Note.--Esperanto vowels are very similar in sound to those in German and Spanish, and in the Italian _do_, _re_, _mi_, _fa_.
20. Syntax (sintakso) treats of the connection, dependence, and arrangement of words to form intelligible speech.
21. Speech (parolo) consists of propositions.
22. A Proposition (propozicio) is a collection of words by which we assert, or question, the act, state, or quality of some person or thing. A complete proposition consists of two chief parts, viz., the Subject and Predicate.
23. The Subject (subjekto) is the name of the person or thing spoken of.
24. The Predicate (predikato) is what is said about the subject.
25. The Subject of a proposition is always:--
(_b_). Some word used as a noun, e.g., (1), a pronoun, mi = _I_; (2), an adjective, mia kara estas bona filino = _my dear (one) is a good daughter_; (3), an infinitive, mensogi estas honte = _to lie_ (or, _lying_) _is shameful_; (4), a phrase. Estas agrable por (or, al) mi, ke vi aĉetis tiun domon (here "ke vi aĉetis" is the subject) = _I am glad (it is agreeable to me) that you bought that house._
26. The subject is always in the nominative case. When the subject is a noun, it must, therefore, always end in -O, if the noun is singular, or in -OJ, if the noun is in the plural. The subject of any verb can always be determined by putting the word "who?" or "what?" before the verb, and the word giving the reply is the subject, as:--La riĉulo havas multe da mono = _The rich man has much (of) money_. (Who has much money? _The rich man_ = la riĉulo is the subject.) La papero estas blanka = _The paper is white._ (What is white? _The paper_ = la papero is the subject.) De timo paliĝis Antono = _Antony grew pale from fear._ (Who grew pale? _Antony_ = Antono is the subject.) Miaj fratoj batis min = _My brothers beat me._ (Who beat me? _My brothers_ = miaj fratoj is the subject.)
27. Subject omitted.--Sometimes the subject is omitted, as:--Pluvas = _it rains_. Fulmis = _It lightened_. (See remarks on impersonal verbs, par. 164.)
28. The Object is the person or thing acted upon by the subject, hence the term objective (or accusative) case, as:--Johano batas la knabon = _John beats the boy._ Knabon = _the boy_ is acted upon by Johano, the subject, therefore knabon is the object, and has the accusative termination N.