Esperanto/School

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Lesson 4 | Lesson 5 | Lesson 6

Complex Tenses

So far, we have covered how to form infinitives, the three simple tenses, commands, and conditionals. We will now cover how to use participles to create more complex tenses.

By combining a participle with a form of the verb "esti" ("to be"), you can create a verb combining two tenses. Look at the chart below.

	estas	estis	estos	esti	estus
-anta still ongoing	estas bakanta is baking (right now)	estis bakanta was baking	estos bakanta will be baking	esti bakanta to be baking	estus bakanta would be baking
-inta completed	estas bakinta has baked	estis bakinta had baked	estos bakinta will have baked, will be done baking	esti bakinta to have baked	estus bakinta would have baked
-onta to begin later (possibly soon)	estas bakonta is going to bake, about to bake	estis bakonta was going to bake	estos bakonta will be going to bake	esti bakonta to be going to bake	estus bakonta would be going to bake
-ata "...being..."	estas bakata is being baked	estis bakata was being baked	estos bakata will be baked, will be being baked	esti bakata to be (being) baked	estus bakata would be (being) baked
-ita "having been..."	estas bakita has been baked	estis bakita had been baked	estos bakita will have been baked, will already be baked	esti bakita to have been baked	estus bakita would have been baked
-ota "...about/going to be..."	estas bakota is going to be baked	estis bakota was going to be baked	estos bakota will be going to be baked	esti bakota to be going to be baked	estus bakota would be going to be baked

You will notice that many of these combinations have awkward English translations. Though all of these combinations are acceptable Esperanto, a rewording would be appropriate when translating them into English.

Remember that the three simple tenses should be used whenever possible. These combinations should only be used when the alternative would cause ambiguity.

Lernejo (School)

Show Translation
Nick: Hi, where is Mr. Mikelo? He is my teacher today. Pedro: He is in the East Wing. You should hurry! Nick: OK. What does Mr. Mikelo teach? Pedro: He teaches science. He's nice, you will like him. Nick: Thanks… see you later!

Finding a Teacher / Trovi Instruiston

• Niĉjo: Saluton, kie estas Sinjoro Mikelo? Li estas mia instruisto hodiaŭ.
• Petro: Li estas en la Orienta Alo. Vi devas hasti!
• Niĉjo: Bone. Kion instruas Sinjoro Mikelo?
• Petro: Li instruas sciencon. Li estas agrabla, vi ŝatos lin.
• Niĉjo: Dankon… ĝis!

Vocabulary / Vortlisto

Esperanto	English
kie	where
Sinjoro	Mr., sir, etc.
instruisto	teacher
hodiaŭ	today
Orienta	East
Alo	Wing (of airplane, building, army, etc.)
devi	should, ought (to)
hasti	to hurry
Kio	what
instrui	to teach
scienco	science
agrabla	nice, agreeable
ŝati	to like, appreciate
ĝis	see you later

The suffix -isto

The suffix -isto, as in instruisto, denotes profession. To teach is instrui, a teacher is instruisto. Dento is a tooth, dentisto is a dentist.

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Lesson 4 | Lesson 5 | Lesson 6