La tradicia ŝtofo estas lano.

to be

Breakdown of La tradicia ŝtofo estas lano.

• la: the
• ŝtofo: the fabric; cloth
• lano: wool

Questions & Answers about La tradicia ŝtofo estas lano.

What does la mean, and why is it used here?

La is the Esperanto definite article, meaning the.

So la tradicia ŝtofo means the traditional fabric or the traditional cloth.

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

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Why does tradicia end in -a?

In Esperanto, adjectives normally end in -a.

So:

• tradicia = traditional
• bela = beautiful
• granda = big

Because tradicia describes ŝtofo, it takes the adjective ending -a.

A useful pattern is:

• -o = noun
• -a = adjective
• -e = adverb

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Why does ŝtofo end in -o?