Ni rigardas la horizonton per la teleskopo.

In Esperanto, all present-tense verbs end in -as.

So rigardas means look / are looking. The basic verb is rigardi, and changing -i to -as makes it finite and present tense.

• rigardi = to look
• rigardas = look / are looking
• rigardis = looked
• rigardos = will look

Because the subject is ni = we, English uses we look or we are looking, but Esperanto still just uses rigardas.

Ni means we.

Esperanto verbs do not change according to the subject. That is much simpler than English. So the verb form stays the same:

• mi rigardas = I look
• vi rigardas = you look
• li rigardas = he looks
• ni rigardas = we look
• ili rigardas = they look

Unlike English, there is no special form like he looks versus we look. Everyone uses rigardas in the present tense.

The -n ending marks the direct object.

Here, the horizon is what is being looked at, so it is the direct object of rigardas. That is why it becomes la horizonton.

• la horizonto = the horizon
• ni rigardas la horizonton = we look at the horizon

This is one of the most important features of Esperanto grammar: nouns take -n when they are direct objects.

Because Esperanto rigardi usually takes a direct object directly, without a preposition.

English says look at the horizon, but Esperanto says literally look the horizon:

• rigardi ion = to look at something

So:

• Ni rigardas la horizonton = We are looking at the horizon

This is normal Esperanto usage. English needs at here, but Esperanto does not.

La is the definite article, meaning the.

In this sentence, the horizon is treated as something specific and identifiable, so la is natural.

Esperanto has only one article, la, for all genders and numbers:

• la libro = the book
• la libroj = the books
• la horizonto = the horizon

There is no separate word for a/an in Esperanto, so if you leave out la, it often feels more general or indefinite.

Per means by means of, using, or with the help of.

So per la teleskopo means using the telescope. It shows the instrument used to do the action.

• Ni rigardas la horizonton per la teleskopo = We look at the horizon using the telescope

This is a very common use of per in Esperanto.

Because la teleskopo is not the direct object.

The direct object is la horizonton — that is what is being looked at.

Per la teleskopo is a prepositional phrase, and the preposition per already shows the role of teleskopo, so no accusative -n is needed here.

Compare:

• Ni rigardas la horizonton → horizonton gets -n
• per la teleskopo → teleskopo stays without -n

Yes, Esperanto word order is fairly flexible.

Because la horizonton has the accusative -n, you can still tell it is the direct object even if the order changes. For example, these are all understandable:

• Ni rigardas la horizonton per la teleskopo.
• Per la teleskopo ni rigardas la horizonton.
• La horizonton ni rigardas per la teleskopo.

The most neutral order is usually the original one, but moving parts around is possible for emphasis or style.

Not exactly.

• rigardi = to look, to watch, to direct your eyes toward something
• vidi = to see

So in this sentence, rigardas emphasizes the act of looking deliberately. If you used vidas, it would mean that the horizon is visible to us, not necessarily that we are actively looking at it.

Compare:

• Ni rigardas la horizonton = We are looking at the horizon
• Ni vidas la horizonton = We see the horizon

Using la suggests a specific telescope, one that is known from the situation or context.

So per la teleskopo is most naturally understood as with the telescope or using the telescope.

If you said per teleskopo, that would sound more like by telescope or using a telescope as a method/instrument in general, which is less likely in an ordinary sentence like this.

Esperanto stress is very regular: it always falls on the second-to-last syllable of each word.

So:

• Ni → one syllable
• rigardas → riGARdas
• la → one syllable
• horizonton → horiZONton
• per → one syllable
• la → one syllable
• teleskopo → telesKOpo

A rough English-style pronunciation guide:

• Ni ≈ nee
• rigardas ≈ ree-GAR-dahs
• horizonton ≈ hoh-ree-ZON-ton
• per ≈ pehr
• teleskopo ≈ teh-leh-SKO-po

Yes, structurally that is closer to the Esperanto grammar, but it is not natural English.

A literal breakdown is:

• Ni = we
• rigardas = look
• la horizonton = the horizon
• per la teleskopo = by means of the telescope

But natural English adds at after look, so the normal translation is We are looking at the horizon with the telescope or We look at the horizon through the telescope, depending on context.