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Esperanto/School

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Complex Tenses

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So far, we have covered how to form infinitives, the three simple tenses, commands, and conditionals. We will now cover how to use participles to create more complex tenses.

By combining a participle with a form of the verb "esti" ("to be"), you can create a verb combining two tenses. Look at the chart below.

estas estis estos esti estus
-anta
still ongoing[1]
estas bakanta
is baking (right now)
estis bakanta
was baking[2]
estos bakanta
will be baking
esti bakanta
to be baking
estus bakanta
would be baking
-inta
completed
estas bakinta
has baked
estis bakinta
had baked
estos bakinta
will have baked, will be done baking
esti bakinta
to have baked
estus bakinta
would have baked
-onta
to begin later (possibly soon)
estas bakonta
is going to bake, about to bake
estis bakonta
was going to bake
estos bakonta
will be going to bake
esti bakonta
to be going to bake
estus bakonta
would be going to bake
-ata
"...being..."
estas bakata
is being baked
estis bakata
was being baked
estos bakata
will be baked, will be being baked
esti bakata
to be (being) baked
estus bakata
would be (being) baked
-ita
"having been..."
estas bakita
has been baked
estis bakita
had been baked
estos bakita
will have been baked, will already be baked
esti bakita
to have been baked
estus bakita
would have been baked
-ota
"...about/going to be..."
estas bakota
is going to be baked
estis bakota
was going to be baked
estos bakota
will be going to be baked
esti bakota
to be going to be baked
estus bakota
would be going to be baked
  1. All of these have almost the same meaning as bakas, bakis, bakos, baki, and bakus (respectively), the difference being that the participles always translate "(is/was/will be) baking", as opposed to "bakes", "baked", "will bake", etc.
  2. This carries the implication that the person was baking, but did not necessarily finish.

You will notice that many of these combinations have awkward English translations. Though all of these combinations are acceptable Esperanto, a rewording would be appropriate when translating them into English.

Remember that the three simple tenses should be used whenever possible. These combinations should only be used when the alternative would cause ambiguity.

Lernejo (School)

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Finding a Teacher / Trovi Instruiston

  • Niĉjo: Saluton, kie estas Sinjoro Mikelo? Li estas mia instruisto hodiaŭ.
  • Petro: Li estas en la Orienta Alo. Vi devas hasti!
  • Niĉjo: Bone. Kion instruas Sinjoro Mikelo?
  • Petro: Li instruas sciencon. Li estas agrabla, vi ŝatos lin.
  • Niĉjo: Dankon… ĝis!
Vocabulary / Vortlisto
Esperanto English
kie where
Sinjoro Mr., sir, etc.
instruisto teacher
hodiaŭ today
Orienta East
Alo Wing (of airplane, building, army, etc.)
devi should, ought (to)
hasti to hurry
Kio what
instrui to teach
scienco science
agrabla nice, agreeable
ŝati to like, appreciate
ĝis see you later

The suffix -isto

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The suffix -isto, as in instruisto, denotes profession. To teach is instrui, a teacher is instruisto. Dento is a tooth, dentisto is a dentist.