Ŝi havas alergion.

Ŝi is the Esperanto pronoun for she.

The letter ŝ is pronounced like English sh. So ŝi sounds roughly like shee.

A few related pronouns are:

• li = he
• ŝi = she
• ĝi = it
• ili = they

In Esperanto, -as marks the present tense.

So:

• hav- = the root meaning have
• havas = has / have

Other common verb endings are:

• -is = past
• -os = future
• -us = conditional
• -u = command or wish
• -i = infinitive

So havas tells you that the action is happening in the present.

No. In Esperanto, verbs do not change according to the subject.

That means:

• mi havas = I have
• vi havas = you have
• ŝi havas = she has
• ili havas = they have

The verb form stays the same. This is much simpler than English.

The basic noun is alergio, meaning allergy. The -n ending marks the direct object.

In this sentence, the allergy is the thing being had, so it is the direct object:

• Ŝi havas alergion.

A useful way to think about it is:

• She has what
• An allergy

Because alergio is the object of havas, it becomes alergion.

Esperanto usually does not use an indefinite article like English a or an.

So:

• alergio can mean an allergy or just allergy, depending on context

Esperanto does have a definite article:

• la = the

So:

• alergio = an allergy / allergy
• la alergio = the allergy

That is why Ŝi havas alergion does not need a separate word for an.

The normal order is:

• subject + verb + object
• Ŝi havas alergion

Because Esperanto marks the direct object with -n, the word order can be changed more easily than in English, especially for emphasis.

For example, Alergion ŝi havas is possible, but it sounds more marked or emphatic. For a learner, the normal order Ŝi havas alergion is the best choice.

Esperanto stress is very regular: it always falls on the second to last syllable.

So:

• Ŝi = one syllable
• havas = HA-vas
• alergion = a-ler-GI-on

Notice that in Esperanto, the vowels are pronounced clearly, so -ion here is split into syllables: i-on, not blended the way it often is in English.

The dictionary form is alergio.

In Esperanto, nouns normally end in -o. Then you add endings as needed:

• alergio = allergy
• alergion = allergy as a direct object
• alergioj = allergies
• alergiojn = allergies as direct objects

So when you see alergion, you can strip off the -n and recognize the base noun alergio.