La ŝuldanto repagas la hipotekon.

In Esperanto, -as marks the present tense. So repagas means repays or is repaying.

Esperanto normally does not make the same basic tense distinction that English does between repays and is repaying. The context tells you which is meant.

Re- means again or back.

So:

• pagi = to pay
• repagi = to pay back, to repay

That is why repagas means repays / is repaying, not just pays.

Ŝuldanto is built from:

• ŝuldi = to owe
• -ant- = active present participle, meaning someone who is doing the action
• -o = noun ending

So ŝuldanto literally means one who owes.

In normal English, that is debtor.

The -n marks the direct object in Esperanto. The direct object is the thing directly affected by the action.

Here, the debtor is doing the repaying, and the thing being repaid is the mortgage, so:

• la ŝuldanto = the subject
• la hipotekon = the direct object

That is why hipoteko becomes hipotekon.

Because it is the subject, not the direct object.

In this sentence:

• La ŝuldanto = the debtor, the one doing the action
• repagas = repays
• la hipotekon = the thing being repaid

Only the direct object gets the accusative -n here.

La is Esperanto’s definite article, meaning the.

So:

• la ŝuldanto = the debtor
• la hipotekon = the mortgage

A few useful points:

• Esperanto has only one definite article: la
• it does not change for gender or number
• it does not take -n itself; the noun does that instead

So you say la hipotekon, not anything like lan hipotekon.

No. Esperanto has no indefinite article.

So:

• ŝuldanto can mean a debtor or just debtor
• hipoteko can mean a mortgage

If you want the, you use la. If there is no la, the noun is usually indefinite or general, depending on context.

Yes. Esperanto word order is fairly flexible, because the -n ending helps show what is the object.

The most neutral order is:

• La ŝuldanto repagas la hipotekon.

But you could also say:

• La hipotekon repagas la ŝuldanto.

That is still grammatical, because hipotekon is clearly marked as the object by -n. The changed order would usually give a different emphasis.

It can mean either one.

Esperanto -as covers both the simple present and the progressive present that English often distinguishes:

• repays
• is repaying

If the difference matters, Esperanto usually makes it clear through context or extra wording rather than through a special verb form.

A few key pronunciation points:

• ŝ sounds like English sh
• stress in Esperanto is always on the second-to-last syllable

So these words are pronounced roughly like this:

• ŝuldanto → shool-DAN-to
• repagas → re-PA-gas
• hipotekon → hee-po-TE-kon

So the whole sentence is roughly:

la shool-DAN-to re-PA-gas la hee-po-TE-kon

Keep in mind that Esperanto spelling is very regular, so once you learn the sound of each letter, pronunciation becomes much easier.