Kiam la kunveno finiĝos, ni trinkos teon en la kafejo.

Kiam means when. Here it introduces a time clause: Kiam la kunveno finiĝos = When the meeting ends / will end.

So the sentence has two parts:

• Kiam la kunveno finiĝos = the time-setting clause
• ni trinkos teon en la kafejo = the main clause

Esperanto uses kiam both for direct questions (Kiam vi venos?) and for subordinate clauses like this one.

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

• Kiam la kunveno finiĝos, ni trinkos teon en la kafejo.

This is very normal in Esperanto, especially when the kiam clause comes first.

If you reversed the order, you might write:

• Ni trinkos teon en la kafejo kiam la kunveno finiĝos.

In that version, the comma is often omitted.

This is a very common learner question.

• fini = to finish something
• finiĝi = to come to an end, to get finished, to end

So:

• Mi finos la libron. = I will finish the book.
• La kunveno finiĝos. = The meeting will end.

A meeting does not usually finish something; rather, it ends. That is why finiĝos is used here.

The suffix -iĝ- often means become, get, or come to be in a new state.

So:

• fini = finish
• finiĝi = become finished, come to an end

In this sentence:

• finiĝos = will end / will come to an end

This suffix is extremely useful in Esperanto. For example:

• malfermi = open something
• malfermiĝi = open, become open

Esperanto handles this differently from English.

English usually uses the present tense after when for future meaning:

• When the meeting ends, we will drink tea.

Esperanto often uses the tense that matches the real time of the action. Since the meeting is in the future, finiĝos is natural:

• Kiam la kunveno finiĝos, ni trinkos teon...

So both actions are future from the speaker’s point of view.

This is one of the places where Esperanto is more logically tense-based than English.

La is the definite article, meaning the.

• kunveno = a meeting / meeting
• la kunveno = the meeting

The sentence is talking about a specific meeting that both speaker and listener presumably know about, so la is used.

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

Kunveno means meeting.

It comes from the idea of coming together:

• kun = with, together
• veni = to come
• kunveno = a gathering, meeting

You do not need to analyze it every time you see it, but it can help you remember the word.

The ending -os marks the future tense in Esperanto.

So:

• trinkas = drink / am drinking / do drink
• trinkis = drank
• trinkos = will drink

Since the tea-drinking will happen after the meeting ends, the future tense is used.

The -n ending marks the direct object.

Here, teon is what we will drink:

• ni trinkos teon = we will drink tea

So:

• teo = tea
• teon = tea as the direct object

This is one of the most important features of Esperanto grammar.

Because in this sentence it is not the direct object. It is part of a prepositional phrase:

• en la kafejo = in the café

The preposition en already shows the relationship, so no -n is needed here for basic location.

Compare:

• Ni trinkos teon en la kafejo. = We will drink tea in the café.
  
  • location
• Ni iros en la kafejon. = We will go into the café.
  
  • direction toward a place, so -n can appear

So en la kafejo answers where?, not what?

The suffix -ej- means place for or place associated with something.

So:

• kaf- = coffee
• -ej- = place
• -o = noun

Thus kafejo is literally something like coffee-place, which in normal English is café or coffeehouse.

This suffix is very common:

• lernejo = school
• kuirejo = kitchen
• vendejo = shop/store

Because the sentence describes location, not movement toward a place.

• en la kafejo = in the café
• al la kafejo = to the café

Here the idea is that the tea-drinking happens there, so en is the correct choice.

If the sentence were about going there, then al would fit better:

• Kiam la kunveno finiĝos, ni iros al la kafejo.

Yes, Esperanto word order is fairly flexible, though some orders are more natural than others.

The original sentence is very normal:

• Kiam la kunveno finiĝos, ni trinkos teon en la kafejo.

You could also say:

• Ni trinkos teon en la kafejo kiam la kunveno finiĝos.

Because Esperanto marks grammar clearly with endings like -n, meaning is often still clear even if word order changes. But for ordinary style, learners should usually stick to straightforward patterns like the original.

Normally, yes, it is required.

Esperanto verbs do not change according to person:

• mi trinkos
• vi trinkos
• li trinkos
• ni trinkos

Because the verb form alone does not tell you who the subject is, the subject pronoun is usually stated unless it is already very clear from context.

So ni trinkos is the normal form.

A few key points:

• Stress in Esperanto is always on the second-to-last syllable.
• Each letter has a consistent sound.

Breakdown:

• Kiam → KI-am
• kunveno → kun-VE-no
• finiĝos → fi-NI-ĝos
• trinkos → TRIN-kos
• teon → often pronounced in three syllables, TE-o-n
• kafejo → ka-FE-jo

About special letters:

• ĝ sounds like the j in judge
• j sounds like y in yes

So kafejo sounds roughly like ka-FE-yo.

Not normally in this sentence.

• teo = tea, the substance/drink in general
• teoj = teas, kinds of tea or multiple servings in a more countable sense

So ni trinkos teon is the natural way to say we will drink tea.

If you wanted to emphasize different kinds of tea, you might use the plural in another context, for example:

• La vendejo vendas multajjn teojn. = The shop sells many teas.

But here singular teon is the expected form.

Yes. It is clear, grammatical, and idiomatic.

A learner can use it as a good model for several common patterns:

• Kiam ... , ... for time clauses
• future tense with -os
• intransitive finiĝi
• direct object -n
• location with en
• place words with -ej-

So it is a very useful example sentence.