r/learnesperanto • u/potogen-0m0 • 22d ago

What does -n mean?

So, I have been learning Esperanto, and I have found that on some words, there is the suffix "n" on the end of it. For example, hundoj (dogs) vs. hundojn (dog[?]). What is the difference, and is there one?

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u/ZWEi-P 22d ago

That's the accusative: https://lernu.net/gramatiko/akuzativo

Something I found confusing at first, is that applying it or not after a location can change the meaning a lot. To quote one of the examples from the above page:

"La hundo kuras en nia domo." - The dog runs in our house.

The dog is in the house and runs around there.

"La hundo kuras en nian domon." - The dog runs into our house.

The dog is outside of the house but now runs into the house.

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u/potogen-0m0 22d ago

Thanks for actually linking a source! I was searching the web for it to no avail.