Je La Preposition Donu ĝin Kato Saltis Mi

An all-purpose preposition.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  ( file https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/File:Eo-je.ogg )

• IPA
  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:International_Phonetic_Alphabet
  (
  key
  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Esperanto_pronunciation
  ): /je/
• Hyphenation: je

Preposition

je

1. An all-purpose preposition.

Usage notes

The preposition je can replace any other preposition and remain grammatically correct, albeit more ambiguous. It is usually clear what meaning is intended based on context.

It is most useful for prepositional phrases not involving a literal physical connection, and instead, the correct preposition in the source language is mandated by convention only:

"He bets on the horses." (He doesn't place his money on the physical body of the horse.)

"I typed it on the computer." (It was actually typed using the computer.)

"She'll be here in a minute." (She'll be here within or after a minute.)

Without context, Donu ĝin je mi could mean any of the following:

Donu ĝin je [al] mi. — “Give it to me.”

Donu ĝin je [el] mi. — “Give it from me.”

Donu ĝin je [kun] mi. — “Give it with me.”

Without context, La kato saltis je la tablon could mean any of the following:

La kato saltis je [sur] la tablon. — “The cat jumped onto the table.”

La kato saltis je [malsuper] la tablon. — “The cat jumped under the table.”

La kato saltis je [malantaŭ] la tablon. — “The cat jumped behind the table.”

Related terms

• je la tria
• je mia bedaŭro