La memfoto havas helan fonon.

to have

Breakdown of La memfoto havas helan fonon.

• la: the
• hela: bright
• memfoto: the selfie; self-portrait photograph

Questions & Answers about La memfoto havas helan fonon.

What does each word in La memfoto havas helan fonon mean?

• la = the
• memfoto = selfie
• havas = has
• helan = light / bright
• fonon = background

So the sentence structure is literally:

the selfie has light background

In natural English: The selfie has a light background.

Why is it havas?

Because havi means to have, and -as is the present-tense ending in Esperanto.

So:

• havi = to have
• havas = has / have

Esperanto verbs do not change according to the subject the way English verbs do. So:

• mi havas = I have
• vi havas = you have
• li havas = he has
• la memfoto havas = the selfie has

It is always havas in the present tense.

Why does memfoto mean selfie?

Memfoto is a compound word:

• mem = self
• foto = photo

So memfoto literally means self-photo, which is the Esperanto equivalent of selfie.

This kind of word-building is very common in Esperanto. Once you know the parts, many words become easy to understand.