Mi rekomendas la komedion.

Mi is the Esperanto subject pronoun meaning I.

Some basic pronouns are:

• mi = I
• vi = you
• li = he
• ŝi = she
• ĝi = it
• ni = we
• ili = they

In Mi rekomendas la komedion, mi is the person doing the recommending.

In Esperanto, -as marks the present tense.

So:

• rekomendas = recommend / am recommending
• rekomendis = recommended
• rekomendos = will recommend
• rekomendus = would recommend
• rekomendi = to recommend

A very useful rule is that Esperanto verbs do not change according to the subject:

• Mi rekomendas = I recommend
• Vi rekomendas = you recommend
• Li rekomendas = he recommends

So unlike English, there is no special -s only for he/she/it. Everyone uses -as in the present.

Yes. It is an obvious cognate.

• rekomendi = to recommend
• rekomendas = recommends / is recommending

Esperanto often uses internationally familiar roots, so many words will look partly recognizable to an English speaker.

The -n marks the direct object.

In this sentence:

• Mi = the subject, the person doing the action
• rekomendas = the action
• la komedion = the thing being recommended

So komedio becomes komedion because it is the direct object.

This is one of the most important features of Esperanto grammar.

Compare:

• La komedio estas bona. = The comedy is good.
  No -n, because la komedio is the subject.
• Mi rekomendas la komedion. = I recommend the comedy.
  -n, because la komedion is the direct object.

Because la is completely invariable in Esperanto.

It always stays la, no matter whether the noun is:

• singular or plural
• subject or object

So you get:

• la komedio
• la komedion
• la komedioj
• la komediojn

The noun changes, but la does not.

La is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• komedio = a comedy / comedy
• la komedio = the comedy

In Mi rekomendas la komedion, the speaker is talking about a specific comedy that is understood from the context.

Grammatically, yes, but the meaning changes.

• Mi rekomendas la komedion. = I recommend the comedy.
  A specific comedy.
• Mi rekomendas komedion. = I recommend a comedy / comedy.
  Less specific, depending on context.

In many situations, Esperanto often leaves out an indefinite article because Esperanto has no word for English a/an.

So bare komedion can sometimes correspond to a comedy.

The basic noun ending is -o, and plural adds -j.

So:

• komedio = comedy
• komedioj = comedies

If the noun is also a direct object, you add -n as well:

• la komedio = the comedy
• la komedion = the comedy (object)
• la komedioj = the comedies
• la komediojn = the comedies (object)

So I recommend the comedies would be:

Mi rekomendas la komediojn.

Yes. Because -n shows the direct object, Esperanto word order is more flexible than English word order.

The normal order is:

• Mi rekomendas la komedion.

But you could also say:

• La komedion mi rekomendas.

That still means I recommend the comedy, because komedion has the object marker -n.

Even so, the ordinary subject-verb-object order is the most neutral and easiest for learners: Mi rekomendas la komedion.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

mee reh-koh-MEN-dahs lah koh-meh-dee-ON

A few useful pronunciation points:

• mi sounds like mee
• e is always like a clear e, not reduced
• o is a clear o
• stress in Esperanto usually falls on the second-to-last syllable

So:

• re-ko-MEN-das
• ko-me-DI-on

That makes the whole sentence sound roughly like:

MEE re-ko-MEN-das la ko-me-DI-on

It can mean either, depending on context.

Esperanto present tense -as is broader than English present forms. It can cover:

• I recommend
• I am recommending

So Mi rekomendas la komedion could describe:

• a general opinion: I recommend the comedy
• something happening now: I’m recommending the comedy

Usually the context tells you which is meant.

The dictionary form is komedio.

To get from the dictionary form to the form in the sentence:

• komedio = comedy
• komedion = comedy + direct object -n

When looking up Esperanto words, you normally remove grammatical endings:

• noun ending -o
• plural -j
• object marker -n

So if you see komedion, the base word is komedio.

Yes. In Esperanto, adjectives agree with the noun in number and case.

So if you said the funny comedy, you would have:

• la amuza komedio = the funny comedy
• Mi rekomendas la amuzan komedion. = I recommend the funny comedy.

Notice that both words take the object marking:

• amuza → amuzan
• komedio → komedion

That agreement is a very common Esperanto pattern.