Breakdown of La dirigento plu laboros, eĉ se unu instrumento ĉesos funkcii.
la
the
labori
to work
se
if
funkcii
to work
Questions & Answers about La dirigento plu laboros, eĉ se unu instrumento ĉesos funkcii.
Why is it la dirigento and not just dirigento?
La is Esperanto’s definite article, meaning the.
So la dirigento means the conductor / the director as a specific person, not just any conductor in general.
A few useful points:
- Esperanto has only one article, la
- It does not have a separate word for a/an
- So:
- dirigento = conductor, a conductor, conductors in a general sense
- la dirigento = the conductor
In this sentence, the speaker has a particular conductor in mind, so la is used.
What exactly does dirigento mean here?
Dirigento usually means conductor in a musical context, or sometimes leader/director depending on context.
It comes from the idea of directing or guiding.
In this sentence, because of instrumento, a learner will usually understand it as a musical conductor.
Also notice the ending:
- -o = noun
- so dirigento is a noun meaning conductor/director
What does plu mean in this sentence?