Questions & Answers about La gingivo estas sentema.
What does la mean here?
La is the definite article, meaning the.
So La gingivo means the gum or the gum tissue. Esperanto has only one definite article: la. It does not change for gender, number, or case.
Why does gingivo end in -o?
In Esperanto, nouns end in -o.
So:
- gingiv- = the word root
- -o = noun ending
That tells you gingivo is a noun.
Is gingivo singular? How would I say gums?
Yes, gingivo is singular.
To make it plural, Esperanto adds -j:
- gingivo = gum
- gingivoj = gums
In a medical or general statement, Esperanto may use the singular to talk about gum tissue as a whole. If you specifically mean multiple gums, you would use gingivoj.
What does estas mean?