"She admitted that she had been longing for home."

Translation: Ŝi konfesis, ke ŝi sopiris pri la hejmo.

[bryanhumano]

What should I notice about this sentence that tells me you need the article "la". I recognize that languages aren't direct translations, especially with articles and prepositions, but how can I know to include "la" here?

[Karshen]

I wrote "Ŝi konfesis, ke ŝi sopiris la hejmon", which was actually accepted - is there any nuance to using the verb "sopiri" with or without the preposition "pri"?

[mbalicki]

No, there is none. Quite often you can change preposition + noun to noun + “-n” (or the other way around) without any confusion.

For example, you can say “mi instruas lingvon” or “mi instruas pri lingvo” and it means the same. Or “mi donis vin” is the same as “mi donis al vi”. Sometimes you even have to change the accusative to preposition + noun, where other way you'd get double accusative. So you can say “mi instruas lernanton” and “mi instruas lingvon” but not mi instruas lernanton lingvon. That would have to be “mi instruas lernanton pri lingvo” or “mi instruas lingvon al lernanto”.