Ŝi ŝprucigas akvon sur la foliojn.

Ŝprucigas is the verb of the sentence. It comes from:

• ŝpruc- = the idea of spraying, spurting, splashing
• -ig- = make/cause
• -as = present tense

So ŝprucigas literally means something like causes to spray. In natural English here, that becomes sprays.

So Ŝi ŝprucigas akvon is literally She causes water to spray, which is how Esperanto expresses She sprays water.

Because akvon is the direct object of the verb: it is the thing being sprayed.

In Esperanto, direct objects take -n.

• akvo = water
• akvon = water, as the direct object

So the sentence is not just mentioning water in general; it shows that the water is what she is spraying.

Because it has two endings:

• -j = plural
• -n = accusative

So:

• folio = leaf
• folioj = leaves
• foliojn = leaves, with an -n ending added

That -n is not here because the leaves are the direct object. It is here because after a preposition, Esperanto can use -n to show direction toward a place or surface.

Because Esperanto distinguishes between:

• location: sur la folioj = on the leaves
• direction/motion onto: sur la foliojn = onto the leaves

In this sentence, the water is moving onto the leaves, so foliojn is used.

Even though the leaves themselves are not moving, the water is moving toward them. Esperanto marks the destination of that movement with -n.

Because al mainly means to or toward, while sur specifically means on / onto a surface.

Compare:

• al la folioj = to the leaves
• sur la foliojn = onto the leaves

Since the water is being sprayed so that it lands on the surface of the leaves, sur is the more precise choice.

La means the.

So la foliojn means the leaves — some specific leaves, probably known from the context.

But Esperanto has no indefinite article like English a or some, so akvon can simply mean water or some water, depending on context.

So this is normal:

• akvon = water / some water
• la foliojn = the leaves

Yes. Esperanto word order is fairly flexible because endings show the grammatical roles.

The neutral order here is:

• Ŝi ŝprucigas akvon sur la foliojn.

But you could also move things around for emphasis, for example:

• Akvon ŝi ŝprucigas sur la foliojn.

That would emphasize water more strongly.

Still, the original order is the most natural and straightforward one for a learner.

A few useful points:

• ŝ sounds like English sh
• c sounds like ts
• j sounds like English y; in oj, the sound is roughly like oy
• stress is always on the next-to-last syllable

So:

• Ŝi ≈ shee
• ŝprucigas ≈ shproo-TSEE-gahs
• akvon ≈ AHK-von
• sur ≈ soor
• la ≈ lah
• foliojn ≈ foh-LEE-oyn

A rough full pronunciation is:

shee shproo-TSEE-gahs AHK-von soor lah foh-LEE-oyn