Ch 9 · Lesson 8Esperanto · Chapter 9 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer
Passive participles: -ata, -ita, -ota
, , : the active participles with the n taken out. Being written, written, still to be written, and they agree like any adjective.
The short version
-ata, -ita, -ota is the active grid with the n removed
Why?Hide
The three passive participles use the same three vowels as everything else, just without the n. is being written, is written, is still to be written. Compare -anta, the one doing the writing, with -ata, the thing being written: same grid, doer and done-to swapped. Only transitive verbs have them, because nothing can be done to you by a verb like .
Esperanto's passive participles are the active ones with the n taken out: -- for an action being done, -- for one done, -- for one still to come. Add and you have a passive sentence.
| Time | Active | Passive | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| now | | | being written |
| done | | | written |
| still to come | | | still to be written |
.- The letter was written by my mother.
Three more participles, same three vowels
The vowel is the vowel of the tense: a as in -as, i as in -is, o as in -os. Only the missing n separates the one doing it from the one it is done to:
| Active | English | Passive | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| reading | | being read |
| loving | | loved |
| having lost | | lost |
The endings work as for every participle: -a describes, -e says how or when, -o names a person:
skrib- | -a: describes | -e: how, when |
|---|---|---|
-- | | |
-- | | |
They agree like adjectives
A passive participle in -a is an ordinary adjective, and the most useful thing on this page:
It takes -j and -n like any adjective:
.- I found the lost letters..- The books still to be read are on the table.
The -o forms: people things happen to
-o turns a passive participle into the person it happens to, as is the person reading:
| Word | Built from | English |
|---|---|---|
| -- | a loved one |
| -- | an invited guest |
| -- | an envoy |
.- The guests (the invited) arrived.
Going further: Building the passive sentence and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
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