La substrato estas malseka.

to be

Breakdown of La substrato estas malseka.

• la: the
• malseka: wet
• substrato: the substrate; growing medium

Questions & Answers about La substrato estas malseka.

Why does substrato end in -o?

In Esperanto, -o marks a noun. So substrato is a noun meaning substrate or growing medium, depending on context.

This is one of the most basic Esperanto endings:

• -o = noun
• -a = adjective
• -e = adverb
• -i = infinitive verb

So the sentence structure is easy to recognize:

• La substrato = the substrate
• estas = is
• malseka = wet/damp

Why does malseka end in -a?

Because malseka is an adjective, and Esperanto adjectives end in -a.

It describes the noun substrato, so it has to be in adjective form:

• seka = dry
• malseka = wet, damp

In this sentence, malseka is a predicate adjective after estas, just like wet in English The substrate is wet.

Why is it malseka and not malseke?