Comparison between Esperanto and Novial

The original method was a set of digraphs now known as the "h-system", but with the rise of computer word processing a so-called "x-system" has become equally popular.

The personal pronouns of Esperanto all end in i and some may be difficult to distinguish in a noisy environment (especially mi and ni).

The personal pronouns of Novial use various vowels making them more distinct, although some differ only in the initial consonant (e.g. nus, vus and lus).

³iŝi, iĝi and by extension iri are proposed neologisms The Novial system displays a systematic correspondence between singular and corresponding plural forms (i.e. vu, vus; lo, los; la, las; lu, lus; le, les).

The optional marking of sex in Novial, especially in the third person plural, permits greater flexibility than in Esperanto, at least in this case.

The system of sex marking for Esperanto nouns is frequently criticised for being asymmetric and male biased.

In contrast Novial has one symmetric, unbiased system for both nouns and pronouns which marks either male, female, epicene or inanimate.

The grammars of Novial and Esperanto differ greatly in the way that the various tenses, moods and voices of verbs are expressed.

Esperanto uses an appropriate form of the auxiliary verb esti (to be) followed by a passive participle (present, past or future according to sense).

The various tenses and moods are expressed regularly using the other auxiliary verbs ha, had, sal, saled and vud, the word order corresponding to the English.