Questions & Answers about Literaturo gravas por ŝi.
Why is gravas used instead of something like estas grava?
Because gravas is a normal Esperanto verb built from the root grav-.
- grava = important
- gravas = is important, matters
So Literaturo gravas por ŝi means something like Literature is important to her or Literature matters to her.
You could also say Literaturo estas grava por ŝi, which is very close in meaning. But Esperanto often uses roots directly as verbs in this neat, compact way.
What does the -as ending in gravas mean?
-as marks the present tense in Esperanto.
So:
- gravas = is important / matters
- gravis = was important / mattered
- gravos = will be important / will matter
This ending never changes for person:
- mi gravas
- vi gravas
- ŝi gravas
The subject changes, but the verb ending stays -as in the present tense.
Why is there no word for the before Literaturo?