La farbisto kontrolas la takson.

La is the Esperanto definite article, meaning the.

It appears twice because both nouns are definite:

• la farbisto = the painter
• la takson = the estimate / assessment

Unlike English, Esperanto has only one definite article: la. It does not change for gender, number, or case.

The ending -o marks a noun in Esperanto.

So:

• farbisto is a noun
• takso is also a noun

This is one of the most regular parts of Esperanto grammar:

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

The suffix -ist- usually means a person զբաղying a profession, activity, or role.

So:

• farb- = paint / coloring
• -ist- = person who works in that field or does that activity
• -o = noun

Therefore farbisto means painter.

This suffix appears in many other words too:

• muzikisto = musician
• verkisto = writer
• dentisto = dentist

The ending -as marks the present tense in Esperanto.

So kontrolas means checks, is checking, or does check, depending on context.

Esperanto tense endings are very regular:

• -as = present
• -is = past
• -os = future
• -us = conditional
• -u = command / wish

So:

• kontrolas = checks
• kontrolis = checked
• kontrolos = will check

The -n marks the direct object. This is called the accusative ending.

In the sentence:

• La farbisto = the subject, the one doing the action
• kontrolas = checks
• la takson = the direct object, the thing being checked

So takson is takso + n.

This is one of the most important features of Esperanto grammar. The -n tells you what receives the action.

Yes, to some extent.

Because takson has the accusative -n, Esperanto can show its grammatical role even if the word order changes. For example:

• La farbisto kontrolas la takson.
• La takson kontrolas la farbisto.

Both mean the same basic thing: the painter checks the estimate.

However, the first version is the most neutral and natural word order for learners:

subject + verb + object

Not always. This is a useful thing to watch out for.

In Esperanto, kontroli usually means to check, to inspect, or to verify.

So in this sentence, kontrolas is likely checks rather than controls in the English sense of manages or has power over.

This can feel like a false friend for English speakers, because English control often means something slightly different.

No. Even though they look similar, takso does not mean tax.

Takso means something like:

• estimate
• assessment
• valuation

So la takson means the estimate / the assessment, not the tax.

This is a good example of why it helps not to guess only from appearance.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

lah far-BIS-toh kon-TROH-lahs lah TAK-son

A few helpful points:

• a is like a in father
• o is like o in told, but kept pure
• stress in Esperanto usually falls on the second-to-last syllable

So:

• far-BIS-to
• kon-TRO-las
• TAK-son

To make the nouns plural, add -j:

• farbisto → farbistoj
• takso → taksoj

If the direct object is plural, it keeps the accusative too, so you add -jn:

• taksoj → taksojn

So the plural sentence would be:

La farbistoj kontrolas la taksojn.

That means the painters check the estimates.

No. Esperanto nouns themselves do not have grammatical gender in the way many European languages do.

So farbisto just means painter, without inherently saying male or female.

If context requires it, Esperanto has ways to make sex explicit, but the basic noun is gender-neutral. This is often easier for English speakers than languages with masculine and feminine noun classes.