Ŝi deklaris, ke la biciklo estas sekura.

to be

Breakdown of Ŝi deklaris, ke la biciklo estas sekura.

• la: the
• ke: that
• ŝi: she

Questions & Answers about Ŝi deklaris, ke la biciklo estas sekura.

What does deklaris mean, and why does it end in -is?

Deklaris means declared.

The ending -is is the Esperanto past-tense verb ending. All finite verbs use a fixed ending:

• -as = present
• -is = past
• -os = future
• -us = conditional
• -u = command / wish

So:

• deklaras = declares / is declaring
• deklaris = declared
• deklaros = will declare

The base word here is deklari = to declare.

Why is there ke in the sentence?

Ke means that and introduces a subordinate clause.

So:

• Ŝi deklaris = She declared
• ke la biciklo estas sekura = that the bicycle is safe

This works much like English that in a sentence such as She declared that the bicycle is safe.

In Esperanto, ke is very commonly used to connect this kind of reported statement.

Why is it estas sekura and not a past form like estis sekura?