Sekvu min preter la banko ĝis la placo.

Because -u is the Esperanto verb ending for a command, request, or instruction.

• sekvi = to follow
• sekvu = follow!

So Sekvu min means Follow me.

This -u form works for both singular and plural:

• Sekvu min = Follow me. / Follow me, all of you.

It can sound like a direct command, but depending on context it can also feel like a polite instruction.

Because min is the direct object form of mi.

• mi = I
• min = me

In Esperanto, the direct object usually gets -n. Since the person being followed is me, Esperanto says min:

• Sekvu min = Follow me

Compare:

• Mi sekvas vin = I follow you
• Vi sekvas min = You follow me

So the -n shows who receives the action.

Preter means past, by, or beyond in the sense of moving past something.

So:

• preter la banko = past the bank

It suggests that you go alongside it and continue beyond it, not into it or toward it.

Useful comparisons:

• apud la banko = beside the bank
• al la banko = to the bank
• tra la banko = through the bank
• preter la banko = past the bank

In this sentence, it gives the route: follow me past the bank.

Ĝis means until, up to, or as far as. It marks the end point.

So:

• ĝis la placo = as far as the square / until the square

By contrast:

• al la placo = to the square

Both can sometimes be translated naturally as to the square, but they are not exactly the same in feeling:

• al focuses on the destination
• ĝis emphasizes the limit or endpoint of the movement

In directions, ĝis often sounds very natural when you mean keep going until you reach that place.

Because they come after prepositions that already show their role in the sentence.

• preter la banko
• ĝis la placo

Here, preter and ĝis already tell you how those nouns relate to the action, so no extra -n is needed.

English speakers often learn that Esperanto can use -n for direction, but that usually happens after prepositions that are otherwise about location:

• en la domo = in the house
• en la domon = into the house

But with prepositions like preter and ĝis, the idea of movement or endpoint is already built in, so:

• preter la banko is normal
• ĝis la placo is normal

Because la is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• la banko = the bank
• la placo = the square

In a directions sentence, this usually means the speaker has a specific bank and a specific square in mind, and the listener can identify them from context.

Esperanto has:

• la = the
• no separate word for a/an

So:

• banko can mean a bank or just bank in a general sense
• la banko means the bank

Usually, yes. Banko normally means a bank in the money/finance sense.

If you mean the side of a river, Esperanto usually uses words like:

• riverbordo = riverbank
• bordo de rivero = bank of a river

So in preter la banko, most learners should understand the bank as the financial building, unless the context clearly says otherwise.

Ĝis is pronounced roughly like jees, but with the j sound of English judge at the beginning.

More exactly:

• ĝ = English j sound
• i = ee
• s = s

So:

• ĝis ≈ jees

A rough pronunciation of the whole sentence is:

SEK-voo meen PREH-ter lah BAHN-koh jees lah PLAHT-so

A few helpful letter notes:

• j in Esperanto sounds like English y
• ĝ sounds like English j
• c sounds like ts

So placo is PLAHT-so, not PLAY-ko.

Yes, Esperanto word order is fairly flexible, but this version is a very natural one.

• Sekvu min preter la banko ĝis la placo.

This puts the pieces in a clear order:

1. the command: Sekvu
2. the object: min
3. the route: preter la banko
4. the endpoint: ĝis la placo

You could rearrange parts for emphasis, but the original is probably the best choice for a learner and for everyday directions. Esperanto allows flexibility, but standard, straightforward word order is usually easiest and most natural.