La pluvo eble prokrastos la konkurson.

La is the Esperanto definite article, meaning the.

So:

• la pluvo = the rain
• la konkurson = the competition

Esperanto uses la for all nouns, regardless of gender or number. It never changes form.

In this sentence, both nouns are understood as definite: a specific rain event and a specific competition.

Eble means perhaps, maybe, or possibly.

In La pluvo eble prokrastos la konkurson, it modifies the whole idea: the rain may delay the competition.

Esperanto word order is fairly flexible, so eble can often move around:

• Eble la pluvo prokrastos la konkurson.
• La pluvo eble prokrastos la konkurson.

Both are natural. Putting eble before the verb or near the beginning is very common.

Because -os is the Esperanto ending for the future tense.

• prokrasti = to delay, to postpone
• prokrastos = will delay, will postpone
• prokrastus = would delay, would postpone

So La pluvo eble prokrastos la konkurson literally has the structure The rain maybe will-delay the competition.

Esperanto often uses the ordinary future tense together with eble to express English may or might.

Yes, they are related in origin, but the meaning is not exactly the same in everyday use.

In Esperanto:

• prokrasti usually means to delay or to postpone

In English:

• to procrastinate usually means to put something off through delay or avoidance

So in Esperanto, prokrasti is often broader and can be used where English would say delay or postpone, not only procrastinate.

The -n marks the direct object.

Here, la konkurson is the thing being delayed, so it gets -n.

Compare:

• La pluvo prokrastos la konkurson. = The rain will delay the competition.

The subject is la pluvo and the object is la konkurson.

This -n ending is one of the most important features of Esperanto grammar. It tells you what receives the action.

Because la pluvo is the subject, not the object.

It is the thing doing the action:

• The rain may delay the competition.

So:

• la pluvo = subject
• la konkurson = direct object

Only the direct object gets -n here.

Yes. Since la konkurson has -n, Esperanto can show the object clearly even if the order changes.

For example, these would still be understandable:

• La pluvo eble prokrastos la konkurson.
• La konkurson eble prokrastos la pluvo.

The first is more neutral and natural for most situations. The second puts more emphasis on the competition.

Because Esperanto marks the object with -n, word order is more flexible than in English.

Esperanto words often cover a range of meanings that overlap with several English words.

Konkurso can mean something like:

• competition
• contest

The exact English translation depends on context.

That is normal in language learning: one Esperanto word does not always match just one English word perfectly. If the meaning has already been given to you in the lesson, use that meaning for this sentence and just note that konkurso is a word about competitive events.

Because Esperanto and English do not always express possibility in the same way.

Esperanto often says:

• eble
  • future verb

So:

• eble prokrastos = may delay / might delay / will perhaps delay

A very literal translation would be perhaps will delay, but natural English usually says may delay or might delay.

So this is not a word-for-word match; it is a natural meaning match.

Yes, but the nuance changes.

• La pluvo eble prokrastos la konkurson. = The rain may/might delay the competition. This is a straightforward statement of possibility.

• La pluvo povas prokrasti la konkurson. = The rain can delay the competition. This can sound more like ability or possibility in a general sense.

• La pluvo povus prokrasti la konkurson. = The rain could delay the competition. This often sounds more hypothetical.

So eble prokrastos is a very natural way to express may/might delay.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

lah PLOO-vo EB-beh pro-krah-STOS lah kon-KUR-son

A few helpful points:

• j sounds like English y
• e is always like e in met, never like silent English e
• u is like oo in food
• stress is always on the second-to-last syllable

So:

• pluvo → PLU-vo
• eble → EB-le
• prokrastos → pro-KRAS-tos
• konkurson → kon-KUR-son

They are:

• la = the
• pluvo = rain
• eble = maybe, perhaps
• prokrasti = to delay, to postpone
• konkurso = competition, contest

In the sentence, two of those forms are changed grammatically:

• prokrasti → prokrastos because it is future tense
• konkurso → konkurson because it is the direct object