Basic Grammar of Mondlango

The Article

There is only one article in Mondlango --the definite article la .

The usage  of la is similar to that of "the" in English.

La is the same for singular and plural and for all genders.

There is no indefinite articles in Mondlango. If we want to emphasize one ,we can use the numeral un. If we want to emphasize indefinite, we can use the indefinite pronoun iu.

For example: Donez la libro al mi. ( Give me the book.)

Donez un libro al mi. ( Give me a book.)

Nouns

   In Mondlango, Nouns in the singular end in -o: libro=book, domo=house.

    The plural of a noun is made by adding -s to the singular:

    libros=books, domos=houses.

Note: The plural form is optional, for example: tri domo = tri domos.

  A noun can function as:

  1. The subject of a verb:
    Tomo arivin.= Tom arrived.

  2. The complement of the verb esi:
    Tomo esan workoro.= Tom is a worker.

  3.The object of a verb:
    Mi vidin Tomo.= I saw Tom.

  4. The object of a preposition:
   Mi dirin al Tomo.= I spoke to Tom.

  In Mondlango, most word roots are neutral. For example, bovo=ox, bovulo=bull, bovino=cow, bovido=calf, bovaco=beef.

Adjectives

   Adjectives end in -a: guda=good, biga=big.

Adjectives in Mondlango have the same form for singular and plural, masculine and feminine nouns:
biga domo = a big house    biga domos = big houses
guda kidulo =a good boy    guda kidino =a good girl

Adjectives may be placed either before or after the noun which they qualify. For example, guda libro or libro guda.

Comparison: Adjectives form their comparatives and superlatives by putting mor and most before the positive:
mor alta = taller      most alta = tallest
mor interesa =more interesting      most interesa = most interesting

Adverbs

Adverbs indicate the way in which an action is done. In Mondlango, adverbs are mostly derived from adjectives by changing the ending to -e. Examples:

guda=good, gude=well, vera=true, vere=truly.

Adverbs respond to the question Kiel (How). Examples:

kiel yi faran?   How do you do?

Bone, dankan yi!   Fine, thank you!

Correlative adverbs

Other Adverbs:

Verbs

Verbs in the infinitive end in -i: iri=to go, vidi=to see.

The present tense is formed by replacing -i by -an: iran=go, vidan=see.

The past tense is formed with the ending -in: irin=went, vidin=saw.

The future tense is formed with the ending -on: iron=will go, vidon=will see.

The conditional uses the ending -uz: 
If mi esuz yi.=If I were you.

The imperative ending is -ez: Sidez!=Sit down! Venez!=Come!

The active present participle uses the ending -anta:
fluganta birdos=flying birds, 
leganta studento=a student who is reading.

Use of the letters a, i, and o to indicate present ,past and future, as in the endings -an, -in and -on is applied also to the active and passive participles.

The ending -inta forms the active past participle: 
fluginta birdos=birds which have flown.
leginta studento=a student who has read.

Similarly the ending -onta produces the active future participle:
flugonta birdos=birds which will fly.
legonta studento=a student who will read.

The ending -ata gives the present passive participle:
libro legata=a book that is being read.

The past passive participle has the ending -ita:
libro legita=a book that has been read.

The future passive participle has the ending -ota:
libro legota=a book that is to be read.

Compound Tenses (Active Voice)

Compound Tenses (Passive Voice)

For example, if we already know:

Ciumorne mi legan jurnalo je la 8-u.(Every morning I read newspapers at eight o'clock)

Then we can derive the following sentences:

Ciutage je la 7-u mi esan legonta jurnalo.

Ciutage je la 8-u mi esan leganta jurnalo.

Ciutage je la 9-u mi esan leginta jurnalo.

Hiere je la 7-u mi esin legonta jurnalo.

Hiere je la 8-u mi esin leganta jurnalo.

Hiere je la 9-u mi esin leginta jurnalo.

Morge je la 7-u mi eson legonta jurnalo.

Morge je la 8-u mi eson leganta jurnalo.

Morge je la 9-u mi eson leginta jurnalo.

¡¡Notes: 

1.It is possible to build various compound tenses but simple forms are preferred.

2. The conditional and imperative endings are optional.

¡¡

Pronouns

Personal pronouns:

Possessive adjectives are formed by adding the ending -a to the personal pronouns:

mia=my, hia=his, mua=our, hua=their

Possessive pronouns are formed by adding the ending -s to the possessive adjectives:

mias=mine, xias=hers, muas=ours, huas=theirs

Reflexive pronouns: (personal pronoun )+self:

miself=myself     hiself=himself
miself=ourselves     huself=themselves

If necessary, personal pronounces have accusative case which are

formed by adding the ending -m to the pronouns. 

For example: hi=he, him=him, mi=I, mim=me.

Correlative pronouns

Numerals

Cardinal numbers

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers are formed by adding the ending -u to the cardinal numbers: unu=first, biu=second, triu=third.

Prepositions

Conjunctions

Interjections

Conjunctions and interjections have no fixed word-endings.

Syntax

In Mondlango, the basic word order is:

subject + verb + object

In order to transform the affirmative sentences (He is a teacher.) into interrogative sentences (Is he a teacher?) in Mondlango it is not necessary to change the word order. There is no inversion in Mondlango, so we simply put the particle "Cu " at the beginning of the affirmative sentence. This particle is not translated since it is equivalent to a question mark. In this way we know, in writing as well as in speaking, that we are dealing with a question.

Active voice: La kato manjan la muso.

             (The cat eats the mouse.)

Passive voice: La muso esan manjata de la kato.

             (The mouse is eaten by the cat.)

Interrogative: Cu la kato manjan la muso?

             (Does the cat eat the mouse?)

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