Learn Hardcore Esperanto: En la restoracio, mi trinkas akvon kaj aĉetas bongustan deserton. - In the restaurant, I drink water and buy a tasty dessert.

In Esperanto, en means "in" or "inside." It is used to indicate location, just as in English. Here, en la restoracio tells us that the actions take place inside the restaurant.

What do the word endings -o, -as, -n, and -a indicate in this sentence?

Esperanto uses very regular endings:
• -o marks a noun (e.g., restoracio for "restaurant" and deserto for "dessert").
• -as marks the present tense of a verb (e.g., trinkas for "drink" and aĉetas for "buy").
• -n indicates the accusative case, used for direct objects (e.g., akvon and deserton).
• -a marks adjectives, which must agree in case with the noun they describe.

Why does the adjective bongustan end with -an instead of just -a?

When an adjective modifies a noun that is in the accusative case, it also takes the accusative ending. Since deserto becomes deserton in the accusative, the adjective bongusta becomes bongustan to agree with it.

How is the sentence structured in terms of word order and coordination?

The sentence follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order, similar to English. It begins with a prepositional phrase (en la restoracio) that sets the location, followed by the subject (mi). Then, two verb phrases are coordinated with kaj ("and"): trinkas akvon (“drink water”) and aĉetas bongustan deserton (“buy a delicious dessert”).

Why does the subject mi not change when it is connected to two different verbs?

In Esperanto, personal pronouns like mi remain the same regardless of how many actions are listed. The subject mi is understood to perform both actions—drinking and buying—without requiring repetition or alteration in its form.