Ili amas la belan hundon.

beautiful

Breakdown of Ili amas la belan hundon.

• la: the
• ili: they
• ami: to love

Questions & Answers about Ili amas la belan hundon.

Why does belan have an -n at the end as well as hundon?

In Esperanto, adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in both number and case. Because hundon is in the accusative (direct object) case, belan also needs the -n ending.

Why do we add an -n to hundon in the first place?

Esperanto uses the -n ending to indicate the direct object of a verb. Since hundon is what ili (they) love, it must take the accusative -n.

In English, I don't change the form of the word "dog." Why does Esperanto need this?

Esperanto is designed to have clear roles for each part of the sentence. The -n suffix consistently shows who or what is receiving the action of the verb, which helps avoid ambiguity and makes word order more flexible.

Why is it la belan hundon? Can I leave out la?

La is the definite article in Esperanto, similar to "the" in English. If you leave it out, you would just be saying "Ili amas belan hundon," which implies "They love a beautiful dog," rather than "the beautiful dog." Esperanto has no indefinite article like "a," so you either use la or omit it, depending on whether you need the definite sense.

Do I ever change the ending of amas to match the subject or object?

No. In Esperanto, verbs do not change based on number or person. Amas is the present-tense form regardless of whether the subject is mi (I), vi (you), or ili (they). The accusative marking on the object (belan hundon) is what matters here, not any change to the verb.