The Basic Grammar of Ido/Function Words/Definite Article

The definite article is used to specify the noun that follows, indicating that it is a particular entity explicitly referred to by the speaker. In Ido, the definite article is "la", which is placed before the noun, just like "the" in English. For example: "Kato manjas fisho, la fisho esas granda" (The cat eats a fish; the fish is big). Here, "la fisho" refers specifically to the fish that is being eaten by the cat. Another example is "La libereso esas importanta" (The freedom is important). The definite article is used here with "la libereso" (freedom) because, in the context of the conversation, "freedom" is a clear and specific concept or entity. When the word following the article begins with a vowel, one may choose to omit it and replace it with l' ; in this case, the l' merges with the first vowel of the following word to form a single syllable. This omission is optional and depends mainly on phonetic considerations. By default, it is recommended to omit it. For example, "la ucelo" (the bird) is simplified to "l'ucelo", which is pronounced like "lucelo". In addition, Ido does not have indefinite articles such as "a" and "an" in English. Although the grammar allows the use of the numeral "un" (one) before a noun, this serves only to emphasise quantity. Category:Book:The Basic Grammar of Ido