Makulo tro grandis por ke ŝi vidu la prezetikedon.

A stain was too large for her to see the price tag.

Breakdown of Makulo tro grandis por ke ŝi vidu la prezetikedon.

• granda: big
• la: the
• vidi: to see
• por: for

Questions & Answers about Makulo tro grandis por ke ŝi vidu la prezetikedon.

Why does Esperanto use por ke ŝi vidu here instead of something like por ŝi vidi?

Because the action vidi has its own stated subject: ŝi.

In Esperanto, when you want to say for someone to do something and that action has its own subject, the usual pattern is por ke + subject + verb in -u:

• por ke ŝi vidu = for her to see
• por ke ili venu = for them to come

A plain infinitive like por vidi is most natural when the subject is general or understood, often the same as the subject of the main clause. Here the main subject is makulo, but the one doing the seeing is ŝi, so por ke ŝi vidu is the normal choice.

Why is the verb vidu in the -u form? Isn’t that the imperative?

The -u ending is the volitive form. It is used not only for commands, but also in certain subordinate clauses, especially after por ke.

So here vidu does not mean someone is commanding her to see. It is simply the normal form after por ke:

• Mi venis por ke vi helpu. = I came so that you could help.
• Ŝi fermis la pordon por ke neniu eniru. = She closed the door so that nobody would come in.

So in this sentence, ŝi vidu is just part of the grammar of por ke.

What exactly does por ke mean in this sentence?