Breakdown of La urbo estas bela, do mi volas promeni tra la malnovaj stratoj vespere.
Questions & Answers about La urbo estas bela, do mi volas promeni tra la malnovaj stratoj vespere.
In Esperanto you normally use la (the) when you are talking about a specific, known thing.
- La urbo = the city (the one we both know about: where we are now, or already mentioned)
- Urbo (without la) = a city / some city in general, not a particular one
Here the speaker is clearly talking about the city they are in or a specific city, so la urbo is appropriate. Without la, it would sound like a more generic statement about cities, not about this one.
Do is a conjunction that means so, therefore, then (in the logical sense). It links a reason with a consequence.
In the sentence:
- La urbo estas bela, do mi volas promeni…
= The city is beautiful, so I want to take a walk…
You use do like:
- Mi estas laca, do mi iros hejmen.
= I am tired, so I will go home.
It is mostly logical or explanatory, not time-related. For time-related then, Esperanto normally uses tiam.
In Esperanto you must include the verb esti (to be) in present tense: estas.
- La urbo estas bela = The city is beautiful.
A structure like La urbo bela (without estas) is not standard Esperanto; it sounds incomplete or poetic, and beginners should avoid that.
So the normal pattern is:
[subject] + estas + [adjective/noun complement]
Both are possible, with slightly different focus:
La urbo estas bela.
Focus: a statement about the city’s quality: The city is beautiful.La urbo estas bela urbo.
More literally: The city is a beautiful city.
This sounds a bit redundant in both Esperanto and English, and is less common.
So bela alone is the most natural way to say is beautiful.
- Promeni = to stroll, to take a walk, to walk around for pleasure or leisure.
- Marŝi = to walk (as a movement, more neutral or purposeful), to march.
In the sentence, the idea is enjoying a walk through the old streets because the city is beautiful, so promeni (a leisurely walk) is the best choice.
If you say:
- Mi volas marŝi tra la urbo.
that can sound more like I want to walk (move by foot) through the city, not necessarily for enjoyment.
Both tra and en are possible, but they have different nuances:
tra = through, across, from one part to another, usually implying movement within and across the area.
- promeni tra la malnovaj stratoj = strolling through the old streets, moving around inside that area.
en = in, inside.
- promeni en la malnovaj stratoj = walking in the old streets (location inside them), a bit less focused on the idea of passing through from one place to another.
In this context, tra nicely emphasizes moving through various streets, like exploring them.
The plural form stratoj (streets) is used because the speaker is thinking about the old part of the city with many streets, not just one street.
- la malnova strato = the old street (a particular single street)
- la malnovaj stratoj = the old streets (the network/area of old streets)
Both are grammatically correct; it’s just a difference in meaning. The original sentence imagines wandering through the old district, not along a single street.
Adjectives in Esperanto agree in number with the noun:
Singular noun: -o → adjective: -a
- malnova strato = old street
Plural noun: -oj → adjective: -aj
- malnovaj stratoj = old streets
Here, stratoj is plural (-oj), so malnovaj must also be plural (-aj).
The root is nova = new.
mal- is a very productive prefix meaning opposite of. So:
- nova = new
- malnova = old (literally: not-new, the opposite of new)
Then we add plural agreement:
- malnova strato = old street
- malnovaj stratoj = old streets
This mal- pattern is very common in Esperanto:
- bona / malbona (good / bad)
- alta / malalta (tall / short)
Esperanto often uses adverbs to express time in a general way:
- vespero = evening (the noun)
- vespere = in the evening, in the evenings (adverbial: at evening time)
In this sentence:
- …vespere. = …in the evening.
Both of these are grammatical:
- Mi volas promeni vespere.
- Mi volas promeni en la vespero.
But vespere is shorter and more idiomatic when you mean in the evening (as a time in general). En la vespero sounds a bit more like one specific evening, or a slightly more formal/explicit way to say it.
Esperanto word order is quite flexible. All of these are correct, with only slight differences in emphasis:
- La urbo estas bela, do mi volas promeni tra la malnovaj stratoj vespere.
- La urbo estas bela, do mi volas vespere promeni tra la malnovaj stratoj.
- La urbo estas bela, do vespere mi volas promeni tra la malnovaj stratoj.
Placing vespere at the end is very natural and neutral. Putting it earlier can give it more emphasis: As for the evening, that’s when I want to walk…
Yes, but they are not identical in tone:
Mi volas promeni.
= I want to walk. (direct, factual desire)Mi ŝatus promeni.
= I would like to walk. (more polite, softer, more like a wish)Mi deziras promeni.
= I desire to walk. (more formal or strong; in everyday speech deziri is less common for simple, casual wants)
In normal conversation, voli is the default verb for to want.
Both are correct.
Mi volas promeni.
= I want to walk / take a walk.
Focus: you want the activity itself.Mi volas iri promeni.
Literally: I want to go (and) walk.
This can emphasize the idea of going out for a walk (the going out part + the walk).
The difference is small; in many contexts they will feel almost the same.
The comma is normal and recommended:
- La urbo estas bela, do mi volas…
It separates the two clauses and makes the sentence easier to read, just like in English before so. Technically, you might see it omitted in very simple or short sentences, but standard writing uses the comma before conjunctions that join full clauses, including do.