Introduction to Lojban

By La Gleki, 2014
We will construct and explain simple
dialogues in Lojban language.
"Introduction to Lojban" by La Gleki is licensed under
a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License.
If you want to translate this course to your language
please contact [email protected]

Select a dialogue.
View them starting from the first one.
1.

I am talking about movies

2.

Hello, my name is ...

3.

Good evening and goodbye

4.

Good night and thank you

5.

Your city and job

6.

Seasons and taking rest

A bonus

Need more info on Lojban?

Visit
mw.lojban.org

1. A dialogue.
mi cao tavla do lo pa skina
I am talking to you about a movie.

i lo se skina cu mutce cinri ui

The plot of the movie is very interesting!

i xu do tugni

jeu

Do you agree ?

Yes.

The structure of our dialogue.

mi

cao

tavla

do

lo

pa

skina

progressive
tense

talk

you

makes a
noun:

one

...is a movie,
film

lo

se skina

cu

mutce

cinri

ui

sentence
separator

makes a
noun:

is the plot, action

of a movie

main verb
follows:

is very

is interesting

Yay!
(interjection)

xu

do

tugni

jeu

sentence separator

yes/no particle

you

agree

Yes (True)

Now lets learn

the structure of the dialogue.

mi

cao

tavla

do

lo

pa

skina

progressive
tense

talk

you

makes a
noun:

one

is a movie

Verb
cao tavla = to be talking
tavla = talk to (someone) about
tavla is a verb. Verbs are basic words in Lojban.
They express relations, actions. Verbs like all words never change their form.
Special particles can be placed before the verb to specify its contour or tense.
The particle cao denotes progressive tense.
tavla = to talk
cao tavla = to be talking
ba tavla = will talk
pu tavla = talked

Some examples of verbs

rinsa = to greet (someone)
ciska = to write or type (something)
tadni = to study (something)
prami = to love (someone)
cadzu = to walk

Nouns
Nouns are made out of verbs by placing lo in front of them:
prami = to love
lo prami = a lover, the lover
gerku = is a dog, to be a dog
lo gerku = a dog, the dog
skina = is a movie, film with plot/theme/action ...
lo skina = a movie (film), the movie
Dont be surprised! In It is a movie, the part is a movie acts like a verb so movies and dogs can be
verbs in Lojban!

mi

cao

tavla

do

lo

pa

skina

progressive
tense

talk

you

makes a
noun:

one

is a movie

mi - I
Here are personal pronouns:
mi = I, me
do = you
mio = we with you
mia = we without you

mi

cao

tavla

do

lo

pa

skina

progressive
tense

talk

you

makes a
noun:

one

is a movie

mi - I
Like other words personal pronouns dont change their form.
They can be placed before a verb:
mi prami = I love.
After a verb:
prami do = love you, someone unspecified loves you.
Combining those two we get:
mi prami do = I love you.
After prepositions:
mi catlu faa do = I look towards you.

mi

cao

tavla

do

lo

pa

skina

progressive
tense

talk

you

makes a
noun:

one

is a movie

Numbers
lo skina can mean either movie or movies.
The number is usually clear from context but you can specify it if you need it.
lo pa skina = one movie
lo zau skina = movies
lo ro skina = all movies
ro lo skina = each movie
lo soi skina = many movies
Place a number after lo:
pa = 1, re = 2, ci = 3, vo = 4, mu = 5, xa = 6, ze = 7, bi = 8, so = 9
no - 0 (zero). za'u - more than one, plural number. soi - many
ro - all, each, every. Notice that to say each you put ro before lo.

mi

cao

tavla

do

lo

pa

skina

progressive
tense

talk

you

makes a
noun:

one

is a movie

Arguments of verbs
Each verb has a sequence of arguments that describe all participants of an action or event.
... tavla ... ... = ... talks to ... about ...
You just put a noun onto each ... mark.
Here we get:
mi tavla do lo skina = I talk to you about a movie/movies.
By adding a tense for the verb and a numbers for the last noun we get a richer sentence:
mi cao tavla do lo pa skina = I am talking to you about a movie (one movie).

Lets make our first sentence

a bit more interesting.

ca

lo

prulamdei

mi

tavla

do

during

convert to
noun:

...is yesterday

talk

you

ca lo prulamdei mi tavla do
Yesterday I was talking to you.

Time prepositions
Time prepositions add additional meanings to the phrase:
ca = during
pu = before (in time)
ba = after (in time)
They are followed by a noun.
ca lo prulamdei = Yesterday, during yesterday

ca

lo

prulamdei

mi

tavla

do

during

convert to
noun:

...is yesterday

talk

you

ca lo prulamdei mi tavla do
Yesterday I was talking to you.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow

ca lo prulamdei = Yesterday, during yesterday
cabdei = occur today
ca lo cabdei = Today, during this day
bavlamdei = occur tomorrow
ca lo bavlamdei = Tomorrow, the next day

ca

lo

prulamdei

mi

tavla

do

during

convert to
noun:

...is yesterday

talk

you

ca lo prulamdei mi tavla do
Yesterday I talked to you.

Prepositions and tenses

Without a noun after them time prepositions immediately turn into tenses!
ca without a noun denotes present tense.
pu without a noun denotes past tense.
ba without a noun denotes future tense.
mi ca viska do = I see you.
mi ba rinsa do = I will greet you.
mi pu prami do = I loved you.

mi

tavla

do

lo

pa

skina

lo

xrula

talk

you

noun:

one

movie

and

noun:

flower

mi tavla do lo pa skina e lo xrula

I talk to you about a movie and flowers.

Conjunctions
Conjunctions connect nouns:
e - and.
a - or.
onai - either or (not both).
lo skina e lo xrula - movies and flowers (number not specified).
lo pa skina e lo xrula - a movie and flowers (number of flowers not specified).
lo pa skina a lo pa xrula - a movie or a flower (or both of them).
lo pa skina onai lo pa xrula - either a movie or a flower (but not both of them).

lo

se skina

cu

mutce

cinri

ui

sentence
separator

makes a
noun:

is a plot, action
of a movie

main verb
follows:

is very

is
interesting

(interjection)

i lo se skina cu mutce cinri ui

The plot of the movie is very interesting :-) !

i
i separates sentences so that we know when a new utterance is started.

Yay!

lo

se skina

cu

mutce

cinri

ui

sentence
separator

makes a
noun:

is a plot, action
of a movie

main verb
follows:

is very

is
interesting

Yay!
(interjection)

se skina
se exchanges the order of the first and the second place of skina
skina = ... is movie with work/content ...
So
se skina = ...is the work/content of movie ...
And by prefixing it with lo we get a noun:
lo se skina = a plot, action of a movie
Another example of se:
mi prami do = I love you.
do se prami mi = You are loved by me.

lo

se
skina

cu

mutce

cinri

sentence
separator

makes a
noun:

is a plot,
action of a
movie

main verb
follows:

is very

is interesting

Compound verbs
Two or more verbs words one after another compose a compound verb:
cinri = is interesting
mutce = is extreme, of high degree
mutce cinri = is very interesting
Thus the verb word to the left modifies the verb to the right.
lo skina = a movie
lo cinri skina = an interesting movie

ui
Yay!
(interjection)

lo

se
skina

cu

mutce

cinri

ui

sentence
separator

makes a
noun:

is a plot,
action of a
movie

main verb
follows:

is very

is interesting

Yay!
(interjection)

cu separates the following verb

As se skina is a verb it could be merged into the following verb mutce so we prefix the verb with cu:
lo se skina cu mutce cinri
Its no mistake to always put it:
mi cu prami
but pronouns dont merge into verbs so you can omit cu there.

lo

se
skina

cu

mutce

cinri

ui

sentence
separator

makes a
noun:

is a plot,
action of a
movie

main verb
follows:

is very

is interesting

Yay!

ui - interjection
ui is an interjection word.
It denotes happiness and is applied to the word before it.
cinri ui means interesting, yay!
Interjections modify the whole sentence
when put just after i or
in the beginning of a sentence if i is omitted:
ui mi prami = Yay, I love (Im in love)

(interjection)

i xu do tugni

jeu

Do you agree ?

Yes.

xu

do

tugni

jeu

sentence
separator

yes/no
particle

you

agree

Yes (True)

xu

do

tugni

jeu

sentence
separator

yes/no
particle

you

agree

Yes (True)

xu - yes/ no question
xu is also an interjection. It asks a yes/no question.
To reply for a question use any interjection appropriate:
jeu - Yes (true).
jeunai - No (wrong, false).
tugni = ... agrees with ... (somebody) about ... (something)
Question, exclamation marks and other punctuation marks are optional in Lojban.
We can as well write xu do tugni ? although xu already denotes a question.

Weve covered this dialogue:

mi cao tavla do lo pa skina
I am talking to you about a movie.

i lo se skina cu mutce cinri ui

The content of the movie is very interesting!

i xu do tugni

jeu

Do you agree ?

Yes.

2. A dialogue.
coi do mi se cmene zo gleki. i do se cmene ma
Hello! My name is Gleki. What is your name?

i mi se cmene zo alis. i mi se pluka lo nu mi penmi do

My name is Alice. Its a pleasure to meet you.

goi rao
Me too.

The structure of our dialogue.

coi

do

mi

se cmene

zo

gleki

Hello

you

is named

Quote one word:

Gleki (literally
to be happy)

do

se cmene

ma

sentence separator

you

is named

what?

The structure of our dialogue.

i

mi

se cmene

zo

alis

sentence separator

is named

Quote one word:

Alice

i
sentence
separator

mi se pluka
I

...feels pleasure of
... (event)

lo

nu

noun:

phrase
starts

mi penmi do
I

meet

goi

rao

previous phrase

, in which pronouns are applied to the speaker

you

Now lets learn

the structure of the dialogue.

coi

do

mi

se cmene

zo

gleki

Hello

you

is named

Quote one word:

Gleki (literally
to be happy)

Vocatives
coi do = Hello!
do = you
coi is a vocative particle. Vocative particles require a noun, name or pronoun after them.
In the simplest case you just say coi do - Hello you!

coi

do

mi

se cmene

zo

gleki

Hello

you

is named

Quote one word:

to be happy

Quoting one word

zo quote one next word.
In this case its a verb
gleki = ...is happy because of (event)
Thus
zo gleki = Happy (a personal name)
If your name is not a Lojban word it must end in a consonant.
Also use only Lojban letters and Lojban literal pronunciation of letters for your name.
For example,
alis, robin, robert are fine Lojban names.
Mary will become meris because this is how it sounds in English.
Plus we added a consonant in the end.

Using names
zo quote one next word.
la marks the next construct as a name.
Compare:
mi penmi la gleki = I met Gleki
mi tavla la alis = I talk to Alice
la alis cu tavla la robert = Alice talks to Robert
but
mi se cmene zo gleki = My name is Gleki
la gleki is someone or something with the name Gleki.
zo gleki is just a quoted text.
In defining names with cmene we use zo.

do

se cmene

ma

sentence separator

you

is named

what?

What?
ma asks a question requiring to fill a place of a verb,
in this case the second place of se cmene
se cmene ma = is named what?
do se cmene ma = You are named what?, What is your name?

i
sentence
separator

mi se pluka
I

...feels pleasure of
... (event)

lo

nu

noun:

phrase
starts

I am pleased.
se pluka = is pleased because of
mi se pluka = I am pleased.

mi penmi do
I

meet

you

i
sentence
separator

mi se pluka
I

...feels pleasure of
... (event)

lo

nu

noun:

phrase
starts

to meet
penmi = meets (whom or what)
penmi do = meets you, to meet you

mi penmi do
I

meet

you

i
sentence
separator

mi se pluka
I

...feels pleasure of
... (event)

lo

nu

noun:

phrase
starts

mi penmi do
I

I am pleased.
se pluka = is pleased because of
mi se pluka = I am pleased.
mi penmi do = I meet you / I met you / I will meet you.
The second place of se pluka requires adding a whole phrase.
Add lo nu and then the phrase: the reason why you are pleased.
mi se pluka lo nu mi penmi do = I am pleased that I met you.

meet

you

i
sentence separator

mi se pluka
I

...feels pleasure
of ... (event)

lo

ka

penmi

do

noun:

infinitive

meet

you

Infinitive
mi se pluka lo ka penmi do = I am pleased to meet you.
mi se pluka lo nu mi penmi do = I am pleased that I meet you.
Both sentences mean the same.
lo ka states that the place (pronoun, noun, name) on the left does the action on the right.
In other words,
the first place (mi) of the main verb (se pluka)
is applied to the event to the right of lo ka.

Examples of event places

do zukte ma = You are doing what? What are you doing?
The answer might be:
lo ka lumci lo kumfa = cleaning the room
zukte = does (event) with goal
The second place of the verb zukte requires adding either the questions word ma, or
lo ka and then a phrase describing that event.
mi zukte lo ka lumci lo kumfa = I am occupied with cleaning the room.
lumci = cleans using
lo kumfa = a room, the room
lo ka starts a place with a phrase inside.
lo ka lumci lo kumfa = cleaning the room
The second place of gleki is similar to se pluka:
mi gleki lo nu do klama = I am happy that you come
(came, will come depending on context)
mi gleki lo ka klama or mi gleki lo nu mi klama = I am happy of coming.
klama = comes to from ...

3. A dialogue.
vanci coi la alis
Good evening, Alice!

coi la gleki i do klama ma

Hello, Gleki! Where are you going?

i ei mi ca gunka buu lo briju

coo

coo

I have to work at the office.

Good-bye.

Good-bye.

The structure of our dialogue.

vanci

coi

la

alis

coi

la

gleki

is an evening

hello

name follows:

Alice

hello

name follows:

is happy

do

klama

ma

ei

sentence
separator

you

goes to ...

what ?

sentence separator

obligation
interjection

mi

ca

gunka

buu

lo

briju

coo

present
tense

work

at

noun
follows:

is an
office

Good-bye

vanci

coi

la

alis

is an evening

hello

name follows:

Alice

Good evening!
vanci = is an evening
coi is a vocative. Like interjections
vocatives are attached to the preceding verb words, names and pronouns.
vanci coi means Good evening!
Vocatives require a noun, pronoun or name after them.
Names are formed by prefixing them with la.
la alis = Alice
la gleki = Gleki (literally Happy)
Compare it with
lo gleki = happy, a happy person (not a name)
coi la alis = Hello, Alice!
coi la gleki = Hello, Gleki!

do

klama

ma

sentence
separator

you

goes to ...

what ?

Where are you going?

klama = goes to from
do klama ma = You go where? Where do you go?

ei

mi

ca

sentence
separator

obligation
interjection

present
tense

gunka buu
work

I have to ...
ei is an interjection of obligation.
It translates to English as (I have to).

at

lo

briju

noun
follows:

is an
office

ei

mi

ca

sentence
separator

obligation
interjection

present
tense

gunka buu
work

at

buu = at
The preposition buu = at, at location of
gunka = works on (activity)
lo briju = an office, the office

lo

briju

noun
follows:

is an
office

ei

mi

ca

sentence
separator

obligation
interjection

present
tense

gunka buu
work

at

i ei mi ca gunka buu lo briju

I have to work at the office.

lo

briju

noun
follows:

is an
office

coi

coo

Hello

Good-bye.

Good-bye!
coo is a vocative just like coi.
coi la alis = Hello, Alice!
coo la alis = Good-bye, Alice!
Nouns after vocatives can be omitted when vocatives are at the end of phrase.

4. Useful phrases
erni coi donri coi
Good morning!

vanci coi

pluka nicte diai

Good evening!

Good night!

Good day!

kie

jee

Thank you!

You are welcome!

erni coi donri coi

Good morning!

Good day!

vanci coi

pluka nicte diai

Good evening!

Good night!

Hello!
coi means Hello!, it is a vocative of greeting.
cerni = ...is a morning
donri = ...is a daylight time
vanci = ...is an evening
When putting a vocative after a verb it is applied to that verb.

erni coi donri coi

Good morning!

Good day!

vanci coi

pluka nicte diai

Good evening!

Good night!

Good night!
Good night! has a different meaning.
Thus a different vocative is used.
diai - a vocative of well-wish.
pluka = ...is a plesant
nicte = ...is a night

kie

jee

Thank you!

You are welcome!

Thank you!
kie is a vocative that means Thanks!
kie do = Thank you!
The usual reply is:
jee. It is a vocative that means You are welcome!

5. Your city and job.

do xabju ma poi tcadu

la losanjeles

What city do you live in?

Los-Angeles

do se jibri lo ka mo

sanga

What is your job?

I am a singer.

tigni

sampla

dansu

nai

I am an actor.

I am a programmer.

I am a dancer.

nothing (I dont have a job).

The structure of our dialogue.

do xabju ma poi
you

inhabits

what?

do se jibri
you

is employed
in...

that

tcadu

la

losanjeles

is a city

name follows:

Los-Angeles

lo

ka

mo

sanga

a noun
follows

infinitive

what
(a question verb)

sings

tigni

sampla

dansu

nai

... plays
(about an actor)

programs

dances

The question cant

be answered.

do

xabju

ma poi tcadu

you

inhabits

what?

that

is a city

la

losanjeles

name follows:

Los-Angeles

That which
poi means that in the sense
the one that is something or does something. For example:
lo prenu poi melbi = the person who is beautiful
do xabju ma poi tcadu literally means You live in what that is a city?
thus restricting the answer with cities only.
tcadu = is a city

do se jibri
you

is employed
in...

lo

ka

mo

sanga

a noun
follows

infinitive

what
(a question verb)

sings

Job
se jibri = is employed in (job as an action follows)
Job in Lojban is described as an action of what you are doing on that job.
mo is a question verb.
The listener is supposed to answer with a verb, for example:
sanga = sings

6. Seasons and taking rest

ca ma do surla

lo crisa

When do you take rest?

In summer.

lo citsi zou mi traji nelci lo vensa e lo crisa

As for seasons, I like spring and summer most.

mi nelci lo ka litru lo ropno tumla

mi jia nelci

I like travelling to Europe.

I like it too.

The structure of our dialogue

ca

ma

do

surla

lo

crisa

During

what?

you

takes rest

noun follows:

is a summer

lo

citsi

zou

mi

traji

nelci

noun follows:

is a season

separates topic

is an extreme

likes

lo

vensa

lo

crisa

noun follows:

is a spring

and
(connects nouns)

noun follows:

is a summer

ca ma do surla

lo crisa

When do you take rest?

In summer.

When?
ca before a verb denotes present tense.
Before a noun it means during, at the same time as
ma is a question particle asking for a noun (pronoun, name).
ca ma = When? (during what?)
surla = rests, relaxes by doing (action)
ca ma do surla = When do you relax, take rest?
The listener substitutes this ma with an appropriate noun.
lo crisa = a summer
ca lo crisa mi surla lo ka litru = In summer I relax by travelling.

lo

citsi

zou

mi

traji

nelci

noun follows:

is a season

separated topic

is an extreme

likes

Topic and comment

As for is used in English to denote the topic of a sentence.
In Lojban we separate the topic from the rest of the sentence using zou.
traji = is an extreme
traji nelci = likes most

lo citsi zou mi traji nelci lo vensa e lo crisa

As for seasons, I like spring and summer most.

Seasons
mi traji nelci lo vensa e lo crisa = I like spring and summer most.
vensa = is a spring
crisa = is a summer
critu = is an autumn
dunra = is a winter

Surprise!
A bonus

More pronouns: this, that

ti = here: this one near me or this place near me
ta = there: that one near you or that place near you
tu = over there: that one over there or the place over there
ti gerku = This is a dog.
ta verba = That is a child near you.
tu cmana = That is a mountain.
verba = is a child
cmana = is a mountain

More pronouns: he, she, it

ra = he/she/it
lo gerku pei = Dog?
ra zvati ti = It is here.

zvati = is present/located at
zvati ti = is present here

More pronouns: they, oneself

le zaumei = they/them
mi viska le zaumei = I see them.
viska = sees (something or someone)
lo nei = oneself
do lumci do or do lumci lo nei = You wash yourself.

More info on Lojban?

Visit
mw.lojban.org