Kiam la filmo estas finita, mia patro malŝaltas la televidon.

Kiam means when. It introduces a time clause, just like English when in When the movie is finished, ...

So the sentence has two parts:

• Kiam la filmo estas finita = When the movie is finished
• mia patro malŝaltas la televidon = my father turns off the television

Esperanto often puts this kind of time clause first, but it could also come later.

The comma separates the introductory time clause from the main clause.

• Kiam la filmo estas finita, = subordinate clause
• mia patro malŝaltas la televidon. = main clause

This is very similar to English punctuation in a sentence like When the movie is finished, my father turns off the TV.

La is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• la filmo = the movie
• la televidon = the television

Esperanto has only one definite article: la. It does not change for gender, number, or case.

Unlike English, Esperanto has no separate word for a/an. If you want an indefinite noun, you usually just leave out la.

The ending -n marks the direct object in Esperanto.

In this sentence:

• mia patro is the subject: he does the action
• malŝaltas is the verb
• la televidon is the direct object: it receives the action

So televidon gets -n because it is the thing being turned off.

By contrast, la filmo is the subject of the clause la filmo estas finita, so it does not take -n.

Estas finita is made of:

• estas = is
• finita = finished

Together they mean is finished.

This is a very common Esperanto pattern: esti + participle/adjective.

Here finita comes from the verb fini = to finish, and finita means finished or completed.

So:

• la filmo estas finita = the movie is finished

This is not exactly the same as a simple action verb like finiĝas (ends / comes to an end), although in some situations the meaning is close.

The ending -a is the adjective ending in Esperanto.

Even though finita comes from a verb, here it is being used like an adjective:

• finita filmo = a finished movie
• la filmo estas finita = the movie is finished

In Esperanto, words used after esti are often adjectives, so they take -a.

Also, adjectives agree with the noun they describe. Since filmo is singular and has no -n, finita is also singular and has no -n.

Not exactly.

• estas finita literally means is finished
• English has finished is a perfect tense form

In Esperanto, la filmo estas finita describes the movie as being in a finished state.

A learner should not automatically think of estas finita as an English-style perfect tense. It is better to understand it as is finished or is completed.

Malŝaltas means turns off or switches off.

It is built from:

• ŝalti = to switch on / turn on
• mal- = a prefix meaning the opposite
• malŝalti = to switch off / turn off
• malŝaltas = turns off (present tense)

The prefix mal- is very common in Esperanto. It often creates an opposite meaning.

Examples:

• bona = good → malbona = bad
• fermi = close → malfermi = open
• ŝalti = switch on → malŝalti = switch off

The ending -as marks the present tense in Esperanto.

So:

• malŝaltas = turns off / is turning off
• estas = is

In a sentence like this, the present tense often expresses a general habit or regular action:

• When the movie is finished, my father turns off the TV.

It does not have to mean that it is happening right now at this exact moment. It can describe what usually happens.

In Esperanto, possessive words like mia (my) usually replace the article.

So you normally say:

• mia patro = my father

not

• la mia patro

Using both together is generally unnecessary in normal sentences.

The same pattern works with other possessives:

• via libro = your book
• ŝia domo = her house

Yes, Esperanto word order is fairly flexible, especially because the -n ending helps show what is the object.

For example, these are still understandable:

• Mia patro malŝaltas la televidon, kiam la filmo estas finita.
• La televidon mia patro malŝaltas, kiam la filmo estas finita.

However, the original word order is the most natural and straightforward for a learner:

• time clause first
• then main clause

So while Esperanto allows flexibility, the usual advice is to keep the clearest order unless you have a reason to emphasize something.

Yes, context matters.

Televido can refer to:

• television as a system or medium
• a television set / TV

In this sentence, because it is something being turned off, la televidon is naturally understood as the TV set.

So the context makes the meaning clear.

Yes. A native English speaker might wonder whether other versions are possible. For example:

• Kiam la filmo finiĝas, mia patro malŝaltas la televidon.

This means something like When the movie ends, my father turns off the TV.

The original sentence with estas finita emphasizes the state of being finished. The version with finiĝas emphasizes the event of ending. In many everyday contexts, both can work, but they are not built in exactly the same way.