Ni ĉeestas la prelegon en la observatorio.

the

Breakdown of Ni ĉeestas la prelegon en la observatorio.

• en: in
• ni: we
• prelego: the lecture

Questions & Answers about Ni ĉeestas la prelegon en la observatorio.

Why is prelegon marked with -n?

Because ĉeesti is a transitive verb in Esperanto. It takes a direct object.

• ĉeesti = to attend, to be present at
• So the thing being attended gets -n
• la prelegon = the lecture as the direct object

That is why Esperanto says:

• Ni ĉeestas la prelegon. = We are attending the lecture.

Even though English uses attend without a special ending, Esperanto shows the object clearly with -n.

What exactly does ĉeestas mean?

Ĉeestas comes from ĉeesti.

It means:

• to attend
• to be present at
• to be in attendance at

So Ni ĉeestas la prelegon means that we are present at the lecture / we are attending the lecture.

A useful point: Esperanto uses ĉeesti as a single verb, where English often uses a verb plus a preposition, such as be present at.

Why isn’t there a separate word for at after ĉeestas?