La sufloro diris la replikon.

• la = the
• sufloro = prompter
• diris = said
• la = the
• replikon = the line / the reply (with -n marking it as the direct object)

So the structure is:

La sufloro = the subject
diris = the verb
la replikon = the direct object

In other words, the prompter did the action of saying, and the line is what was said.

The -n ending marks the direct object in Esperanto.

Here, the direct object is the thing that was said: the line.
So:

• la repliko = the line
• la replikon = the line, as the direct object

This is one of the most important features of Esperanto grammar. It helps show who is doing the action and what receives the action.

Compare:

• La sufloro diris la replikon. = The prompter said the line.
• La repliko diris la sufloron. = The line said the prompter.
  This is grammatically possible, but it means something very different.

Esperanto verb endings show tense very clearly:

• -i = infinitive → diri = to say
• -as = present → diras = says / is saying
• -is = past → diris = said
• -os = future → diros = will say

So diris is used because the sentence is in the past tense:

La sufloro diris la replikon. = The prompter said the line.

La is the definite article in Esperanto, meaning the.

So:

• la sufloro = the prompter
• la replikon = the line

It is used when the speaker means a specific person or thing, not just any one.

Compare:

• La sufloro diris la replikon. = The prompter said the line.
• Sufloro diris replikon. = A prompter said a line.
  This is less specific.

Unlike English, Esperanto has only one article: la. There is no separate word for a/an.

No. -o just marks a noun. It does not mean masculine.

Esperanto nouns are not automatically masculine or feminine. Sufloro simply means prompter. If you need to specify gender, you usually do it separately.

So:

• sufloro = prompter
• not specifically male prompter

A native English speaker may expect grammatical gender from other languages, but Esperanto normally does not work that way.

Repliko can mean reply, retort, or in theatrical contexts, a line spoken by an actor.

In this sentence, since sufloro means prompter, the theatrical meaning is the most likely one:

• la repliko = the line (in a script)

So the sentence probably describes a theater situation where the prompter says or feeds a line.

Yes, to some extent. Because Esperanto uses the -n ending to mark the direct object, word order is more flexible than in English.

For example, these mean the same basic thing:

• La sufloro diris la replikon.
• La replikon diris la sufloro.

Both mean The prompter said the line, because replikon still has -n, so it is still the object.

However, the most neutral and common order is:

subject + verb + object
So La sufloro diris la replikon is the most straightforward version.

Because diri means to say, while paroli means to speak.

• diri focuses on the actual words or message
• paroli focuses more on the act of speaking

Since the sentence includes a direct object, la replikon, diri is the natural choice:

• La sufloro diris la replikon. = The prompter said the line.

By contrast, paroli usually would not take that object in the same way.

A learner might pronounce it roughly as:

soo-FLOR-oh

A more detailed breakdown:

• su = like soo
• flo = like floor without the English glide, more purely flo
• ro = a short ro

Stress in Esperanto normally falls on the second-to-last syllable, so here the stress is on flo:

su-FLO-ro

That regular stress pattern is very helpful in Esperanto.