Mia patro kuiras viandon kun cepoj, dum mia patrino preparas terpomojn.

My father cooks meat with onions, while my mother prepares potatoes.

Breakdown of Mia patro kuiras viandon kun cepoj, dum mia patrino preparas terpomojn.

• kun: with
• mia: my
• kuiri: to cook
• patro: the father

Questions & Answers about Mia patro kuiras viandon kun cepoj, dum mia patrino preparas terpomojn.

Why is it mia patro and not mio patro?

Because mia is a possessive adjective, and adjectives in Esperanto end in -a.

• mia = my
• patro = father

So mia patro means my father.

Mio is not used this way. A native English speaker may expect something like my versus mine, and Esperanto does make a similar distinction:

• mia patro = my father
• la patro estas mia = the father is mine

So before a noun, you use mia, not mio.

Why are the words patro and patrino different?

Esperanto often builds related words very regularly.

• patro = father
• patrino = mother

The key part is the suffix -in-, which marks the female form.

So:

• patro = father
• patrino = mother
• frato = brother
• fratino = sister

This is a very common pattern in Esperanto vocabulary.

Why does viandon end in -n?