Diversaj spektantoj rekomendas la komedion.

Because spektantoj is plural, and adjectives in Esperanto must agree with the nouns they describe.

• diversa = various, different
• diversaj = various/different plural

So diversaj spektantoj means various spectators or different spectators.

It actually is spektantoj in standard spelling. In this sentence, the form is spektantoj, which can look a little tricky because the word contains the suffix -ant-.

Here is the breakdown:

• spekt- = watch, look at
• -ant- = a person doing the action
• -o = noun
• -j = plural

So:

• spektanto = a spectator, watcher
• spektantoj = spectators

The -ant- and the plural -j come together, giving spektantoj.

-ant- is an active participle-related element often used to form nouns for people who are doing an action.

So:

• spekti = to watch
• spektanto = one who watches, a spectator

This is a very common pattern in Esperanto:

• lernanto = learner, student
• parolanto = speaker
• vizitanto = visitor

The ending -as marks the present tense in Esperanto.

So:

• rekomendi = to recommend
• rekomendas = recommends / recommend

Esperanto verbs do not change for person or number, so the same form works for:

• mi rekomendas = I recommend
• li rekomendas = he recommends
• ili rekomendas = they recommend

That is why spektantoj being plural does not change the verb form.

La is the definite article, meaning the.

So la komedion means the comedy, referring to a specific comedy.

There is no la before diversaj spektantoj, so the subject is more general: various spectators rather than the various spectators.

You could say La diversaj spektantoj rekomendas la komedion if you meant a specific group of spectators.

The ending -n marks the direct object in Esperanto.

In this sentence:

• Diversaj spektantoj = the people doing the action
• rekomendas = recommend
• la komedion = the thing being recommended

So komedion gets -n because it is the object of the verb.

Without -n, the grammar would be wrong here.

Because diversaj spektantoj is the subject, not the direct object.

Only the direct object takes -n in this sentence.

Compare:

• Diversaj spektantoj rekomendas la komedion.
  Various spectators recommend the comedy.

If you moved the object adjective into a phrase, it would also need -n:

• Ili rekomendas interesan komedion.
  They recommend an interesting comedy.

Here both interesan and komedion take -n, because the adjective agrees with the direct object noun.

It can suggest either, depending on context.

In many sentences, diversaj is best understood as:

• various
• different
• a range of

So Diversaj spektantoj rekomendas la komedion most naturally suggests that different audience members/spectators recommend the comedy.

If you wanted to emphasize several, you might use pluraj instead.

Yes. Esperanto word order is fairly flexible because the -n ending helps show what is the object.

So these can mean the same thing:

• Diversaj spektantoj rekomendas la komedion.
• La komedion rekomendas diversaj spektantoj.

Both mean that various spectators recommend the comedy.

However, the original order is the most neutral and natural for a beginner: subject + verb + object.

Often yes, but the exact feel depends on context.

spektanto can mean:

• spectator
• viewer
• audience member
• watcher

In a theater or cinema context, spectators or audience members works well. In some other contexts, viewers might sound more natural in English.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

di-ver-SA-y spek-TAN-toy re-ko-MEN-das la ko-me-DI-on

A few useful points:

• Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable:
  • di-ver-SAJ
  • spek-TAN-toj
  • re-ko-MEN-das
  • ko-me-DI-on
• j sounds like English y
• oj sounds roughly like oy
• e is always like e in bet, not like English silent e

Here are the base forms:

• diversaj → diversa = various, different
• spektantoj → spektanto = spectator
• rekomendas → rekomendi = to recommend
• komedion → komedio = comedy

This is useful because Esperanto words are built very regularly from roots plus endings. Once you know the base form, the grammar endings become easier to recognize.