La deklivo estas longa.

to be

Breakdown of La deklivo estas longa.

• la: the
• longa: long
• deklivo: the slope

Questions & Answers about La deklivo estas longa.

Why is there la at the beginning?

La is the definite article in Esperanto, equivalent to the in English.

So La deklivo means the slope.

A learner often asks whether Esperanto has both a and the. It does not. Esperanto has only one article: la. There is no separate word for a/an. So:

• deklivo = a slope or slope
• la deklivo = the slope

What does the -o ending in deklivo mean?

In Esperanto, nouns end in -o.

So deklivo is a noun because of the -o ending. This is one of the most important patterns in Esperanto. For example:

• domo = house
• arbo = tree
• deklivo = slope

This makes parts of speech very easy to recognize.

Why does longa end in -a?