La principo estas simpla.

to be

Breakdown of La principo estas simpla.

• la: the
• simpla: simple
• principo: the principle

Questions & Answers about La principo estas simpla.

What does la do in this sentence?

La is the definite article in Esperanto. It means the.

So la principo means the principle, not just a principle or principle in a general sense.

A useful point for English speakers: la never changes form. It does not vary for gender, number, or case the way articles do in some other languages.

Why does principo end in -o?

In Esperanto, every noun ends in -o.

So:

• princip- = the root meaning principle
• -o = noun ending

That gives principo = principle

This is one of Esperanto’s most regular features: you can often tell a word’s part of speech just by its ending.

Why is it simpla and not simple or simplaĵo or something else?