La terapiisto kontrolas la tendenon kaj la ligamenton.

The -n ending marks the direct object in Esperanto. It shows which thing is being acted on.

Here, kontrolas means checks/examines, so the things being checked are:

• la tendenon = the tendon
• la ligamenton = the ligament

This is called the accusative ending.

Without -n, those words would just be:

• la tendeno = the tendon
• la ligamento = the ligament

Because they are the objects of the verb, they become tendenon and ligamenton.

Esperanto often repeats la before each noun in a list when each noun is separately definite.

So:

• la tendenon kaj la ligamenton = the tendon and the ligament

This is very natural Esperanto. You may also sometimes see one article covering both nouns in other contexts, but repeating la is clear and common.

For a learner, it is usually safest to repeat la before each noun if both are definite.

Terapiisto is built from:

• terapi- = therapy / treatment-related root
• -ist- = a person professionally associated with something
• -o = noun ending

So terapiisto means therapist.

The suffix -ist- is very useful in Esperanto. It often means a person who works in, practices, or is associated with something:

• piano → pianisto = pianist
• arto → artisto = artist
• turismo → turisto = tourist

The ending -as marks the present tense in Esperanto.

So:

• kontroli = to check / to examine
• kontrolas = checks / is checking / does check

Esperanto verb endings are very regular:

• -as = present
• -is = past
• -os = future
• -us = conditional
• -u = command / jussive
• -i = infinitive

So La terapiisto kontrolas... means The therapist checks... or The therapist is checking..., depending on context.

This is the most basic and common Esperanto word order:

subject + verb + object

So:

• La terapiisto = the therapist
• kontrolas = checks
• la tendenon kaj la ligamenton = the tendon and the ligament

Because Esperanto marks the object with -n, word order is more flexible than in English. But the order used here is the most straightforward and natural for a beginner.

For example, this would still be understandable because of the -n endings:

• La tendenon kaj la ligamenton kontrolas la terapiisto

But that version is less neutral and more marked in style. The original sentence is the normal default.

Yes, they are largely international medical/anatomical words, just adapted to Esperanto spelling and endings:

• tendeno = tendon
• ligamento = ligament

This is very common in Esperanto, especially with scientific or medical vocabulary. Many such words will look familiar to English speakers, though their spelling may be slightly adjusted to fit Esperanto.

For example:

• terapio = therapy
• muskolo = muscle
• nervo = nerve

This makes a lot of technical vocabulary easier to recognize.

Kaj means and.

In this sentence, it joins two direct objects:

• la tendenon
• la ligamenton

So:

• la tendenon kaj la ligamenton = the tendon and the ligament

It works very much like English and in ordinary sentences.

In Esperanto, -o is the basic noun ending.

So the dictionary forms are:

• terapiisto
• tendeno
• ligamento

If a noun is a direct object, you add -n after the noun ending:

• tendeno → tendenon
• ligamento → ligamenton

This makes Esperanto very regular: you can often tell a word’s part of speech just by its ending.

A simple English-friendly pronunciation guide is:

La terapiisto kontrolas la tendenon kaj la ligamenton
lah teh-rah-pee-EE-stoh kon-TROH-lahs lah ten-DEH-non kai lah lee-gah-MEN-ton

A few helpful pronunciation points:

• a is like the a in father
• e is like the e in met
• i is like ee
• o is like o in a pure told-type sound, without a glide
• kaj sounds like kai
• stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable

So:

• terapiisto → tera-pi-IS-to
• kontrolas → kon-TRO-las
• tendenon → ten-DE-non
• ligamenton → liga-MEN-ton

Yes. Esperanto verbs are often broader than a single English translation.

Kontroli can mean things like:

• to check
• to inspect
• to examine
• to monitor, depending on context

So this sentence could be translated in slightly different ways depending on the situation:

• The therapist checks the tendon and the ligament.
• The therapist examines the tendon and the ligament.

If this is a medical context, examines may sound especially natural in English.

Grammatically, yes, but the meaning would change.

• La terapiisto kontrolas la tendenon kaj la ligamenton = the therapist checks the tendon and the ligament
• Terapiisto kontrolas tendenon kaj ligamenton = a therapist checks a tendon and a ligament / therapists check tendon and ligament, depending on context

Esperanto has no separate word for English a/an. Usually, leaving out la gives an indefinite or more general sense.

So la is important here because it makes the nouns definite.