Word
Antaŭ la kunveno la presilo ne funkcias, do mi ne povas presi la raporton.
Meaning
Before the meeting the printer does not work, so I cannot print the report.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Antaŭ la kunveno la presilo ne funkcias, do mi ne povas presi la raporton.
mi
I
la
the
povi
can
ne
not
Questions & Answers about Antaŭ la kunveno la presilo ne funkcias, do mi ne povas presi la raporton.
Why is it antaŭ la kunveno and not antaŭe la kunveno?
Antaŭ is a preposition, so it can directly introduce a noun phrase: antaŭ la kunveno = before the meeting.
Antaŭe is an adverb, meaning beforehand / earlier / previously, and it would not normally take a noun directly. So:
- antaŭ la kunveno = before the meeting
- antaŭe = beforehand, earlier
In this sentence, the speaker is referring to a specific time in relation to the meeting, so the preposition antaŭ is the right choice.
Why does kunveno have la before it?
La is the definite article, meaning the. Esperanto has only one article, and it does not change for gender, number, or case.
So la kunveno means the meeting, not just a meeting. It suggests that the speaker and listener already know which meeting is being discussed.
Esperanto has no indefinite article like English a/an, so:
- kunveno = meeting / a meeting
- la kunveno = the meeting
How is presilo formed?