Interlingua grammar facts for kids

Interlingua is a planned language that was made to be easy for many people to understand. It uses words that are found in most West-European languages. A group called the IALA worked on it for over 20 years. One of the most famous people in this group was Alexander Gode. The first dictionary for Interlingua was finished in 1951. Interlingua was created using parts of English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.

How to Say Words (Spelling and Pronunciation)

The vowels in Interlingua are usually said like they are in Spanish. Most of the consonants sound like they do in English.

Interlingua keeps a lot of the spelling from Latin. This is similar to how words are spelled in English and French. For example, it uses letters like 'q', 'y', 'ch', 'ph', 'rh', and 'th'. It also uses double letters often.

Simpler Spelling

Interlingua also has a "simpler" way of spelling some words. This way is more like Spanish. Even though it's allowed, most people who use Interlingua don't use this simpler spelling very much. Here are some of the changes:

• Double letters are often made single (like ecclesia becomes eclesia).
• The letter y becomes i (like tyranno becomes tirano).
• ph becomes f (like phonetic becomes fonetic).
• ch (when it sounds like 'k') becomes c (like christo becomes cristo).
• rh becomes r and th becomes t (like rhetoric becomes retoric).

Small Words (Articles)

These are like the words "a," "an," and "the" in English:

• un - a/an
• le - the
• al - to the
• del - of the

Naming Words (Nouns)

To make a noun plural (meaning more than one), you usually add -s if the word ends in a vowel. If it ends in a consonant, you add -es. If it ends in c, you add -hes.

• catto (cat) becomes cattos (cats)
• can (dog) becomes canes (dogs)
• roc (rook in chess) becomes roches (rooks)

Interlingua doesn't have "grammatical gender" for most words. This means words aren't automatically male or female. Sometimes, you can change a word to show if it's male or female:

• puero (boy) becomes puera (girl)
• tigre (male tiger) becomes tigressa (female tiger)
• rege (king) becomes regina (queen)
• But many words, like jornalista (journalist), can be used for both male and female.

Describing Words (Adjectives)

Adjectives are words that describe nouns. In Interlingua, adjectives don't change their form to match the noun. They can come before or after the noun. Numbers always come before the noun.

• belle oculos or oculos belle - beautiful eyes
• un bon idea - a good idea
• un idea ingeniose - an ingenious idea

To compare things, you use plus (more) or minus (less). For the most or least, you use le plus or le minus.

• un plus feroce leon - a more ferocious lion
• le plus alte arbore - the highest tree

You can also add -issime to an adjective to mean "very" or "most" (like "excellentissime" means "most excellent").

• un aventura excellentissime - the most excellent adventure

Some common adjectives have special forms when comparing:

How Things Are Done (Adverbs)

Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Many adverbs are made by adding -mente to an adjective.

• felice (happy) becomes felicemente (happily)
• magic (magic) becomes magicamente (magically)

Like adjectives, adverbs use plus, minus, le plus, and le minus for comparisons.

• Illa canta plus bellemente que illa parla - She sings more beautifully than she speaks.

Referring to People or Things (Pronouns)

Pronouns are words like "I," "you," "he," "she," "it," "we," and "they."

Personal Pronouns

These pronouns refer to specific people or things.

You can use the object form of a pronoun for both direct and indirect objects.

• Le caffe es excellente: proba lo! - The coffee is excellent: taste it!

"Reflective" pronouns are used when the subject of the verb is also the object.

• Tu te rasava? - Did you shave yourself?

For showing possession, the longer forms (like mie) are used when the car is "mine" (le auto es le mie).

• alicun amicos mie - some friends of mine

Many speakers use vos instead of tu to be polite, especially in formal situations.

• Esque vos passava un viage placente, Seniora Chan? - Did you have a nice journey, Mrs. Chan?

Use illes for groups of people that include both men and women. You can use illas for groups of only women.

Impersonal Pronouns

Il is used for general statements, like "it rains" (il pluve).

• Il es ver que nos expende multe moneta - It is true that we spend a lot of money.

On is used when you don't know who the subject is, like "one knows" or "they say."

• On non vide tal cosas actualmente - One is not seeing such things right now.

Demonstrative Pronouns

These pronouns point to specific things, like "this" or "that."

• Iste vino es pessime - This wine is terrible.
• Isto es un bon idea - This is a good idea.

The word for "that" (far away) is ille or aquelle as an adjective. The pronouns are the same as the personal pronouns.

• Io cognosce ille viro - I know that man.
• Illo es un obra magnific - That is a magnificent work.

Relative and Interrogative Pronouns

These pronouns connect parts of a sentence or ask questions.

• qui (who) is for people or animals, used as the subject or after prepositions.

* Nos vole un contabile qui sape contar - We want an accountant who knows how to count.

• que (whom/which/that) is for people, animals, or things, used as the object.

* Nos vole un contabile que le policia non perseque - We want an accountant whom the police do not pursue. * Il ha duo sortas de inventiones: illos que on discoperi... - There are two kinds of inventions: those which you discover...

• Cuje means "whose" or "of which."

* un autor cuje libros se vende in milliones - an author whose books sell in millions.

These pronouns can also be used to ask questions.

• Qui ha dicite isto? - Who has said this?

Action Words (Verbs)

Verbs show actions or states of being. Here are the most common verb endings in Interlingua:

Verbs generally don't change their form based on who is doing the action (like "I speak," "you speak," "they speak" all use the same verb form).

Simple Tenses

There are three main simple tenses: past, present, and future. They can show actions that are completed or still happening.

• Io ama mangos; io mangia un justo ora - I love mangoes; I am eating one right now.
• Nos volara de hic venerdi vespere - We will fly from here Friday evening.

Composed Tenses

You can also form tenses by combining verbs.

• For the past, use ha (from habe - to have) with the past participle.

* Le imperio ha cadite - The empire has fallen.

• For the future, use va (from vade - to go) with the infinitive.

* Io va retornar - I will return.

• The passive voice (when something is done to the subject) uses es (from esser - to be) with the passive participle.

* Iste salsicias es fabricate per experte salsicieros - These sausages are made by expert sausage makers.

Commands

You can give commands in different ways:

• Face lo ora! - Do it now!
• Va tu retro al campo - You: return to the camp.
• Que illes mangia le tortas - Let them eat cake.

Sia is a special form of "to be" used for commands or wishes.

• Sia caute! - Be cautious!
• Que lor vita insimul sia felice! - Let their life together be happy!

Sentence Structure (Syntax)

The usual order of words in Interlingua is subject-verb-object (who does what to whom).

• Ille reface horologios - He repairs clocks.

However, you can change the order if the meaning is still clear.

• Amandolas ama io tanto - I love almonds so much.

When using pronouns, the order is often subject-object-verb. But for infinitives and commands, the object comes after the verb.

• Ille los reface - He repairs them.
• Jecta lo via! - Throw it away!

Asking Questions

You can ask questions in a few ways: 1. Put the verb before the subject: * Ha ille arrivate? - Has he arrived? 2. Use a question word (like "who" or "what") instead of the subject: * Qui ha dicite isto? - Who has said this? 3. Add the word esque at the beginning of the sentence: * Esque illa vermente lassava su fortuna a su catto? - Did she really leave her fortune to her cat? 4. Just change your tone of voice or add a question mark (without changing the word order): * Tu jam ha finite tu labores? - Have you already finished your work?

See also

In Spanish: Gramática del interlingua para niños