Frazo

Frazo is a basic syntactic unit that expresses a complete proposition. It consists of words arranged to convey a thought and is typically delimited by punctuation. A frazo can be simple, containing a single clause with a predicate, or complex, including multiple clauses linked by conjunctions and subordination. The exact internal structure varies by language, but most frazo are centered on a predicate and include one or more arguments such as a subject and objects.

In Esperanto and in many linguistic descriptions, frazo is the standard term for a sentence. A frazo can be declarative, interrogative, imperative, or exclamative. The end of a frazo is usually marked by punctuation such as a period, question mark, or exclamation point. In Esperanto, the language’s morphology and relatively flexible word order mean that the surface order of elements in a frazo is somewhat fluid, though a typical declarative frazo follows a subject–verb–object tendency when possible.

Examples help illustrate usage. In Esperanto: “La hundo dormas.” (The dog sleeps.) and “Ĉu vi legas libron?” (Are you reading a book?). Frazoj—plural of frazo—can be combined into longer texts through coordination and subordination, creating compound and complex frazo. In scholarly contexts, the concept of frazo supports analyses of syntax, clause structure, and information flow within sentences.