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Newbie question: When to use "la"

Odd-rationale-ისა და 9 ნოემბერი, 2007-ის მიერ

შეტყობინებები: 7

ენა: English

Odd-rationale (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 9 ნოემბერი, 2007 23:48:42

Saluton! Hello!

First of all, I would like to like to express my thanks to lernu! and all those involved for providing such a quality website for people to learn Esperanto - for free!(no premium membership, etc.)

This is my first week in Esperanto. And I am enjoying it very much.

My question is how does one know when to use the article "la"?

For example, we say

"Ana estas en domo."

"La pilko estas sur la tablo."

Why does "tablo" have a "la" but "domo" does not?

Your help is greatly appreciated!

Dankon!

Miland (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 10 ნოემბერი, 2007 00:55:56

Odd-rationale:"Ana estas en domo."
"La pilko estas sur la tablo."
Why does "tablo" have a "la" but "domo" does not?
Welcome to the world of Esperanto!

Here's a rough rule: where you would use 'the' in English, use 'la' in Esperanto, and where you would use 'a' or 'an' in English, leave it out in Esperanto (which doesn't have an indefinite article).

I encourage you to keep up your Esperanto studies at a pace that you can manage without difficulty. Never mind slow progress so long as you keep going.

Odd-rationale (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 10 ნოემბერი, 2007 01:14:31

OK Thanks for your reply.

Let me see if I get this.

So I can say

"Ana estas en la domo."

to specify "Ana is in the house."

Likewise, if I say

"La pilko estas sur tablo."

it would mean "The ball is under a table"

And so on.

Is that correct?

RiotNrrd (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 10 ნოემბერი, 2007 02:13:20

Odd-rationale:So I can say

"Ana estas en la domo."

to specify "Ana is in the house."

Likewise, if I say

"La pilko estas sur tablo."

it would mean "The ball is under a table"

Is that correct?
Precisely.

Odd-rationale (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 10 ნოემბერი, 2007 02:21:46

OK That's great!

Thanks all for your help!

Dankon!

Matthieu (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 10 ნოემბერი, 2007 09:32:43

Odd-rationale:So I can say

"Ana estas en la domo."

to specify "Ana is in the house."

Likewise, if I say

"La pilko estas sur tablo."

it would mean "The ball is under a table"

Is that correct?
You correctly used the article, but sur means “on”, not “under”.

Odd-rationale (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 10 ნოემბერი, 2007 14:35:50

Oh, thanks for the correction!

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