Ch 17 · Lesson 17Esperanto · Chapter 17 · Lesson 17 · Grammar primer
La venonta semajno: time from participles
is next week, last year, and they agree like any adjective. is the future, the past.
The short version
, and the
.
Why?Hide
The participle adjectives supply the time phrases you need every week: is next week, is last year, and they agree like any adjective, including when the noun is doing time-measure duty. The trap is , which English speakers grab for last week. It usually means final in a series: is the year's last week. It can also mean most recent, so is not wrong, but it can be read either way; cannot.
Next week, last year
The -a forms are adjectives, and two of them give the time phrases you need every week:
| Esperanto | English |
|---|---|
| next week |
| next month |
| last week |
| last year |
| this year |
la pasinta semajno (gone by)
ĉi tiu semajno
la venonta semajno (still to come)
Timeline from past to future, with now marked.
They agree like any adjective, including the -n of a time phrase:
.- I will see you next week.
usually means final in a series:
It can also mean most recent ( , the latest news), so is not wrong for last week, but it can be read as the final one. For the week just gone, is the unambiguous choice. And (current) is not a participle at all: it is (now) plus the adjective ending.
estonteco and pasinteco
-- makes a quality or state. On a participle it gives two everyday nouns:
- the future (the state of being about to be).- the past..- In the future we will live in another town.
The adjective has two near neighbours: (coming, next) picks out the next in a sequence, while (future, to-be) is what someone or something will become. So a wife-to-be is ; would be his next wife.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Avoid | Better | Why |
|---|---|---|
| | after the race, it is over: -- |
| | the participle agrees, -n included |
o | | beginning is a phase, not a e |
o | o | a drink: build on the bare root |
Going further: People who carry a tense and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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7-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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