Hey, here are some questions I've developed since last time.

1. What would be the best way to say "fall on?" The song Ok Delfenoj by La Porkoj uses the phrase "Jam la pluvo falas sur la ter[o]." Which literally means "Already, the rain falls on the earth." Is this usage of "sur" readily understandable? Would "surfali" work as a compound? How about "fali sur" + the accusative? Just wondering.

2. In a similar vein, is there a list of approved uses for a preposition + accusative? The only example I ever see is "en" + accusative to mean "into." Are there more?

3. How would one translate a sentence like "Would their coming change anything?" Would it be "Ĉu ilia veno ŝanĝus ion?"

4. Here's one that's purely curiosity: What's the Esperanto word for "Churro?" I know that "ĉuro" is a word and that its meaning is very different. What's the standard protocol for this sort of situation (one where a word cannot easily be assimilated)?

Thanks for your help!

1. Assuming you're using "fall on" in its literal sense (i.e. not as part of an idiom), I think "fali sur + accusative" is more straightforward than "surfali", although technically there is nothing wrong with the compound. In any case, you want to use the accusative to indicate direction, otherwise it will give the impression that the rain is falling while also already being upon the ground -- a difficult situation to imagine.

I think the nominative was used in those lyrics so the word can be elided to preserve a rhyme. But it's not grammatically correct.

2. The most frequent use of a preposition + accusative is to indicate direction, such as after "en", "sur", "ekster", "sub", "antaŭ", among others. There is a less frequent use of prepositional accusatives, namely for comparisons. For example, take the two sentences:

Roberto amis ŝin pli ol Johanon. = Robert loved her more than he loved John. (Accusative indicates a second direct object.)

Roberto amis ŝin pli ol Johano. = Robert loved her more than John loved her. (John is the one performing the action now.)

Or, a slightly more nuanced variant involving "kiel":

La riĉulo uzis la domegon kiel palaco. = The rich man used the mansion as a palace. EDIT: Sorry, this should also be in the accusative. Don't know what I was thinking. In the nominative the meaning is literally "he used the mansion as a palace would use the mansion" -- not what I had in mind.

La riĉulo uzis la domegon kiel palacon. = The rich man used the mansion as he would use a palace. (Accusative emphasises once again that the noun is to be treated as an object upon which an action is performed.)

3. "Ĉu ilia veno ŝanĝus ion?" sounds fine, although I'd prefer "ion ajn" to emphasise the "anythingness". Also you could use "alveno" for extra clarity though it's not essential.

4. Sorry, can't answer that one off the top of my head. I'll try to get back to you on that one!

La riĉulo uzis la domegon kiel palaco. = The rich man used the mansion as a palace.

La riĉulo uzis la domegon kiel palacon. = The rich man used the mansion as he would use a palace.

In both cases palaco should be in the accusative.

In neither case is the riĉulo being compared to a palace.

Compare Mi elektis lin kiel prezidanto (I, in my capacity as president) and Mi elektis lin kiel prezidanton ( I chose him to be president).

EDIT: If you want to make the link less definite then you can say kvazaŭ palacon

sudanglo:In both cases palaco should be in the accusative.

My sincerest apologies. Something looked slightly wrong, but at one o'clock in the morning I didn't quite catch it. Your example is much better.

Vespero_:4. Here's one that's purely curiosity: What's the Esperanto word for "Churro?" I know that "ĉuro" is a word and that its meaning is very different.

This is making me wonder how 'ĉuro' got the slang meaning of 'sperm'. What language is it related to? The word is in Wells and Vortaro.net, but not in ReVo or Kondratjev...

If we stuck to just using the standard Esperanto word 'spermo', then we could use 'ĉuroj' for the Spanish food 'Churros'. Is it really so important to have a slang word for 'sperm' in Esperanto?

Meanwhile, you can call Churros "hispanaj fritkukoj" or "hispanaj benjetoj".

Tempodivalse:1. In any case, you want to use the accusative to indicate direction, otherwise it will give the impression that the rain is falling while also already being upon the ground -- a difficult situation to imagine.

If we assume Earth to be flat, then all rain which is falling, is falling sur la Tero. (Or would there be subteraj pluvoj too ...?)