Ŝi elektis la blankan karton.

In Esperanto, -is is the past-tense verb ending. So elektis is the past form of elekti.

• elekti = the infinitive, to choose
• elektas = chooses / is choosing
• elektis = chose
• elektos = will choose

Esperanto verbs do not change for person, so the same -is ending is used with mi, vi, ŝi, ili, and so on.

Esperanto verbs do not change depending on the subject. That means:

• mi elektis = I chose
• vi elektis = you chose
• ŝi elektis = she chose
• ili elektis = they chose

Because the verb form stays the same, you normally need the subject pronoun to show who did the action.

The -n is the accusative ending. It marks the direct object of the verb — the thing that is being chosen.

Here, the thing chosen is la blankan karton, so both the noun and its adjective take -n:

• karto = card
• karton = card as a direct object
• blanka karto = a white card
• blankan karton = a white card as a direct object

In Esperanto, adjectives agree with the nouns they describe in both number and case, so if the noun gets -n, the adjective gets -n too.

Because adjectives and nouns have different basic endings in Esperanto:

• nouns normally end in -o
• adjectives normally end in -a

So:

• karto = noun
• blanka = adjective

When they are in the accusative, both add -n:

• karton
• blankan

This is a very regular pattern in Esperanto.

Because la never changes. It is the definite article, and it stays la in all situations:

• singular or plural
• subject or object
• masculine, feminine, or neuter

So you get:

• la karto
• la karton
• la kartoj
• la kartojn

The article always remains la.

Yes. Esperanto has just one definite article: la.

It does not change for:

• gender
• number
• case

Also, Esperanto has no separate indefinite article like English a or an. So:

• karto can mean a card
• la karto means the card

Yes, it could come after. Adjectives are often placed before the noun, but after the noun is also possible.

So both are grammatical:

• la blankan karton
• la karton blankan

The first is much more natural in ordinary usage. In either position, the adjective still has to agree with the noun, so it keeps the same endings.

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

For example, these can mean the same thing:

• Ŝi elektis la blankan karton.
• La blankan karton ŝi elektis.

The -n on blankan karton shows that it is the object, even if it comes earlier in the sentence.

That said, the most neutral and common order is still subject–verb–object, as in the original sentence.

Because singular nouns end in -o, and plural nouns add -j.

So:

• karto = card
• karton = card, direct object
• kartoj = cards
• kartojn = cards, direct object

If the sentence were plural, it would be:

• Ŝi elektis la blankajn kartojn.

Notice that both the adjective and noun would take -j for plural and -n for accusative.

Ŝ is pronounced like English sh in shoe.

So ŝi is pronounced roughly like shee.

A useful breakdown:

• ŝ = sh
• i = a clear ee sound

Esperanto spelling is very regular, so one letter always has one main sound.

The dictionary or base forms are:

• ŝi = she
• elekti = to choose
• la = the
• blanka = white
• karto = card

The sentence uses changed forms for grammar:

• elekti → elektis for past tense
• blanka → blankan for adjective + accusative
• karto → karton for noun + accusative

Seeing the base forms can make Esperanto sentences much easier to analyze.