La pordo estas fermita.

to be

Breakdown of La pordo estas fermita.

• pordo: the door
• fermita: closed

Questions & Answers about La pordo estas fermita.

Why is there la at the beginning?

La is the definite article in Esperanto, meaning the. It does not change for gender, number, or case in normal use. So la pordo means the door.

Why does pordo end in -o?

In Esperanto, all nouns end in -o. So pordo is a noun meaning door.

This is one of the most basic and helpful patterns in the language:

• -o = noun
• -a = adjective
• -e = adverb
• -i = infinitive verb

So seeing pord-o immediately tells you it is a noun.

What does estas mean here?

Estas is the present-tense form of esti, which means to be.

So:

• mi estas = I am
• vi estas = you are
• li/ŝi estas = he/she is
• la pordo estas = the door is

Esperanto verbs do not change according to the subject. Estas stays estas no matter who or what the subject is.