Ŝi ricevis tri poentojn.

ŝi is pronounced roughly like shee in English.

• ŝ sounds like sh in shoe
• i sounds like ee in see

So ŝi is very close to English she in pronunciation.

In Esperanto, -is marks the past tense.

So:

• ricevi = to receive
• ricevas = receives / is receiving
• ricevis = received
• ricevos = will receive

That means ricevis tells you the action happened in the past.

Because Esperanto verbs do not change according to person or number.

So the same past-tense form is used with all subjects:

• mi ricevis = I received
• vi ricevis = you received
• ŝi ricevis = she received
• ili ricevis = they received

This is much simpler than English or many other European languages.

The ending -ojn is made of three parts:

• poent- = the root
• -o = noun ending
• -j = plural
• -n = accusative, used for the direct object

So:

• poento = a point
• poentoj = points
• poentojn = points as the direct object

In this sentence, tri poentojn is what she received, so it is the direct object and takes -n.

Numbers in Esperanto normally do not change form.

So tri stays tri no matter what comes after it. The noun changes, not the number.

Examples:

• tri poentoj = three points
• mi vidas tri poentojn = I see three points
• kun tri poentoj = with three points

The number remains tri each time.

In normal Esperanto, no. It should be tri poentojn.

That is because tri poentojn is the direct object of ricevis. Direct objects take -n.

So:

• Ŝi ricevis tri poentojn. = correct
• Ŝi ricevis tri poentoj. = incorrect in standard Esperanto

Esperanto has the definite article la, but it is only used when needed.

Here, tri poentojn simply means three points. If the context does not require the, it is left out.

Compare:

• Ŝi ricevis tri poentojn. = She received three points.
• Ŝi ricevis la tri poentojn. = She received the three points.

The second version sounds more specific, as if those three points are already known from context.

Yes, Esperanto word order is fairly flexible because the endings show the grammar clearly.

The most neutral order is:

• Ŝi ricevis tri poentojn.

But you could also say:

• Tri poentojn ŝi ricevis.

That puts more emphasis on tri poentojn.

Even with changed word order, the -n on poentojn still shows that it is the direct object.