La sendota pako estas sur la tablo.

Sendota means something like to be sent, going to be sent, or intended for sending.

In this sentence, la sendota pako is the package that is to be sent. It describes the package by saying its sending is still in the future.

It does not mean that the package is sending something. It is passive: the package will receive the action of sending.

It is made from three parts:

• send- = the root meaning send
• -ot- = the future passive participle
• -a = the adjective ending

So:

• sendota = to-be-sent / which will be sent

Esperanto participles are very regular, so once you know the pattern, you can recognize many words like this.

Because it is being used as an adjective.

In Esperanto, adjectives end in -a and describe nouns. Here, sendota describes pako.

So:

• sendota pako = a package that is to be sent

Also, adjectives agree with the noun they describe. Since pako is singular and not accusative, sendota is also singular and has no -n.

These are three different passive participles:

• sendota = to be sent / going to be sent
  future passive
• sendata = being sent
  present passive
• sendita = sent / having been sent
  past passive

So the time relation changes:

• la sendota pako = the package that will be sent
• la sendata pako = the package that is being sent
• la sendita pako = the package that has already been sent

Because pako is the subject of the sentence, not the direct object.

In La sendota pako estas sur la tablo, the package is the thing being talked about. It is what is on the table.

The accusative -n is usually used for a direct object, as in:

• Mi sendas la pakon. = I send the package.

But here, nobody is sending anything in the sentence itself. It is just describing where the package is.

Because this sentence describes location, not movement.

• sur la tablo = on the table
  the package is already there
• sur la tablon = onto the table
  something moves to that place

This is a very common Esperanto pattern:

• Mi metas la pakon sur la tablon. = I put the package onto the table.
• La pako estas sur la tablo. = The package is on the table.

So no -n is used after sur when the meaning is simple position.

Because both nouns are being treated as specific.

• la sendota pako = a particular package, the one that is to be sent
• la tablo = a particular table, the one being referred to in the situation

Esperanto uses la as its only definite article, roughly like English the.

Whether English would use the in exactly the same way sometimes depends on context, but in Esperanto this is very normal.

Yes, that is possible, but la sendota pako is more neutral and usual.

In Esperanto, adjectives can come before or after the noun:

• la sendota pako
• la pako sendota

Both are grammatical. The version before the noun is generally more standard and straightforward. Putting the adjective after the noun can sound more emphatic, literary, or stylistically marked, depending on context.

So for everyday learning, la sendota pako is the safest choice.

No. They are related, but they mean different things.

• sendota = to be sent / scheduled or intended to be sent
• sendebla = sendable / able to be sent

So:

• sendota pako = a package that will be sent
• sendebla pako = a package that can be sent

A package might be sendebla but not yet sendota. For example, it may be suitable for mailing, but no one has decided to send it yet.

Yes.

Instead of la sendota pako, you could say:

• la pako, kiu estas sendota
• la pako, kiu estos sendita

Depending on the exact nuance, those can be close in meaning.

Esperanto often uses participles like sendota to make expressions shorter and more compact. This is one reason participles are so useful: they let you turn a whole clause like which is to be sent into one adjective.

The grammar focus is different.

• La sendota pako estas sur la tablo
  Here, sendota describes which package we mean. Then the sentence tells us where it is.
• La pako estas sendota
  Here, sendota is part of the predicate. The sentence tells us something about the package: it is to be sent.

So the first means roughly:

• The package that is to be sent is on the table.

The second means roughly:

• The package is to be sent.

That is an important difference in sentence structure.

It is completely normal Esperanto, though learners often find participles difficult at first.

Esperanto uses participles very productively, and forms like sendota, farota, vidita, legata, and so on are standard. Native English speakers sometimes need time to get used to them because English often prefers a longer phrase, such as:

• the package that is to be sent
• the book being read
• the letter already written

In Esperanto, one participle can often express all of that neatly.