Li poste konfesis, ke mi ne eraris pri la horo de la kunveno.

Breakdown of Li poste konfesis, ke mi ne eraris pri la horo de la kunveno.

mi
I
li
he
la
the
pri
about
de
of
ne
not
ke
that
poste
later
kunveno
the meeting
erari
to be mistaken
konfesi
to admit
horo
the time

Questions & Answers about Li poste konfesis, ke mi ne eraris pri la horo de la kunveno.

What is the basic structure of this sentence?

It has two parts:

  • Li poste konfesis = the main clause
  • ke mi ne eraris pri la horo de la kunveno = a subordinate clause introduced by ke

So the pattern is:

[main statement] + ke + [what was admitted/confessed]

This works a lot like English that-clauses.

What does poste mean here?

Poste means later, afterward, or later on.

So Li poste konfesis means that the confession/admission happened after some earlier event or discussion.

Esperanto word order is fairly flexible, so you could also see:

  • Li konfesis poste...

But Li poste konfesis... is very natural.

What does konfesis mean exactly? Is it really confessed?

It comes from konfesi, which can mean to confess, but in many everyday contexts it is closer to to admit.

So here it does not have to sound dramatic or religious. It can simply mean:

  • he later admitted
  • he later acknowledged

That is often the most natural English sense.

What does ke do, and why is there a comma before it?

Ke means that and introduces a subordinate clause.

So:

  • Li poste konfesis, ke... = He later admitted that...

The comma before ke is very common in Esperanto when introducing this kind of clause. Esperanto punctuation is somewhat flexible, but many writers use the comma here because it clearly separates the main clause from the subordinate clause.

Why is eraris in the past tense?

Eraris is the past tense of erari.

It is past because the sentence is talking about a past situation: at that earlier time, the speaker was not mistaken about the meeting time.

A useful point: in Esperanto, you normally choose the tense based on the meaning you want, not because of an automatic English-style tense shift. So:

  • ne eraris = was not mistaken
  • ne eraras = am not mistaken

Here ne eraris fits the past situation.

What does erari mean? Why say ne eraris?

Erari means to make a mistake, to be wrong, or to be mistaken.

So mi ne eraris means:

  • I was not mistaken
  • I wasn’t wrong

This is a very normal Esperanto way to express the idea.

Why use ne eraris instead of pravis?

You could also say:

  • Li poste konfesis, ke mi pravis pri la horo de la kunveno.

That would mean He later admitted that I was right about the meeting time.

The difference is mostly one of emphasis:

  • mi ne eraris = I was not mistaken
  • mi pravis = I was right

These are close in meaning, but not always identical in tone. Ne eraris focuses on the absence of error; pravis focuses more directly on correctness.

Why is it eraris pri something?

Because erari pri io is a standard Esperanto pattern meaning to be mistaken about something.

So:

  • erari pri la horo = to be mistaken about the time
  • erari pri la adreso = to be mistaken about the address

The preposition pri often means about or concerning, and that is exactly the idea here.

Why is it horo and not tempo?

Horo usually refers to a specific hour or clock time.

Tempo is broader and means time in a more general sense.

So if the issue is the scheduled time of the meeting, la horo de la kunveno is the natural choice.

Compare:

  • la horo de la kunveno = the meeting’s time / the hour of the meeting
  • la tempo de la kunveno = the time period of the meeting, or a more general notion of its timing
What does de la kunveno mean exactly?

De la kunveno means of the meeting.

So la horo de la kunveno is literally the hour/time of the meeting, meaning the meeting’s scheduled time.

It does not mean at the meeting.

If you wanted at the meeting, you would use something like:

  • ĉe la kunveno = at the meeting
  • dum la kunveno = during the meeting
Why are there definite articles in la horo and la kunveno?

Because both things are understood as specific:

  • la kunveno = the specific meeting being discussed
  • la horo = the specific time of that meeting

Esperanto uses la when the noun is definite, much like English the.

Why is there no accusative -n on horo?

Because horo comes after the preposition pri:

  • pri la horo

After a preposition, nouns normally do not take -n.

So:

  • pri la horo = about the time
  • not pri la horon

Likewise, de la kunveno also has no -n, because de is a preposition too.

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