Questions & Answers about Subite fulmo ekbrilis super la maro.
Why does the sentence start with Subite?
Subite means suddenly. It is an adverb, so it describes how the event happened.
Esperanto word order is fairly flexible, and adverbs are often placed early in the sentence for emphasis. Starting with Subite gives the sentence a dramatic feeling:
Subite fulmo ekbrilis super la maro.
= Suddenly, lightning flashed over the sea.
You could also place it elsewhere, but the original order sounds natural.
What is fulmo exactly? Why isn’t it fulmas or fulmis?
Fulmo is a noun meaning lightning or a flash of lightning.
The -o ending marks it as a noun. So here, fulmo is the thing doing the action.
- fulmo = lightning
- brilis = shone / flashed
So literally, the sentence is something like:
Suddenly a lightning flash began to shine over the sea.
In natural English, we usually just say lightning flashed.
Why is there no la before fulmo?