Ŝi sentas sin trankvila.

to feel

Breakdown of Ŝi sentas sin trankvila.

• trankvila: calm
• ŝi: she
• sin: himself

Questions & Answers about Ŝi sentas sin trankvila.

Why do we need sin here at all?

In Esperanto, senti sin + adjective is the normal pattern for saying that someone feels a certain way.

So Ŝi sentas sin trankvila is literally something like She feels herself calm. English usually leaves out herself, but Esperanto normally keeps the reflexive pronoun in this structure.

Why is it sin instead of ŝin?

Because the object refers back to the subject.

• ŝi = she
• ŝin = her
• sin = herself, himself, itself, themselves, when it refers back to the subject

Since the subject is Ŝi, Esperanto uses the reflexive form sin rather than ŝin.

Why is it sin, not si?

Because sin is the direct-object form.

Here, sentas takes a direct object, so Esperanto uses sin with -n.

You would use si after a preposition, for example:

• pri si = about herself / himself
• al si = to herself / himself

Why is trankvila an adjective and not ?