English Translation
Once upon a time
The phrase “Foje estis …” in Esperanto translates to “Once upon a time there was/were …” in English and is often used at the beginning of fairy tales and stories.
Let’s break down the grammar of the phrase:
"Foje" is an adverb that means "once" or "one time." It sets the stage for an event or story that occurred at a singular, unspecified point in the past. In fairy tales, it's a traditional way to start a story by alluding to a time long ago.
"Estis" is the past tense of the verb "esti," which means "to be" in English. It is equivalent to "was" or "were" depending on the subject it's referring to in English. Since Esperanto has no grammatical number for the verb, "estis" can refer to a singular or plural subject; the context will determine whether "there was" or "there were" should be used in the English translation.
When learning Esperanto, it is important to understand the following aspects of the language’s grammar, shown in the phrase “Foje estis …”:
Esperanto has no indefinite or definite articles like "a," "an," or "the" in English. The absence of articles before nouns in this phrase is typical for the language.
Adverbs like "foje" do not change form regardless of the part of the sentence they modify or the tense being used.
Verbs in Esperanto are conjugated without regard to the number or person. "Estis" does not change whether it's used with a singular or plural subject, or whether it's first, second, or third person.
Understanding this basic grammar will help learners start to grasp the sentence structures and storytelling conventions in Esperanto.