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- "Ili estas belaj leteroj."
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Yes, you can absolutely use ĝi and ili for inanimate things, just like "it" and "they" in English. Here's an example from Ivy Kellerman's Complete Esperanto Grammar, where "ĝi" stands in for a peach, and "ili" represents cherries:
- Ĉu persiko estas ruĝa? 2. Jes, ĝi estas kaj ruĝa kaj dolĉa. 3. Ĉu ĉerizoj estas brunaj? 4. Ne, ili estas nek brunaj nek nigraj, sed flavaj.
There's an updated PDF of Kellerman's Grammar here: http://esperanto-edmonton.wikidot.com/kellerman-answerkey
That is a great point. I wasn't even thinking about that when I typed my first comment.
I would guess that it is just for clarity or something like that.
I hope these examples will clear things up...
- Ĝi estas bela letero. It is a beautiful letter. The accusative (-n) is not used with "estas". In English, we call this a predicate nominative.
- Ili estas belaj leteroj. They are beautiful letters.
- Mi sendas belan leteron. I send a beautiful letter. Here we have a direct object of the verb sendas. That is the most basic way to use the accusative.
- Mi sendas belajn leterojn. I send beautiful letters. The plural (-j) always comes before the accusative (-n).
- La letero belas. The letter is beautiful. Here we have turned the adjective "bela" into a verb form "belas", meaning "is beautiful".
- La leteroj belas. The letters are beautiful. The verb does not change regardless of how many letters there are.
Ok, what if the context of the letters are good news, not beautiful to look at, nice penmanship or beautiful because of what is said is said well or romantically, beautiful? Would you express it the same way? Like when you get accepted into College, a new job, or your book is accepted to be published? Such as good news. You wouldn't say they are beautiful letter would you? You would say they're good letters or good news. So how would you make that distinction in Esperanto?