Breakdown of La katido nek miaŭas nek gratas la meblojn nokte.
la
the
nek
neither/nor
nokte
at night
meblo
the piece of furniture
Questions & Answers about La katido nek miaŭas nek gratas la meblojn nokte.
What does katido mean, and what does the ending -ido add?
Katido means kitten.
It is built from:
- kato = cat
- -id- = a young one, offspring, descendant
- -o = noun ending
So katido is literally young cat.
This -id- ending is very useful in Esperanto. For example:
- hundo = dog → hundido = puppy
- bovo = ox/cow → bovido = calf
Why is there la in La katido and la meblojn?
La is the Esperanto word for the.
So:
- La katido = the kitten
- la meblojn = the furniture / the pieces of furniture
Esperanto has only one definite article, la. It does not change for gender, number, or case.
Unlike English, Esperanto has no indefinite article. So:
- katido = a kitten / kitten
- la katido = the kitten
How does nek ... nek ... work?