La farbo estas sur la gipso.

to be

Breakdown of La farbo estas sur la gipso.

• la: the
• sur: on
• gipso: gypsum; plaster

Questions & Answers about La farbo estas sur la gipso.

What is each word doing in La farbo estas sur la gipso?

• la = the definite article, like the
• farbo = a noun
• estas = the present-tense form of esti, meaning to be
• sur = a preposition meaning on
• la gipso = a noun phrase after the preposition

So grammatically:

• La farbo is the subject
• estas is the verb
• sur la gipso is a prepositional phrase showing location

This is a very normal Esperanto sentence pattern: subject + verb + prepositional phrase.

Why is there la before both nouns?

Because Esperanto uses la for the, and it can be used before any definite noun.

So:

• la farbo = the paint
• la gipso = the plaster

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

Why do farbo and gipso both end in -o?