Esperanto participles: -ant-, -int-, -ont-, -at-, -it-, -ot-

Esperanto has six participle suffixes: three active (-ant-, -int-, -ont-) and three passive (-at-, -it-, -ot-). The vowel shows the phase of the action – a ongoing, i finished, o not yet started – exactly like the verb endings -as, -is, -os. The letter n marks the active voice. All six are in rule 6 of the 16 rules of the Fundamento de Esperanto (1905).

A participle presents an action as a quality of a person or thing (PMEG). With the endings -a, -e and -o it becomes an adjective, an adverb or a noun. The six participle endings are counted separately from the 31 ordinary suffixes.

#The six participles at a glance

icompletedaongoingoabout to

active participle-int-legintacompleted-ant-legantaongoing-ont-legontaabout to

passive participle-it-legitacompleted-at-legataongoing-ot-legotaabout to

#With -a, -e and -o

-a forms describe a noun and agree with it like any adjective: la dormanta infano – "the sleeping child"; la skribitaj leteroj – "the written letters".

-e forms describe what the subject of the sentence does at the same time, before or after the main action. See also adverbs.

• Legante, mi lernas. – "While reading, I learn."
• Fininte la laboron, li foriris. – "Having finished the work, he left."

-o forms name a person: lernanto "pupil" (one who is learning), parolanto "speaker", mortinto "the deceased", kaptito "prisoner" (one who has been captured). The language's name is one of them: esper·ant·o "one who hopes". Zamenhof published his first book in 1887 under the pseudonym Doktoro Esperanto (see Zamenhof).

#Phase, not clock time

Participles show where the action stands relative to the main verb, not relative to now (PMEG). Compare:

• La letero estis skribata en la paŭzo. – "The letter was being written during the break." (still in progress)
• La letero estis skribita en la paŭzo. – "The letter was written during the break." (finished then)

#Compound tenses: esti + participle

A form of esti "to be" plus a participle gives more precise tenses. Change estas to estis, estos, estus or estu to shift the whole form in time. See verbs for the simple tenses.

The passive is esti plus a passive participle. The doer follows de: La letero estis skribita de Petro – "The letter was written by Peter". When de could be misread, fare de is clearer.

PMEG calls the simple endings -as, -is, -os, -us, -u generally preferable: Mi manĝis "I ate" usually works as well as Mi estis manĝinta. Zamenhof never used fused forms such as manĝintas for estas manĝinta. PMEG finds them logical but hard to understand; only a few, like sciintus "would have known", see some use.

#The ata/ita dispute

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Esperanto writers argued over the passive participles. One group, called atistoj, read the vowels mainly as time markers. For a house built long ago they wrote La domo estis konstruata – "The house was built".

The other group, itistoj, read them as aspect: -it- for a completed action, so La domo estis konstruita. On 25 November 1967 the Academy of Esperanto decided, by 26 of 31 votes, that the participles express aspect. It added that only this reading matches Zamenhof's usage.

In 1989 the Academy confirmed the decision. It called the aspect reading the older, more literary and fundamental one. Modern reference grammars, such as PMEG, describe the participles in these terms: ongoing, finished, not yet begun.

#Examples in sentences

• La dormanta bebo ne aŭdis la bruon. – "The sleeping baby didn't hear the noise."
• Ŝi rigardis la falantan neĝon. – "She watched the falling snow."
• Mi trovis la perditan ŝlosilon sub la lito. – "I found the lost key under the bed."
• Ni renkontiĝos la venontan semajnon. – "We'll meet next week."
• Promenante en la parko, mi renkontis malnovan amikon. – "Walking in the park, I met an old friend."
• Manĝinte, ni iris promeni. – "After eating, we went for a walk."
• La parolanto dankis la aŭskultantojn. – "The speaker thanked the listeners."
• La domo estis konstruita antaŭ cent jaroj. – "The house was built a hundred years ago."
• La ponto estas ankoraŭ konstruata. – "The bridge is still being built."

#Common questions

#What is the difference between -ata and -ita?

-Ata describes an action in progress, -ita a finished one. La pordo estas fermata means "the door is being closed"; la pordo estas fermita means "the door is closed".

#How do you form the passive in Esperanto?

Use esti with a passive participle: La libro estas legata – "The book is being read". The agent follows de (or fare de).

#What does "Esperanto" mean as a word?

It is the noun form of the active present participle of esperi "to hope": esper·ant·o, "one who hopes". It comes from Zamenhof's pseudonym Doktoro Esperanto (1887).

#Do I need compound tenses like estas manĝinta?

Rarely. The simple forms -as, -is, -os cover most needs; compound tenses help when the exact phase of an action matters.

#What does a participle with -e mean?

It describes an action of the subject that accompanies the main verb: Fininte, li foriris – "Having finished, he left".

#Sources

• Fundamento de Esperanto – grammar in English (rule 6)
• Akademio de Esperanto – Decisions on participles (1967, 1989)
• PMEG – Participles
• PMEG – Participles as A-words
• PMEG – Compound verb forms
• PMEG – Unusual compound verbs
• David K. Jordan – The ata/ita problem (UC San Diego)
• Wikipedia – Unua Libro
• Wikipedia – Esperanto grammar