Interlingua grammar

This article is an informal outline of the grammar of Interlingua, an international auxiliary language first publicized by IALA. It follows the usage of the original grammar text (Gode & Blair, 1951), which is accepted today but regarded as conservative.

The grammar of Interlingua is based largely on that of the Romance languages, but simplified, primarily under the influence of English. However, all of the control languages, including German and Russian, were consulted in developing the grammar. Grammatical features absent from any of the primary control languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese) were dropped. For example, there is neither adjectival agreement (Spanish/Portuguese gatos negros 'black cats'), since this feature is absent in English, nor continuous verb tenses (English I am reading), since they are absent in French. Conversely, Interlingua has articles, unlike Russian, as Russian is a secondary control language.

There is no systemic marking for parts of speech. For example, nouns do not have to end in any particular letter. Typically, however, adjectives end in -e or a consonant, adverbs end in -mente or -o, while nouns end in -a, -e, -o or a consonant. Finite verbs virtually always end in -a, -e, or -i, while infinitives add -r: scribe, 'write', 'writes'; scriber, 'to write'.

Articles The definite article is le, the indefinite article is un, and neither article shows any agreement in form with nouns. The prepositions a ("to") and de ("of") fuse with a following le into al and del respectively.

The definite article is, on the whole, used as in English, with the exception that it should not be omitted with titles preceding proper names nor with abstract nouns representing an entire class, species, etc.

Nouns

Plural Nouns inflect for number only. Plural nouns take -s after a vowel, -es after a consonant other than c and -hes after -c. -hes serves to preserve the hard sound of c. Examples:

catto   'cat'  →  cattos  'cats' can  'dog'  →  canes  'dogs' roc   'rook' [chess]   →  roches  'rooks' Borrowings from other languages create plural in irregular way:

film -> films, club -> clubs, chef -> chefs.

Gender Interlingua has no grammatical gender. Animate nouns are sex-neutral, unless they refer specifically to a male or a female. Thus, jornalista 'journalist' and scientista 'scientist' are sex-neutral, while rege 'king' and regina 'queen' are sex-specific. Explicit feminine forms can be created by substituting final -a for a final -o or -e or by adding the suffix -essa.

puero   'boy'   →  puera  'girl', tigre   'tiger'   →  tigressa  'female tiger', duce 'duke' -> duchessa 'duchess'.

These colour the regular forms as masculine when they appear in the same context.

Feminine nouns can be also directly derived from verbs by suffixes -atrice and -itrice: imperar -> imperatrice, consumer -> consumitrice. Sometimes this happens in iregular way: ager (= to act) -> actrice (= actress).

Apposition Unlike in English, nouns cannot take adjectival forms, such as 'winter weather', 'research laboratory', 'fall coat', etc. Such constructions instead require the use of a preposition or a corresponding adjective, respectively tempore hibernal, laboratoria de recerca, and mantello pro autumno. This is however excepted by proper nouns which can be used adjectivally as in English: contator Geiger 'Geiger counter', motor Diesel 'Diesel engine', radios Röntgen 'Roentgen rays', etc.

Despite the above restrictions, Interlingua permits use of apposition, where the two nouns refer to the same thing.

arbore nano 'dwarf tree' nave domo 'house boat'

Male and female forms should match.

Adjectives Adjectives may precede or follow the noun they modify. As a matter of style, short adjectives tend to precede, long adjectives tend to follow. Numerals always precede the noun.

belle oculos or oculos belle   'beautiful eyes' un bon idea, un idea ingeniose   'a good idea, an ingenious idea'

An adjective never has to agree with the noun it modifies, but adjectives may be pluralized when there is no explicit noun to modify.

le parve infantes   'the little children';   but   le parves   'the little ones'

Comparative degree is expressed by plus or minus preceding the adjective and superlative degree by le plus or le minus.

un plus feroce leon   'a fiercer lion' un traino minus rapide   'a less speedy train' le plus alte arbore   'the tallest tree' le solution le minus costose   'the least costly solution'.

The suffix -issime may be used to express the absolute superlative degree.

un aventura excellentissime   'a most excellent adventure'

The adjectives bon 'good', mal 'bad', magne 'great', and parve 'small' have optional irregular forms for the comparative and superlative.

|bon → plus bon → le plus bon ||   || or ||   || bon → melior → optime |- |mal → plus mal → le plus mal ||   || or ||   || mal → pejor → pessime |- |magne → plus magne → le plus magne ||   || or ||   || magne → major → maxime |- |parve → plus parve → le plus parve ||   || or ||   || parve → minor → minime

Theoretically, every adjective may serve as a pronoun referring to something expressed in a previous passage.

The Interlingua-English Dictionary (IED) lacks a lot of adjectives associated with nouns such as communista, populista, optimista etc. Then nouns ending with -a and -o are used as adjectives for instance Partito communista = communist party, Politico populista = populist politician, Persona optimista = optimist person, Flor bronzo = bronze flower. Admittedly the Interlingua Grammar (IG) forbids to use nouns as adjectives, but both IED and IG seem to allow such case, because contain phrases such as papiro moneta (= paper money) and arbore nano (= dwarf tree).

Adverbs There are two types of adverbs, primary and secondary. Primary adverbs are a closed class of grammatical operators, such as quasi, 'almost'; jam, 'already'; and totevia, 'anyway'. Secondary adverbs are an open class derived from corresponding adjectives by adding the suffix -mente (-amente after final -c).

felice   'happy'   →   felicemente   'happily' magic   'magical'   →   magicamente   'magically'

A few common adverbs have optional short forms in -o.

sol   'alone'   →   solo or solmente   'only'

Like adjectives, adverbs use plus and minus to express the comparative and le plus and le minus to express the superlative.

Illa canta plus bellemente que illa parla.   'She sings more beautifully than she speaks.' Le gepardo curre le plus rapide de omne animales.   'The cheetah runs the fastest of all animals.'

The adverbs equivalent to bon, 'good' and mal, 'bad' have optional irregular forms.

|bonmente → plus bonmente → le plus bonmente ||   || or ||   || ben → plus ben → le plus ben ||   || or ||   || ben → melio → optimo |- |malmente → plus malmente→ le plus malmente ||   || or ||   || mal → plus mal → le plus mal ||   || or ||   || mal → pejo → pessimo

Pronouns

Introduction Personal pronouns are presented in the following table. Personal pronouns - singularPersonGenderSubject (Nominative)Object (Oblique)After a preposition (con me, sin te etc.)Possesive1stiomememi(e)2dtutetetu(e)3rdMasc.illeleillesu(e)Fem.illalaillaNeut.illoloilloPersonal pronouns - pluralPersonGenderSubjectObjectAfter a prepositionPossesive1stnosnosnosnostre2dvosvosvosvostre3rdMasc.illeslesilleslor(e)Fem.illaslasillasNeut.illoslosillosPronouns il and onSubjectObjectAfter a prepositionPossesiveImpersonal pronounil - - -Indefinite pronounonunounosu(e) Other than that there are other, less popular or unused pronouns, such as:

yo = ioYo doesn't appear in online IED at UMI's website, but is included in a printed version of IED digitized in 2012 by the Internet Archive., ego = io, il = ille, illi = illes, uno = on.

Ego is present in words like egoismo, egoista, yo, il and illi are likely borrowings from occidental.

Personal pronouns inflect for number, case, and (in the third person) gender. Subject pronouns serve as the subject of a verb. Examples:

"Qui es ibi?" "Io."   "Who's there?" "Me." Tu arrestava le chef de policia.   'You have arrested the chief of police.'

Object pronouns are used for direct objects, and may also be used for indirect objects. (Alternatively, indirect objects are expressed through a, 'to' plus a pronoun.) Examples:

Le caffe es excellente: proba lo!   'The coffee is excellent: try it!' Dice me le conto; dice me lo (or Dice le conto a me...)   'Tell me the story; tell it to me.'

One could also assert the existence of a separate prepositional case, since third-person pronouns use the longer forms ille, illes etc. after a preposition in place of the expected le, les etc.

Da le can a illes.   'Give them the dog.'

Many users follow the European custom of using the plural forms vos etc. rather than tu etc. in formal situations.

Esque vos passava un viage placente, Seniora Chan?   'Did you have a pleasant trip, Mrs. Chan?' Aperi vostre valise, Senior.   'Open your suitcase, Sir.'

Illes can be used as a sex-neutral pronoun, like English 'they'. Illas may be used for entirely female groups.

Possesive pronouns Shorter possesive pronouns (mi, tu etc.) are used before nouns when they are not preceded by the article. Examples:

Mi amico. Mi casa. Tu auto.

In all other cases the longer forms (mie, tue etc.) are used. Examples:

Le mie casa. Le auto es le mie = the car is mine, Deo mie! Mi auto es plus rapide que le tue. alicun amicos mie = some friends of mine Matre mie! Es un picante bolla de carne! = Mamma mia, that's a spicy meatball!

Pronouns il and on Il is an impersonal nominative pronoun used in impersonal constructions such as il pluve, 'it's raining'. It can also serve as a placeholder when the true subject is a clause occurring later in the sentence. It may be omitted where the sense is clear.

Il deveni tarde.   'It's getting late.' Il es ver que nos expende multe moneta.   'It's true that we're spending a lot of money.' Es bon que vos veni ora.   'It's good that you come now.'

On is a nominative pronoun used when the identity of the subject is vague. The English translation is often 'one', 'you', or 'they'. It is sometimes equivalent to an English passive voice construction. The oblique form is uno.

On non vide tal cosas actualmente.   'One doesn't see such things these days.' On sape nunquam lo que evenira.   'You never know what will happen.' On construe un nove linea de metro al centro urban.   'They're building a new subway line to downtown.' On collige le recyclabiles omne venerdi.   'Recyclables are picked up every Friday.' Tal pensatas afflige uno in le profundo del depression.   'Such thoughts afflict one in the depths of depression.'

Reflexive pronouns Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject of a verb is identical with the direct or indirect object. As in the Romance languages, reflexive constructions are often used where English would employ an intransitive verb or the passive voice.

Deo adjuta les, qui se adjuta.   'God helps those who help themselves'. Io me sibila un melodia.   'I whistle a tune to myself.' Tu te rasava?   'Have you shaved?' Francese se parla in Francia.   'French is spoken in France.'

Demonstratives Demonstratives Role Number Gender Proximate Remote Adjective – – iste ille Pronoun Sing. masc. iste (ille) fem. ista (illa) neut. isto (illo) Plur. masc. istes (illes) fem. istas (illas) neut. istos (illos)

The main demonstratives are the adjective iste, 'this' and the corresponding pronouns iste (masculine), ista (feminine), and isto (neuter), which may be pluralized. They are used more widely than English 'this/these', often encroaching on the territory of English 'that/those'. Where the subject of a sentence has two plausible antecedents, iste (or one of its derivatives) refers to the second one.

Iste vino es pessime.   'This wine is terrible.'