Word
La petanto tenas kontakton kun la konsulejo.
Meaning
The applicant stays in contact with the consulate.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of La petanto tenas kontakton kun la konsulejo.
la
the
kun
with
teni
to hold; keep
konsulejo
the consulate
Questions & Answers about La petanto tenas kontakton kun la konsulejo.
Why does kontakton end in -n?
Because kontakton is the direct object of tenas.
In Esperanto, the direct object usually takes the accusative ending -n. Here, the applicant is keeping/maintaining contact, so kontakto becomes kontakton.
- tenas = keeps, holds
- kontakton = contact as the thing being kept
Why doesn’t konsulejo also have -n?
Because la konsulejo comes after the preposition kun.
After a preposition like kun (with), nouns normally do not take -n. So:
- kun la konsulejo = with the consulate
The direct object is kontakton, not konsulejo.
Is tenas kontakton a normal expression? It feels a bit literal.
Yes, it is a normal and natural Esperanto expression.
Literally, teni kontakton means to hold/keep contact, but in normal English it corresponds to:
- keep in contact
- stay in touch
- maintain contact
So even if it sounds slightly literal word-for-word, it is idiomatic Esperanto.
Could I say kontaktas la konsulejon instead?