Questions & Answers about La aĉetanto legas la frazon.
Why is la used twice in La aĉetanto legas la frazon?
Because Esperanto uses la as the definite article, meaning the.
So:
- la aĉetanto = the buyer
- la frazon = the sentence
Just like in English, if both nouns are definite, both can take the.
A useful thing to remember: Esperanto has only one definite article, la. It does not change for gender, number, or case.
What does aĉetanto mean grammatically? Why does it end in -anto?
Aĉetanto is built from parts:
- aĉet- = the idea of buying
- -ant- = active present participle, meaning doing the action
- -o = noun ending
So aĉetanto literally means someone who is buying, and in normal use it often means buyer.
This is one of the nice things about Esperanto: many words are built very regularly from smaller pieces.
Compare:
- aĉeti = to buy
- aĉetanto = buyer / one who is buying
- aĉetata = being bought
- aĉeto = a purchase / buying
Why does legas end in -as?