La direktoro aplaŭdis la trupon.

La means the.

So:

• la direktoro = the director
• la trupon = the troupe

Esperanto has only one definite article: la. It does not change for gender, number, or case.

The -n ending marks the direct object.

In this sentence:

• la direktoro is the person doing the action
• la trupon is the thing receiving the action

So the director is applauding the troupe, which makes trupon the direct object.

This -n is called the accusative ending.

Because trupon is singular.

• trupo = a troupe
• trupon = a troupe, as a direct object
• trupoj = troupes
• trupojn = troupes, as a direct object

So this sentence talks about one troupe.

-is is the Esperanto verb ending for the past tense.

So:

• aplaŭdas = applauds / is applauding
• aplaŭdis = applauded
• aplaŭdos = will applaud

That means the action happened in the past: the director applauded the troupe.

No. Esperanto verbs do not change according to person or number.

So the verb form stays the same:

• mi aplaŭdis = I applauded
• li aplaŭdis = he applauded
• ili aplaŭdis = they applauded

This makes Esperanto verb conjugation much simpler than English.

Word order is somewhat flexible in Esperanto because the -n ending helps show who receives the action.

So La direktoro aplaŭdis la trupon is the most natural way to say it.

But because trupon has -n, you could also say:

• La trupon aplaŭdis la direktoro

and it would still mean The director applauded the troupe.

That said, the normal and clearest order is usually subject + verb + object.

Not always. Direktoro can mean director, but depending on context it may also mean things like:

• a manager
• a head of an organization
• a school principal
• a company director

So the exact English translation depends on the situation. The Esperanto word is broader than just one narrow English use.

Trupo means troupe, usually a group of performers such as actors, dancers, or entertainers.

It is a singular noun referring to a group as one unit.

Grammatically:

• trupo ends in -o, so it is a noun
• trupon is the same noun with the accusative -n

In Esperanto, nouns normally end in -o.

So:

• direktoro = director
• trupo = troupe

This makes it easy to recognize parts of speech. If you see -o, it is usually a noun.

In aplaŭdis, the aŭ is a diphthong, roughly like ow in English cow, though pronunciation may vary depending on accent.

A rough guide:

• a-PLAŬ-dis

The stress in Esperanto is always on the second-to-last syllable, so here the stress falls on PLAŬ.

You could, but it would change the meaning.

Without la, the sentence would sound more like:

• A director applauded a troupe
• or something less specific

With la, both nouns are definite and specific:

• the director
• the troupe

So la is important if you mean particular, known people or groups.

Esperanto does not need an extra helping verb like did for ordinary past tense.

The ending -is already shows the past:

• aplaŭdis = applauded / did applaud

If you want extra emphasis, Esperanto has other ways to express it, but in a normal sentence -is is enough.