Ch 6 · Lesson 9Esperanto · Chapter 6 · Lesson 9 · Grammar primer
Participles: -anta, -inta, -onta
One verb, nine participles, all regular: , and tell you when, is a reader, is while reading. And they agree like any adjective.
The short version
The participle vowel is the tense vowel
, ,
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Three active participles, one per tense, running on the vowels you already know from -as, -is and -os. -ant- is doing it now, -int- has done it, -ont- is about to. Each then takes an ordinary part-of-speech ending, so the root leg- gives you , and as adjectives, , and as nouns, and three more as adverbs. Nine words, one root, nothing memorised separately.
A participle in -a agrees like any adjective
.
Why?Hide
, and are ordinary adjectives, so they take the plural -j and the object -n like does: , I see the children who are reading. It looks heavy written down, but it is the same decision as , made on a longer word.
has three active participles, one per tense: -ant- is doing it, -- has done it, -- is about to. Add the ending -a, -o or -e and one root gives nine words.
| Piece | Time | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
-- | in progress | | reading |
-- | completed | | having read |
-- | still to come | | about to read |
The name of the language is one: (to hope) plus -- plus -o gives , one who hopes. Zamenhof published the first book of the language in 1887 as Esperanto, and the name passed to the language.
Three participles, one per tense
The participles reuse the vowels of the three tenses:
| Tense | Participle | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
-as now | -- | | the sleeping child |
-is past | -- | | the person who has come |
-os future | -- | | next week |
The vowel tells the time: a for now, i for done, o for to come. The time is measured from the main verb, not from today:
.- I saw the sleeping child.
The child was asleep at the moment of seeing, so --, though all of it is now past.
Leganta virino, a woman reading; kuiranta viro, a man cooking; kuranta knabo, a boy running; parolanta knabino, a girl talking. Each is in the middle of it, so -ant-.
Nine words from one root
A participle still needs an ending to say what kind of word it is. Each of the three takes -a, -o or -e:
- | -a: describes | -o: a person | -e: how, when |
|---|---|---|---|
-- | | | |
-- | | | |
-- | | | |
The -o forms name someone by what they are doing for now: is a beginner, because beginning is a phase. A trade takes -- instead: , a teacher. Participles as nouns has the full set.
They agree like adjectives
The -a forms are ordinary adjectives, so they take -j and -n like any other:
.- I see the children who are reading..- The people who had come spoke.
It looks heavy written down. It is the same decision as for , made on a longer word.
Going further: Replacing a kiu clause and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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9-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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