Breakdown of Mia onklino ĉiam kunportas kukon, kiam ŝi venas al nia hejmo.
al
to
kiam
when
veni
to come
mia
my
Questions & Answers about Mia onklino ĉiam kunportas kukon, kiam ŝi venas al nia hejmo.
Why is it mia onklino and not something else for my aunt?
Mia means my. In Esperanto, possessive words like mia, via, lia, ŝia, nia, ilia behave like adjectives, so they end in -a.
So:
- mia onklino = my aunt
- nia hejmo = our home
Because they are adjective-like words, they can also change form if needed, just like adjectives do.
Why is onklino the word for aunt?
Esperanto often builds related words from one root.
- onklo = uncle
- onklino = aunt
The part -in- is the feminine suffix. It makes a female version of a person or animal word.
Examples:
- patro = father
- patrino = mother
- frato = brother
- fratino = sister
So onklino is literally something like female uncle, which is how Esperanto forms aunt.
What does ĉiam mean, and where does it go in the sentence?
Ĉiam means always.
It is an adverb, so it describes how often something happens. In this sentence, it modifies kunportas:
- Mia onklino ĉiam kunportas kukon = My aunt always brings a cake
Esperanto word order is fairly flexible, so ĉiam can sometimes move, but the position here is very natural and clear.