Se la tablo estas tro proksime al la muro, ni devas ŝovi ĝin iom maldekstren.

Se means if. It introduces a condition:

• Se la tablo estas tro proksime al la muro... = If the table is too close to the wall...

This is the normal Esperanto word for if in conditional statements.

La means the.

So:

• la tablo = the table
• la muro = the wall

You use la when you are talking about a specific thing, just like in English. You do not always need it, but here it makes sense because the sentence is talking about a particular table and a particular wall.

Both patterns are possible in Esperanto, but they work a little differently.

Here, proksime is an adverb, so estas tro proksime al la muro means:

• is too near / too close to the wall

You can also say:

• estas tro proksima al la muro

That version uses the adjective proksima and means essentially the same thing: is too close to the wall.

In this sentence, proksime al is a very natural and common way to express location relative to something.

Al means to, but after words like proksime it often corresponds to English to or to/from/near in fixed expressions.

• proksime al la muro = close to the wall
• literally: near to the wall

So proksime al is the normal pattern for saying something is near something else.

This is a very common question.

• tre = very
• tro = too, excessively

So:

• tre proksime = very close
• tro proksime = too close

In this sentence, the meaning is that the table is closer than it should be, so tro is correct.

Yes. Ni devas means:

• we must
• we have to
• we need to

The verb devi means to have to / must.

So:

• ni devas ŝovi ĝin = we must move/push it

Depending on context, English could translate it in different natural ways, but the Esperanto grammar is straightforward.

Ŝovi means to push, to shove, or to slide something along.

That fits a table well, because you usually move a table by pushing or sliding it.

Movi is more general:

• movi = to move
• ŝovi = to push/slide

So ŝovi ĝin iom maldekstren suggests physically shifting the table to the left, probably along the floor.

Because ĝin is the accusative form, used for a direct object.

• ĝi = it
• ĝin = it as the object of the verb

Here, the table is the thing being pushed:

• ni devas ŝovi ĝin = we must push/move it

So ĝin refers back to la tablo.

Yes. In Esperanto, ĝi is the normal pronoun for a thing or non-person:

• la tablo ... ĝin = the table ... it

Unlike English, Esperanto does not have a separate pronoun like he/she/it based on grammatical gender for ordinary nouns. A table is just referred to with ĝi or ĝin.

Iom means a little, somewhat, or to some extent.

So:

• iom maldekstren = a little to the left

It softens the movement. The idea is not to move the table far, just a bit.

This is about the -n ending used for direction.

• maldekstre = on the left / leftward as a position
• maldekstren = to the left as a direction of movement

Because the table is being moved in a direction, Esperanto uses -n:

• ŝovi ĝin maldekstren = move it to the left

This is often called the directional accusative.

It is made from smaller parts:

• dekstra = right
• mal- = opposite
• maldekstra = left
• maldekstre = on the left / leftward
• maldekstren = to the left

So the word shows a very typical Esperanto pattern: using mal- to form the opposite.

Because the sentence begins with a subordinate clause introduced by Se:

• Se la tablo estas tro proksime al la muro, ...

Then comes the main clause:

• ni devas ŝovi ĝin iom maldekstren.

This punctuation is very similar to English:

• If the table is too close to the wall, we must move it a little to the left.

Esperanto word order is fairly flexible, but this sentence uses the most neutral and natural order.

Standard order here is:

• Se
  • condition
• la tablo = subject
• estas = verb
• tro proksime al la muro = complement
• ni devas ŝovi ĝin iom maldekstren = main clause

You could rearrange some parts for emphasis, but the given sentence is the clearest and most ordinary version for a learner.

These two letters are important:

• ŝ sounds like English sh in ship
• ĝ sounds like the j in judge

So:

• ŝovi sounds roughly like SHO-vee
• ĝin sounds roughly like jeen, but with the English j sound at the start

Also remember that Esperanto stress usually falls on the second-to-last syllable:

• TA-blo
• prok-SI-me
• MU-ro
• ŜO-vi
• mal-dek-STREN