Breakdown of Esperanto estas internacia lingvo.
esti
to be
Esperanto
Esperanto
lingvo
the language
internacia
international
Questions & Answers about Esperanto estas internacia lingvo.
How do you pronounce Esperanto estas internacia lingvo?
A simple English-friendly pronunciation is:
- Esperanto ≈ es-peh-RAHN-to
- estas ≈ ES-tahs
- internacia ≈ in-ter-na-TSEE-ah
- lingvo ≈ LEEN-gvo
A few useful pronunciation points:
- Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable in Esperanto:
- Esperanto
- estas
- internacia
- lingvo
- c is pronounced like ts, not like English k or s.
- g in lingvo is always a hard g, as in go.
- Vowels are pronounced clearly and consistently, not reduced as often happens in English.
What does estas mean, and is it like English is?
Yes. Estas is the present-tense form of the verb esti, meaning to be.
So:
- mi estas = I am
- vi estas = you are
- li/ŝi/ĝi estas = he/she/it is
- ili estas = they are
Unlike English, Esperanto does not change the verb for different persons in the present tense. It is always estas.
Why is there no word for a or an before internacia lingvo?