La malnova bildo montras sklavon.

In Esperanto, mal- is a very common prefix that makes the opposite of a word.

• nova = new
• malnova = old

So malnova literally means something like not-new or the opposite of new. This is a normal and very productive pattern in Esperanto.

Those endings show the part of speech:

• -a = adjective
• -o = noun

So:

• malnova = old, an adjective describing something
• bildo = picture/image, a noun

In Esperanto, adjectives always end in -a, and nouns always end in -o.

La is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• la bildo = the picture
• la malnova bildo = the old picture

Esperanto has only one article, la, and it does not change for gender, number, or case.

Because Esperanto does not require an article in the same way English does.

• sklavon here means a slave or simply slave as the object of the verb.
• If you said la sklavon, that would mean the slave, referring to a specific one.

So the sentence means that the picture shows a slave, not necessarily a particular slave already known to the listener.

The -n marks the direct object in Esperanto. The direct object is the thing directly affected by the action of the verb.

Here:

• La malnova bildo = the subject
• montras = shows
• sklavon = the thing being shown

So sklavon gets -n because it is the direct object.

Without the -n, the grammar would be incomplete or wrong in standard Esperanto for this sentence.

Actually, if an adjective describes a noun that has -n, the adjective normally matches it.

But in this sentence, malnova describes bildo, not sklavon.

• la malnova bildo = the old picture
• sklavon = a slave

Since bildo is the subject, it does not take -n, and neither does malnova.

If the adjective described the object, then it would also take -n. For example:

• La bildo montras malnovan sklavon.
• The picture shows an old slave.

Here both malnovan and sklavon have the object marking relationship.

The ending -as marks the present tense in Esperanto.

So:

• montri = to show
• montras = shows / is showing

Esperanto verb endings are very regular:

• -as = present
• -is = past
• -os = future
• -us = conditional
• -u = command / jussive
• -i = infinitive

So montras tells you the action is in the present.

There are two clues:

1. It has no -n ending.
2. It is the thing doing the action of montras.

So the sentence structure is:

• La malnova bildo = the old picture
• montras = shows
• sklavon = a slave

The picture is what shows something, so it is the subject.

Yes. Esperanto word order is more flexible than English because the -n ending helps show what the object is.

For example, these mean essentially the same thing:

• La malnova bildo montras sklavon.
• Sklavon montras la malnova bildo.

Both are understandable because sklavon has the object ending -n.

However, the most neutral and common order is still subject–verb–object, as in the original sentence.

Usually, adjectives come before the noun:

• la malnova bildo

That is the most natural order for a basic sentence.

Adjectives can sometimes come after the noun in Esperanto, but that is less neutral and may sound stylistic, poetic, or emphatic depending on context. For a learner, it is best to use la malnova bildo.

Bildo is a general word meaning picture, image, or representation. The exact English translation depends on context.

It could refer to:

• a picture
• an image
• an illustration
• sometimes a visual representation more generally

If a more specific kind of picture is meant, Esperanto can use more specific words, but bildo is the broad, everyday word.

You would make the noun plural with -j, and because it is still the direct object, it would also keep -n.

• sklavo = a slave
• sklavoj = slaves
• sklavojn = slaves as a direct object

So:

• La malnova bildo montras sklavojn.
• The old picture shows slaves.

This is a good example of how Esperanto endings stack clearly:

• -j = plural
• -n = direct object

Not always. Malnova usually means old in the sense of not new, but context matters.

It can mean:

• physically old
• ancient
• longstanding
• previous/former in some contexts

In la malnova bildo, the most natural interpretation is the old picture—a picture that is old, not new. But in another context, the exact nuance could be slightly different.