Esperanto verbs: tenses, conjugation and esti

Esperanto verbs have six endings and do not change for person or number. Mi parolas, vi parolas, ŝi parolas, ili parolas – "I speak, you speak, she speaks, they speak": one form per tense. There are no irregular verbs, not even esti – "to be".

#The six verb endings

The vowels follow a pattern: a is present, i is past, o is future. The same vowels return in the participles -ant-, -int- and -ont-.

now

-isparolispast-asparolaspresent-osparolosfuture

no tense-usparolusconditional-uparoluvolitive-iparoliinfinitive

#Full conjugation of paroli – "to speak"

Every verb in the language follows this table. Only the subject changes, so the pronoun is needed: parolas alone does not say who speaks. See pronouns.

#Esti – "to be"

• Mi estas feliĉa. – "I am happy."
• Ili estis hejme. – "They were at home."
• Estu trankvila! – "Be calm!"
• Estas tri katoj en la ĝardeno. – "There are three cats in the garden."

The word after esti never takes the object ending -n: Mi estas instruisto – "I am a teacher". See the accusative.

#Present, past and future

-as covers what is happening now, habits and general truths. It also covers states that began earlier and still continue: Mi loĝas ĉi tie tri jarojn. – "I have been living here for three years."

-is covers every kind of past: Mi jam manĝis. – "I have already eaten." Hieraŭ mi laboris. – "Yesterday I worked."

-os is the future: Morgaŭ mi vizitos vin. – "Tomorrow I will visit you."

In reported speech the verb keeps the tense of the original words: Li diris, ke li volas manĝi. – "He said that he wanted to eat" (literally "wants").

#Conditional -us

-us describes what is imagined or unreal, without any time reference. In "if" sentences about something imagined, both parts take -us:

• Se mi havus tempon, mi venus. – "If I had time, I would come."
• Mi ŝatus kafon. – "I would like a coffee."
• Ĉu vi povus helpi min? – "Could you help me?"

For real possibilities, use the normal tenses: Se pluvos, mi restos hejme. – "If it rains, I will stay at home." Esperanto uses the future in both parts.

#Volitive -u: commands, wishes, "let's"

-u shows what someone wants, asks for or orders:

• Venu! – "Come!"
• Ni iru! – "Let's go!"
• Li atendu. – "Let him wait."
• Mi volas, ke vi venu. – "I want you to come."
• Ĉu ni iru? – "Shall we go?"

The polite "please" is bonvolu plus an infinitive: Bonvolu sidiĝi. – "Please sit down."

#Compound tenses, briefly

Esti plus a participle gives finer time distinctions and the passive:

PMEG advises using the simple forms in most cases. Details are on participles.

#Transitive and intransitive: -ig- and -iĝ-

Every verb root is either transitive (it takes an object) or intransitive. Fermi – "to close" is transitive: Mi fermas la pordon. – "I close the door." To say "the door closes", add -iĝ-: La pordo fermiĝas.

-ig- works the other way and means "cause to": morti – "to die" → mortigi – "to kill". Both can join one root: sidi – "to sit", sidiĝi – "to sit down", sidigi – "to seat (someone)". More on suffixes.

#Examples in sentences

• Mi legas libron. – "I'm reading a book."
• Hieraŭ mi legis la tutan tagon. – "Yesterday I read all day."
• Morgaŭ mi legos la novan ĉapitron. – "Tomorrow I'll read the new chapter."
• Kiam vi telefonis, mi kuiris. – "When you called, I was cooking."
• Mi ŝatus legi pli ofte. – "I'd like to read more often."
• Se mi estus vi, mi ne farus tion. – "If I were you, I wouldn't do that."
• Legu laŭte, mi petas! – "Read aloud, please!"
• Ni iru al la biblioteko! – "Let's go to the library!"
• Mi deziras, ke vi estu feliĉa. – "I want you to be happy."
• Mi ne komprenas la demandon. – "I don't understand the question."

#Common questions

#How many tenses does Esperanto have?

Three simple tenses: present -as, past -is and future -os. Add the conditional -us, the volitive -u and the infinitive -i, and you have all six verb endings.

#Are there irregular verbs in Esperanto?

No. Every verb, including esti – "to be", havi – "to have" and iri – "to go", uses the same six endings.

#How do you say "let's" in Esperanto?

Use ni with the -u form: Ni iru! – "Let's go!", Ni manĝu! – "Let's eat!".

#How do you make a verb negative?

Put ne before it: Mi ne komprenas. – "I don't understand." More on questions and negation.

#Does Esperanto have a continuous tense like "I am eating"?

Mi manĝas means both "I eat" and "I am eating". A compound form such as mi estas manĝanta exists, but it is rarely needed.

#Sources

• Fundamento de Esperanto, rule 6 (English) – Akademio de Esperanto
• PMEG: Verboj, I-verboj, AS, IS, U, US
• PMEG: Kunmetitaj verboformoj, Nerekta parolo: verboformoj
• PMEG: IG, IĜ
• Esperanto grammar – Wikipedia