Mia avino trovis kandelojn en la ŝranko, kaj mia fratino prenis poŝlampon el sia sako.

-is is the Esperanto past-tense ending.

So:

• trovis = found
• prenis = took

In Esperanto, verb endings are very regular:

• -as = present
• -is = past
• -os = future

So both actions in the sentence happened in the past.

The ending -n marks the direct object in Esperanto.

A direct object is the thing directly affected by the verb:

• trovis kandelojn = found candles
• prenis poŝlampon = took a flashlight

Here, the grandmother found the candles, and the sister took the flashlight, so those nouns get -n.

This is called the accusative ending.

kandelojn can be broken down into parts:

• kandel- = candle
• -o = noun ending
• -j = plural
• -n = direct object

So kandelojn means candles as a direct object.

Likewise:

• poŝlampo = flashlight
• poŝlampon = flashlight as a direct object

This stacking of endings is very common in Esperanto.

Because the sentence says the grandmother found candles but the sister took a flashlight.

In Esperanto:

• -j marks plural
• no -j means singular

So:

• kandeloj = candles
• poŝlampo = flashlight

Then -n is added because both are direct objects:

• kandelojn
• poŝlampon

Because en and el mean different things:

• en = in / inside
• el = out of / from inside

So:

• en la ŝranko = in the cupboard/closet/cabinet
• el sia sako = out of her own bag

The first phrase tells you where the candles were found. The second tells you where the flashlight was taken from.

Because they are objects of prepositions:

• en la ŝranko
• el sia sako

After prepositions, nouns normally do not take -n just for being after the preposition.

Also, en la ŝranko describes a location, not motion into something.

Compare:

• en la ŝranko = in the cupboard
• en la ŝrankon = into the cupboard

In your sentence, the candles were already in the cupboard, so ŝranko stays without -n.

Esperanto uses la as the definite article, meaning the.

So la ŝranko means the cupboard / the closet / the cabinet.

There is no article before:

• mia avino
• mia fratino

because possessives like mia already make the noun definite, just like English my grandmother, not the my grandmother.

There is also no la before kandelojn or poŝlampon, which makes them more like candles and a flashlight rather than the candles and the flashlight.

This is one of the most important grammar points in the sentence.

sia is the reflexive possessive, used when the thing belongs to the subject of the same clause.

In the second clause:

• mia fratino prenis poŝlampon el sia sako

the subject is mia fratino, so sia sako means her own bag.

If you said ŝia sako, it would mean her bag, but her would refer to some other female person, not the subject herself.

So:

• sia sako = her own bag
• ŝia sako = another woman’s/girl’s bag

It refers only to the subject of its own clause.

Your sentence has two coordinated clauses:

1. Mia avino trovis kandelojn en la ŝranko
2. kaj mia fratino prenis poŝlampon el sia sako

In the second clause, the subject is mia fratino, so sia refers to mia fratino, not mia avino.

That is why sia sako means the sister’s own bag.

poŝlampo is a compound word.

It is made from:

• poŝo = pocket
• lampo = lamp

So literally it is something like pocket-lamp, which is the normal Esperanto word for flashlight or torch.

Compound words are very common in Esperanto, and they usually work just like English compounds.

A few useful pronunciation points:

• ŝ is pronounced like English sh
• so ŝranko sounds roughly like SHRAN-ko

In Esperanto, the stress is almost always on the second-to-last syllable.

Examples from the sentence:

• MI-a
• a-VI-no
• TRO-vis
• kan-DE-lojn
• ŜRAN-ko
• fra-TI-no
• pre-NIS
• poŝ-LAM-pon
• SI-a
• SA-ko

That regular stress pattern makes Esperanto pronunciation much easier than English.

Yes, Esperanto word order is fairly flexible because endings show the grammar.

The normal order here is straightforward:

• subject + verb + object

So:

• Mia avino trovis kandelojn...
• mia fratino prenis poŝlampon...

Because -n marks the object, Esperanto can sometimes move words around for emphasis. But for learners, the standard order used here is the clearest and most natural.

ŝranko is a general word for a storage piece of furniture or enclosed storage space, depending on context.

It can often be translated as:

• cupboard
• cabinet
• sometimes closet

The best English word depends on the situation. In this sentence, cupboard or cabinet is probably the most natural choice if candles were stored there.