La respubliko estas granda.

to be

Breakdown of La respubliko estas granda.

• la: the
• granda: large
• respubliko: the republic

Questions & Answers about La respubliko estas granda.

Why is there a la at the beginning?

La is the Esperanto definite article, like the in English.

So la respubliko means the republic.

A few useful points:

• Esperanto has only one article: la
• It does not change for gender, number, or case in normal use
• There is no indefinite article like a or an

So:

• la respubliko = the republic
• respubliko = a republic or just republic, depending on context

Why does respubliko end in -o?

In Esperanto, nouns normally end in -o.

So respublik-o shows that the word is a noun.

This is one of the most important patterns in Esperanto:

• -o = noun
• -a = adjective
• -e = adverb
• -i = infinitive verb

That means the ending helps you identify the part of speech immediately.

Why is it estas instead of something shorter like is?