Breakdown of La sufloro staras apud la kuliso.
la
the
apud
next to
stari
to stand
sufloro
the theatrical prompter
Questions & Answers about La sufloro staras apud la kuliso.
Why is la used twice in La sufloro staras apud la kuliso?
La is the definite article, meaning the.
It appears twice because there are two separate noun phrases:
- la sufloro = the prompter
- la kuliso = the wing / flat / stage scenery
In Esperanto, each noun phrase takes its own article if it is definite. You do not use one la for the whole sentence.
Why do sufloro and kuliso both end in -o?
Because -o is the normal noun ending in Esperanto.
So:
- sufloro = a noun
- kuliso = a noun
This is one of the most regular features of Esperanto: you can usually tell a word’s part of speech by its ending.
What does the ending -as in staras mean?
-as marks the present tense.
So staras means stands or is standing.
In Esperanto, all present-tense verbs end in -as:
- mi staras = I stand / I am standing
- li staras = he stands / he is standing
- ili staras = they stand / they are standing
The verb does not change depending on the subject.
Why is staras used instead of estas?