La lifto ne funkcias, do mi iras al ĉambro numero dek du per la ŝtuparo.

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Breakdown of La lifto ne funkcias, do mi iras al ĉambro numero dek du per la ŝtuparo.

• la: the
• al: to
• ne: not

Questions & Answers about La lifto ne funkcias, do mi iras al ĉambro numero dek du per la ŝtuparo.

Why is the word lifto used here? Is Esperanto really using the English word lift?

Yes—Esperanto often borrows international words, and lifto is a normal word for elevator/lift.

A few useful points:

• lifto is common and easy to recognize.
• Some speakers also use elevilo.
• Esperanto vocabulary comes from several European sources, so sometimes a word may look more British, more Romance, or more generally international.

So lifto is not strange Esperanto; it is a standard noun.

What do the endings -o and -as tell me in this sentence?

They show the basic part of speech.

• -o = noun
  So lifto, ĉambro, numero, and ŝtuparo are nouns.
• -as = present tense verb
  So funkcias means works / is working, and iras means go / am going.

This is one of the most helpful things in Esperanto: the endings make grammar very predictable.

Why is ne placed before funkcias?

In Esperanto, ne normally goes right before the word or phrase it negates.

So:

• la lifto ne funkcias = the elevator does not work

That is the normal position. You will very often see:

• mi ne iras = I am not going
• li ne venas = he is not coming

So ne funkcias is exactly what you should expect.