, and here we have a link to the Slavic languages. "Dom" is the word for "house" in Polish, Russian and Slovak and is close to the Czech "dum". The root of the word comes from the Latin "domus", which also gives us the Italian "duomo" and the term "majordomo" which has found its way into English.

Answer: Mountain

The root for "monto" comes from the Latin "mons" also meaning mountain. The word for mountain in several European languages is based on the same root: French (montagne), Spanish(montaņa), Portuguese (montanha) and Italian (montagna), for example. "Mountain range" in Esperanto is "montoĉeno" which links the words "mountain" and "chain".

Answer: People

The word "personoj" also means "people" in Esperanto; "homoj" can be translated as either "people" or "humans". In the usage of "humans", the Esperanto "homoj" shares a common root with French (humain), Italian (umano), Spanish (humano), and English (human), among other languages. The root of the words is the Latin "homo" meaning "man" or "human being".

Answer: Lake

The Esperanto word "lago" for "lake" is the same as in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, and it is close to the word "lag" used in Maltese. All of the words comes from the Latin "lacus" for lake or basin, as do the French "lac", the Scots Gaelic "loch" and the English "lake".

Answer: Flower

The root for "floro" comes from the Latin "flora" for the goddess of flowers; this word itself derives from the Latin "flos" meaning flower. The Romance languages share the common root: Spanish (flor), French (fleur) and Italian (fiore), for example. A flower bouquet in Esperanto is a floro bukedo.

Answer: Children

Derived from the Latin word "infans" meaning "infant", the Esperanto word for child is "infano"; adding a "j" for the plural makes it mean "children". Once again, the Esperanto word shares its root with other languages: Spanish and Portuguese (infantil), Italian (infantile) and English (infant). "Bebo" is "baby" in Esperanto, and the Esperanto word for "childhood" is infanaĝo, combining the words for "child" and "age".