La spektaklo komenciĝas post la provludo.

Because komenci is often used as a transitive verb: komenci ion = to begin something.

• La reĝisoro komencas la spektaklon = The director begins the show
• La spektaklo komenciĝas = The show begins / starts

The ending -iĝ- often shows that something enters a new state by itself or undergoes a change. So komenciĝi means to begin, to start in an intransitive sense.

In this sentence, the show is not beginning something else; it is the thing that begins. So komenciĝas is the natural choice.

-as is the present tense ending in Esperanto.

So komenciĝas literally means begins / is beginning.

Even if the sentence refers to a scheduled event, Esperanto often uses the present tense the way English does in sentences like:

• The show starts after the rehearsal
• The train leaves at six

So -as is perfectly normal here.

Yes. Komenciĝos means will begin.

So:

• La spektaklo komenciĝas post la provludo. = The show starts after the rehearsal.
• La spektaklo komenciĝos post la provludo. = The show will start after the rehearsal.

The first can sound more like a schedule or a general statement; the second is more explicitly future.

La is the Esperanto definite article, meaning the.

So:

• la spektaklo = the show
• la provludo = the rehearsal

It is used when the speaker has a specific show and a specific rehearsal in mind. Esperanto has only one definite article: la. It does not change for gender, number, or case.

Because there is no direct object here, and post does not require -n in this sentence.

Breakdown:

• La spektaklo is the subject
• komenciĝas is an intransitive verb here
• post la provludo is a prepositional phrase

Since komenciĝi does not take a direct object, spektaklo does not get -n.

And after a preposition like post, you normally do not add -n, unless there is some special reason involving direction or replacing a preposition. Here it is just simple time reference: after the rehearsal.

Post is a preposition meaning after.

Here it introduces a time relationship:

• post la provludo = after the rehearsal

So the sentence tells us when the show begins.

Provludo is a compound word:

• prov- = test, trial
• ludo = play, performance, act of playing

Together, provludo means rehearsal.

Esperanto forms many words this way, by combining roots. Even if the exact English translation is not obvious from the parts, learning to notice compounds is very useful.

No, Esperanto word order is fairly flexible.

The neutral order here is:

• La spektaklo komenciĝas post la provludo.

But you could also say:

• Post la provludo la spektaklo komenciĝas.

That puts more focus on the time phrase post la provludo.

Because Esperanto marks grammar with endings and uses clear prepositions, word order can move around more freely than in English, although some orders sound more natural than others.

There are two main clues:

1. It has no -n ending, so it is not a direct object.
2. Komenciĝi is intransitive, so the noun before it is naturally understood as the thing that begins.

So la spektaklo is the thing doing the beginning, in the sense of the thing that starts.

It usually means a show, spectacle, or performance. The exact English choice depends on context.

So in different contexts it might be translated as:

• show
• performance
• spectacle

Here, if the meaning already given is something like The show starts after the rehearsal, then show is the natural translation.

Esperanto always stresses the second-to-last syllable.

Break it up like this:

• ko-men-ci-ĝas

The stress falls on ci:

• ko-men-CI-ĝas

That regular stress rule is one of the helpful things about Esperanto pronunciation.