La artikolon leginta studento sentas sin preta por la ekzameno.

Leginta is an active past participle. It means something like having read or who has read.

So:

• La artikolon leginta studento = the student who has read the article

Esperanto often uses participles to make compact noun phrases. A fuller version would be:

• La studento, kiu legis la artikolon, sentas sin preta por la ekzameno.

So leginta lets Esperanto say in one phrase what English often expresses with who has read.

The -n marks the direct object of leginta.

The student is the one doing the reading, and the article is what was read. So:

• legi ion = to read something
• artikolon = the article as the object

Even though leginta is a participle and not a finite verb, it still keeps its normal object:

• la libron leganta knabo = the boy reading the book
• la artikolon leginta studento = the student who has read the article

So the -n is there because the article is what was read.

Because leginta is describing studento, not acting as a direct object.

In the phrase:

• La artikolon leginta studento

the head noun is studento. The participle leginta is an adjective-like word modifying studento, so it agrees with it in number and case only if needed.

Here studento is singular and not accusative, so leginta is also singular and not accusative.

Compare:

• La artikolon leginta studento = singular
• La artikolon legintaj studentoj = plural
• Mi vidis la artikolon legintan studenton = accusative, because the whole noun phrase is the object

So leginta does not get -n because its noun phrase is not in the accusative here.

The ending -inta breaks down like this:

• leg- = read
• -int- = active past participle
• -a = adjective ending

The active past participle means the noun did the action earlier than the main situation being discussed.

So leginta studento means:

• a student who has read
• a student having read

In this sentence, the reading happened before the student feels ready:

1. the student read the article
2. now the student feels ready for the exam

That is why -inta fits well here.

Yes. A very natural expanded version is:

• La studento, kiu legis la artikolon, sentas sin preta por la ekzameno.

This means the same thing.

The difference is mostly style:

• kiu legis... is more explicit and may feel easier for learners
• artikolon leginta studento is more compact and elegant

Esperanto uses both patterns.

Because the student is feeling himself/herself to be ready. Esperanto usually uses a reflexive pronoun with this kind of meaning.

• senti sin preta = to feel ready
• literally: to feel oneself ready

Here sin refers back to the subject:

• la studento ... sentas sin preta

So sin means himself/herself/themself, depending on the subject.

This is very common in Esperanto:

• Mi sentas min laca. = I feel tired.
• Ŝi sentas sin feliĉa. = She feels happy.
• Ili sentas sin sekuraj. = They feel safe.

Because sin is the reflexive pronoun, used when the object refers back to the subject of the same clause.

In this sentence, the subject is:

• La ... studento

and the person being referred to after sentas is the same student. So Esperanto uses sin.

If you used lin or ŝin, it would mean someone else:

• La studento sentas lin preta would mean The student feels him ready, which is a different meaning and also not the normal way to express this idea.

So when the person who feels and the person felt to be ready are the same, use sin.

Because preta is a predicate adjective after sentas sin, not a direct object.

The accusative -n is on sin, because sin is the object of sentas:

• sentas sin

Then preta describes sin:

• sin preta = oneself ready

Predicate adjectives normally agree in number and case with what they describe only when grammar requires it. Here, in standard usage, preta usually remains without -n after senti sin.

So:

• La studento sentas sin preta. = correct

The key idea is that preta is describing the state, not functioning as the direct object itself.

Here por la ekzameno means for the exam, in the sense of ready for the exam.

• por often means for, for the purpose of, or with regard to suitability/preparation
• la ekzameno = the exam

So the phrase means the student feels prepared in relation to the exam.

It does not mean about the exam. If you wanted about/concerning, Esperanto would usually use a different expression such as pri.

The word order is a bit more compact than what English speakers may expect, but it is normal Esperanto.

• La artikolon leginta studento literally puts the descriptive phrase before the noun
• this is similar to saying the article-reading student, except the meaning is specifically the student who has read the article

Esperanto often allows modifier phrases before the noun. But you could also say:

• La studento, leginta la artikolon, sentas sin preta por la ekzameno.
• La studento, kiu legis la artikolon, sentas sin preta por la ekzameno.

All of these are understandable; the original version is simply a neat, condensed structure.

Not necessarily. La marks the noun phrase as definite: the student who has read the article.

That could mean:

• there is one relevant student in the context, or
• the speaker assumes the listener can identify which student is meant

It does not automatically mean only one student exists in the world or even in the room. It just means the student is definite in context.

Similarly, la artikolon means the article, referring to a specific article already known or identifiable.

Yes, depending on context.

In this sentence, leginta indicates an action completed before the main situation. English can render that in different ways:

• the student who has read the article
• the student who had read the article
• the student having read the article

The best English version depends on the broader context. Esperanto participles show relative time clearly, but English often chooses the most natural tense based on style and context.

Here, because the student now feels ready after reading, who has read is often the smoothest translation.