Mi matenmanĝas je la sepa, sed mia fratino matenmanĝas je la oka.

I have breakfast at seven, but my sister has breakfast at eight.

Breakdown of Mi matenmanĝas je la sepa, sed mia fratino matenmanĝas je la oka.

• mi: I
• la: the
• sed: but
• mia: my

Questions & Answers about Mi matenmanĝas je la sepa, sed mia fratino matenmanĝas je la oka.

Why is matenmanĝas one word, and what are its parts?

It is a compound verb:

• maten- = morning
• manĝ- = eat
• -as = present tense

So matenmanĝas literally means something like morning-eats, and idiomatically it means eats breakfast or has breakfast.

A related noun is matenmanĝo = breakfast.

Why is matenmanĝas in the present tense?

In Esperanto, the present tense often describes a habitual action, just like in English:

• Mi matenmanĝas je la sepa = I eat breakfast at seven / I have breakfast at seven

So this sentence is most naturally understood as a routine, not necessarily something happening right this second.

Why do both clauses use matenmanĝas instead of leaving the second one out?

Repeating the verb makes the sentence very clear and balanced:

• Mi matenmanĝas je la sepa, sed mia fratino matenmanĝas je la oka.

You can often omit the second verb if it is obvious:

• Mi matenmanĝas je la sepa, sed mia fratino je la oka.

That is still understandable. The full version is just a bit more explicit.

What does je mean here?