Read Your First Esperanto Story Today

Explore a free beginner reading passage with live translations built to help you read Esperanto with confidence.

Stichos creates free A0 and A1 stories live in Esperanto, complete with tap-to-translate words and line-by-line translations.

Mateno kun la kato

Estas frua kaj bela mateno.

It is an early and beautiful morning.

Adela vekiĝas en sia hela hejmo.

Adela wakes up in her bright home.

Ŝi sidas sur la varma lito.

She sits on the warm bed.

Adela eliras el la hela ĉambro.

Adela goes out of the bright room.

Ŝi malrapide iras al la kuirejo.

She slowly goes to the kitchen.

Ŝia nigra kato Meto rapidas.

Her black cat Meto hurries.

Meto estas tre malsata hodiaŭ.

Meto is very hungry today.

La kato meaŭas apud la pordo.

The cat meows near the door.

Ĝi tuŝas la piedon de Adela.

It touches Adela's foot.

Adela ridetas al la amika kato.

Adela smiles at the friendly cat.

Ŝi prenas la blankan tason.

She takes the white cup.

Adela donas dolĉan lakton al ĝi.

Adela gives sweet milk to it.

Ŝi donas varman matenmanĝon al Meto.

She gives a warm breakfast to Meto.

La bona manĝo falas sur la plankon.

The good food falls onto the floor.

Meto faras malgrandan eraron.

Meto makes a small mistake.

Li tro rapide saltas al ĝi.

He jumps toward it too quickly.

Meto verŝas la dolĉan lakton.

Meto spills the sweet milk.

Adela rapide purigas la malpuran plankon.

Adela quickly cleans the dirty floor.

La feliĉa kato manĝas feliĉe.

The happy cat eats happily.

Ĝi trinkas la tutan lakton.

It drinks all the milk.

Adela nun preparas sian trinkaĵon.

Adela now prepares her drink.

Adela trinkas tason da nigra kafo.

Adela drinks a cup of black coffee.

La kafo estas tre bona.

The coffee is very good.

Meto dormas sur la seĝo.

Meto sleeps on the chair.

Adela rigardas la nigran katon.

Adela looks at the black cat.

Estas tre bona mateno.

It is a very good morning.

Quick facts about Esperanto

Speakers

Estimates vary widely, from about 30,000 to 2 million speakers, with an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 native speakers (denaskuloj) raised with the language (2022), according to Wikipedia's Esperanto article.1

Did you know?

Word endings show the part of speech: -o marks a noun, -a an adjective, -e an adverb and -i an infinitive verb.2

The main challenge

The accusative ending -n marks the direct object, which lets word order vary: la hundo ĉasis la katon and la katon ĉasis la hundo both mean "the dog chased the cat".2

Sources

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto_grammar

About the Esperanto language

Language familyConstructed international auxiliary language, published by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887. Its vocabulary comes mainly from Romance languages, with Germanic, Greek and Slavic elements.1
SpeakersEstimates vary widely, from about 30,000 to 2 million speakers, with an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 native speakers (denaskuloj) raised with the language.1
Primary scriptLatin alphabet of 28 letters, six with diacritics (ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, ŭ); q, w, x and y are not part of it. Spelling follows a one-letter, one-sound principle.1
Word order & typologyAgglutinative: invariable roots combine freely with affixes and fixed endings (-o for nouns, -a for adjectives). The default order is SVO, but the accusative ending -n marks the object, so word order is flexible.1,2
Official statusNot an official language of any country. UNESCO’s 1954 Montevideo resolution took note of Esperanto’s results in international intellectual relations, and a 1985 resolution recommended that member states encourage its teaching; neither gives it official status. The Academy of Esperanto (Akademio de Esperanto) oversees the standard based on the Fundamento de Esperanto (1905).3,1
  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto_grammar
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montevideo_Resolution

Esperanto reading proficiency benchmarks (CEFR)

Stichos levelApproximate framework equivalentReader profile
A0Pre-A1Early Beginner
A1CEFR A1Beginner
A2CEFR A2Elementary
B1CEFR B1Intermediate
B2CEFR B2Upper Intermediate

Stichos levels are modelled on the CEFR, called KER in Esperanto, with A0 roughly the Pre-A1 stage. The Universal Esperanto Association runs KER exams at B1, B2 and C1 (since 2008) and C2 (since 2022); this column does not map to them. They are a guide to reading difficulty, not an official CEFR rating.

Reference corpora

Esperanto’s main vocabulary references come from its own institutions.1,2,3

  • Baza Radikaro Oficiala: The Academy of Esperanto’s official basic root list ranks core roots in nine groups by how many earlier frequency lists contain them, group 1 being the most widespread. It appeared in the Academy’s acts for 1968–1974 and is now searchable in the online Akademia Vortaro.1
  • Tekstaro de Esperanto: A corpus of about 14.9 million words, begun in 2002 by the Esperantic Studies Foundation with Bertilo Wennergren as compiler, running from Zamenhof’s writings to modern texts and listed by year.2
  • Plena Ilustrita Vortaro: The largest monolingual Esperanto dictionary, published by SAT since 1970; its latest edition, PIV 2020, is searchable online.3
  • Register: Stichos writes standard, Fundamento-conformant Esperanto with regular affixation (such as malbona) instead of unofficial neologisms, and avoids Zamenhof-era archaisms.
  1. https://www.akademio-de-esperanto.org/akademia_vortaro/
  2. https://tekstaro.com/tekstaro.html
  3. https://vortaro.net/

Readability design principles

Esperanto has no widely used readability formula of its own. Two features of the language shape how hard a text is:

  • Spelling: Spelling is almost entirely phonemic, so a learner who knows the 28 letters can sound out written words; the work lies in vocabulary and grammar, not decoding.1
  • Word building: Long words are built from short parts: malsanulejo (“hospital”) is mal- (opposite) + san (healthy) + -ul (person) + -ej (place) + -o (noun). A few roots and affixes unlock many words, but each stacked affix adds work for the reader.
  • Stichos: Stichos sets difficulty with level-by-level grammar rules and sentence-length limits. A0 has no conjunctions; kaj, aŭ and sed unlock first, with ĉar, se, do and kvankam later.
  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto_orthography

Script & grammar scaffolding

  • Verb endings: A0 uses only the present (-as), plus a bare infinitive after volas, povas, devas or ŝatas. A1 adds the past (-is) and future (-os). A2 opens the volitive (-u) for commands in general; A1 allows only five fixed ones (vidu, venu, prenu, atendu, sidiĝu). The conditional (-us) and basic participles (-anta, -inta, -ita) arrive at B1, and compound tenses such as estis skribinta at B2.
  • The accusative: Direct objects take -n at every level, and adjectives agree in number and case (bonajn librojn). Greeting formulas take it too: Bonan tagon.
  • Accented letters: Texts always use ĉ ĝ ĥ ĵ ŝ ŭ, never the x-system (cx, sx) or h-system (ch, sh) substitutes.
  • Address and subjects: vi serves for everyone, formal or informal, singular or plural; the intimate ci is not used. Subjects are always stated, except with weather and time verbs, which never take one (Pluvas, “it is raining”).

Related academic & framework resources

Frequently asked questions

What writing system does Esperanto use?
Latin alphabet of 28 letters, six with diacritics (ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ, ŭ); q, w, x and y are not part of it. Spelling follows a one-letter, one-sound principle.
Is Stichos suitable for complete beginners with zero prior knowledge (A0)?
Yes. A0 is a primary focus, designed for readers with no prior knowledge. A1 then adds basic everyday vocabulary and simple connected clauses as your foundation grows.
Are Stichos levels the same as CEFR levels?
Not exactly. Stichos levels use the familiar CEFR names, from A0 to B2, and are modelled on the CEFR (the Common European Framework of Reference), so a Stichos B1 is meant to feel close to a B1 in your course book. They aren't an official CEFR rating, and different books and exams draw the lines in slightly different places. A0 is Stichos's own addition, just below the framework's first level.
Are the stories written by AI, and how accurate are they?
Yes. Stories are generated by AI and then checked by further automated steps against the grammar and vocabulary rules for your level. That catches most problems, but it isn't a human editor, so an occasional unnatural phrase or slip can get through. Treat Stichos as practice material, and check anything you're unsure of with a teacher or a reference.
Can I read stories with explanations in my native language?
Yes. Stichos allows you to pair any target language with any native support language. You can read a Croatian story with French glosses, or a German story with Spanish explanations.
How does word lookup work while reading?
Tap or click any word for its meaning in that sentence, explained in your own language. In the full version, you can save any word to your Vocab Bank for later review.
Is the preview free, and what happens to my email?
Yes. The preview is free and needs no account. If you join the Reading List, we use your email to send your 3 free sample stories (PDF, after you confirm your address) and to let you know when we fully open. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle it.
Do stories include audio or narration?
Story narration isn't part of the preview. At launch, the Premium Audio add-on reads every story aloud in a natural-sounding AI voice, in 39 of our 40 languages (Esperanto doesn't have audio support yet).

Teaching Esperanto? See the tutor page →

Free Sample Readers · Stichos