La dunganto petis du referencojn.

La is the Esperanto definite article, meaning the.

So la dunganto means the employer.

Esperanto has:

• la = the
• no separate word for a/an

That means dunganto by itself could mean an employer or just employer, depending on context, while la dunganto clearly means the employer.

Dunganto means employer.

It is built from:

• dungi = to hire, employ
• -ant- = someone doing the action
• -o = noun ending

So:

• dungi = to employ
• dunganto = a person who employs = employer

This is a very common Esperanto word-building pattern.

Because -is is the Esperanto past-tense ending.

Verb endings in Esperanto are very regular:

• -as = present
• -is = past
• -os = future
• -us = conditional
• -u = command / wish
• -i = infinitive

So:

• petas = asks / is asking
• petis = asked
• petos = will ask

In this sentence, petis shows that the asking happened in the past.

Because peti usually takes the thing requested directly as its object.

So Esperanto says:

• peti ion = to ask for something

That is why du referencojn appears without a preposition.

For an English speaker, this can feel a little different, because English often says ask for two references. In Esperanto, the idea of for is built into peti here.

Because it is both:

• plural
• the direct object of the verb

Here is the breakdown:

• referenco = a reference
• referencoj = references
• referencojn = references, as the direct object

In Esperanto:

• -o marks a noun
• -j marks plural
• -n marks the accusative, which usually means the direct object

Since the employer asked for the references, referencojn is the thing being asked for, so it gets -n.

Because numbers in Esperanto do not take plural or accusative endings in normal use.

So you say:

• du referencoj
• du referencojn

The noun changes, but du stays du.

This is normal:

• unu libro
• du libroj
• Mi vidas du librojn

The numeral itself stays the same.

Yes, referenco is a normal and understandable word for reference, especially in contexts like work, applications, or recommendations.

Esperanto often uses internationally familiar roots, and referenc- is one of them.

In a job context, referencoj would usually mean the references a candidate can provide.

Yes, Esperanto word order is fairly flexible because the -n ending helps show what the object is.

The most neutral order is:

• La dunganto petis du referencojn.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Du referencojn petis la dunganto.

That is still grammatical, because referencojn has -n, so it is clearly the object.

Still, for learners, the basic subject–verb–object order is usually best unless you have a reason to emphasize something.

You would say:

La dunganto petis referencon.

Here is the change:

• referencojn = references
• referencon = a reference / reference

You remove the plural -j, but keep the accusative -n, because it is still the direct object.

So:

• referenco = a reference
• referencon = a reference, as object
• referencoj = references
• referencojn = references, as object

A simple pronunciation guide is:

la doon-GAHN-to peh-TEES doo reh-feh-REN-tsoyn

A few useful points:

• g is always hard, as in go
• c is pronounced ts
• j is pronounced like English y
• oj sounds roughly like oy
• stress is always on the second-to-last syllable

So:

• dunganto → dun-GAN-to
• petis → PE-tis
• referencojn → re-fe-REN-cojn