Mi ne volis plendi, ĉar mi jam estis promesinta mian helpon.

I did not want to complain, because I had already promised my help.

Breakdown of Mi ne volis plendi, ĉar mi jam estis promesinta mian helpon.

• mi: I
• esti: to be
• voli: to want
• ĉar: because

Questions & Answers about Mi ne volis plendi, ĉar mi jam estis promesinta mian helpon.

Why is plendi in the infinitive instead of a past form like plendis?

Because volis is the only finite verb in that part of the sentence. After voli (to want), Esperanto normally uses an infinitive:

• Mi volis plendi = I wanted to complain

So plendi works like English to complain after wanted.

If you said Mi ne volis plendis, that would be ungrammatical.

Why is ne placed before volis?

In Esperanto, ne usually goes directly before the word or part of the sentence it negates.

So:

• Mi ne volis plendi = I did not want to complain

Here, ne negates volis. The idea is not that the speaker complained in some different way, but that they didn't want to complain.

What does ĉar mean here?

Ĉar means because.

So the sentence is divided into two parts:

• Mi ne volis plendi = I did not want to complain
• ĉar mi jam estis promesinta mian helpon = because I had already promised my help

It introduces the reason for the first clause.