The International Auxiliary Language Esperanto Part 32

Example.--_Mi pripensis pri rimedo por deturni lin de lia projekto_ = I reflected on a means of turning him from his project.

(_d_). After, by an adverbial past participle.

Example.--_"Kion ni faros?" li diris, sidinte momenton silente_ = "What shall we do?" he said, after sitting (having sat) for a moment in silence.

(_e_). Before, by antau ol and the infinitive.

Example.--_Li ludis antau ol labori_ = He played before working.

213. The participle for the adjective.

(_a_). Be careful not to use the participle terminations _-ANTA_, _-INTA_ for simple adjectives that have a form of their own. Some English words ending in "ing" and "ed" may be used either as participles or as simple adjectives. Note that the participle denotes _action_, whilst the adjective denotes _quality_, _state_, etc.

(_b_). Such words have, in Esperanto, an adjectival as well as a participial form, and we must be careful to use the right one in accordance with the sense.

Examples..--_Laboranta_ and _labora_ = Working. _Carmanta_ and _carma_ = Charming. _Interesanta_ and _interesa_ = Interesting.

_Sufokanta_ and _sufoka_ = Suffocating. _Kontentigita_ and _kontenta_ = Satisfied; pleased, content.

(_c_). Observe the difference in meaning of the following:--

_Rigardu tiun h.o.m.on, laborantan (kiu laboras) sur la kampo!_ = Look at that man, working in the field! _Rigardu tiun h.o.m.on laboran_ (better, _tiun laboriston_) _sur la kampo!_ = Look at that working-man in the field! In the first sentence, _laborantan_, the participle, denotes the action of the man: in the second, _laboran_, the adjective, denotes his state, condition, etc. _Si estas carmanta nin per sia kantado_ = She is charming us with her singing.

_Si estas carma, kiam si kantas_ = She is charming when she sings.

It would be better, instead of using the participle _carmanta_, to say, _Si carmas nin per sia kantado._ _Mi ne estas kontentigita per liaj respondoj_ = I have not been satisfied with his replies. _Mi ne estas kontenta je li_ = I am not pleased with him.

THE TENSES (La Tempoj).

The Tenses, Active Voice.

214. The Tenses indicate the time of action, and its state of completeness or incompleteness. They are either simple or compound.

The simple tenses are formed by adding -_AS_, -_IS_ or -_OS_ to the root of the verb, and the terminations remain the same for all persons and numbers. The compound tenses are formed by the auxiliary verb esti = _to be_, and one of the participles of the verb which must agree in number with its subject. Esti is conjugated in exactly the same way as all other verbs.

215. The three Tenses used in Esperanto are the Present, Past, and Future.

216. Duration of action of the verb.--(_a_). In English, to express the continuance of an action, the present participle of a transitive verb is used after the verb "to be" in all the moods and tenses--as "I am loving," or "I was (have been, shall be, should be) loving"; imperative, "Be thou loving." If great exactness as regards time be necessary, these forms can be represented in Esperanto word for word as they are in English, viz., by the compound forms, mi estas (estis, estos, estus) amanta, estu amanta.

(_a_). To show that an action is continuous or habitual, the suffix _-AD-_ may be added to the verb (see remarks on suffix _-AD-_, par.

270 (1)).

Examples.--_Si kantadas la tutan tagon_ = She keeps on singing the whole day. _La birdoj flugadis de arbo al arbo_ = The birds were (kept on) flying from tree to tree.

(_b_). The commencement of an action, or a sudden action, is shown by adding the prefix _EK-_.

Examples.--_Si ekkantis_ = She began to sing. _La lumo brilis_ = The light shone. _La lumo ekbrilis_ = The light flashed (see remarks on prefix _EK-_, par. 288).

217. Emphatic form of verb.--In English this form consists of the verb, preceded by "do" or "did," and is confined to the present and past tenses of the indicative and subjunctive moods, and the imperative mood of the active voice, as:--"I do love," "He does love," "I did love," "Do love." This form in Esperanto can be represented by the adverb ja = _indeed_, or by suitable adverbs, such as tre, tre multe, vere, certe, efektive, etc.

Examples.--_Mi ja lin amas_ = I _do_ love him. _Mi tiel multe amis sin_ = I _did_ so love her.

The Present.

218. The Present tense (simple) ends in _-AS_. It is used to express not only what is happening at the moment, but also what happens in all time, or what is understood to be present.

Examples.--_Mi kuras_ = I run, _or_ am running. _La vero ciam venkas_ = Truth always conquers. _La autoro diras en sia verko, ke_ .... = The author says in his book that.... _Kiun vi vidas?_ = Whom do you see? _Mi vidas neniun_ = I see n.o.body. _Mi foriras, car mia patro min atendas_ = I am going away, for my father awaits (_or_ expects) me. _Mi ciam levigas tre frue_ = I always get up (rise) very early. _Nenion oni faras sen peno_ = One does nothing without effort.

219. The Present in place of the Past or Future.--In Esperanto, as in other languages, the Present is often used for the Past or Future, to give vividness to an expression.

Examples.--_Mi haltas, perdante la spiron, kiam subite mi audas post mi vocon_ = I stop, losing breath, when suddenly I hear behind me a voice. _Hodiau plenaj de vivo, ni estas morgau la akiro de la tombo_ = To-day full of life, to-morrow we shall be (are) the prey (acquirement) of the tomb.

220. Esperanto logically always employs the Present, even in a phrase relating to what has past, if the action is present relatively to the time in question.

Example.--_Ciuj, kiuj sin vidis povis pensi, ke ili vidas la patrinon_ = All who saw her could think that they saw (see) her (the) mother. In this sentence, what did they think? Their thought was, "We see her mother," not "We saw her mother." The sight was present to them, hence _ili vidas_.

221. Present in place of the Past.--If it is a question of the truth of all time, or of a fact existing at the moment spoken of, English generally uses the Past tense, but in Esperanto the Present is always employed.

Examples.--_Ni eksciis, ke vi estas en Londono ok tagojn_ = We learnt that you were (are) in London for eight days. _Ni kredis, ke vi estas kuracisto_ = We believed that you were (are) a doctor. _Li instruis nin, he ciam oni devas esti indulga_ = He taught us that one must always be forbearing (merciful).

222. The Present tense (compound) is formed by the auxiliary esti = _to be_ and one of the three participles, _-ANTA_, _-INTA_, _-ONTA_. The compound tenses are seldom used in Esperanto, and their use is to be avoided if the simple tenses suffice to convey our meaning. Their use, therefore, is confined to giving exact.i.tude to the time of an action or to an idea (see par. 169).

Examples.--_Li estas vojaganta_ = He is travelling. The simple form, _Li vojagas_, might mean that he travels generally, but possibly is not at this moment on his way to any place. If, therefore, we wish to convey that he is actually on his way to some place, we use the compound form, or some additional word, as nun, e.g., _li nun vojagas. Kiam la abeloj estas forflugontaj, ili zumadas laute_ = When bees are about to fly away, they (are accustomed to) hum loudly (see par. 216 (_a_)). _Esti skribanta_ = To be writing.

The Past.

223. The Past tense (simple) ends in -_IS_. It expresses something that has pa.s.sed. It is used for the three tenses in English; the past, imperfect, and perfect; and sometimes for the pluperfect, if its use does not cause ambiguity.

Examples.--_Mi skribis_ = I wrote, I was writing, _or_, I have written. _Li venis antau du horoj_ = He came two hours ago. _Pluvis hierau_ = It rained yesterday. _Se li estis malsana, li ne povis veni_ = If he was ill, he could not come. _Cu vi lin vidis?_ = Did you see (_or_, have you seen) him? _Li foriris, antau ol mi alvenis_ = He had left before I arrived. _Mi promenis hierau, kaj renkontis vian amikon_ = I took a walk (_or_, I was walking, better _promenadis_) yesterday, and met your friend.

224. The Past tense (compound) is formed by the auxiliary verb esti = _to be_ and one of the three participles, _-ANTA_, _-INTA_, _-ONTA_. This form should not be used when the simple form suffices to convey the required meaning. It is better employed only when we wish to give to an expression more exact.i.tude as regards the state of the subject at the time of the princ.i.p.al action than is conveyed by the simple form (see pars. 169, 226 (_a_)).

Examples.--_Kiam li estis fininta sian laboron, li iris hejmen_ = When he had finished his work, he went home. _Mi estis skribanta leteron, kiam okazis tertremo_ = I was writing a letter when an earthquake took place. _Ili interkonsentis kaj estis enirontaj la landon, sed io okazis, kio ilin malhelpis_ = They mutually agreed, and were about to enter the country, but something happened which prevented them.

225. To show that something has just happened, or is very soon going to happen, the words jus = _just_, or tuj = _immediately_, are often used respectively.

Examples.--_Mi jus vidis tre belan pentrajon_ = I have just seen a very beautiful picture. _Ni estis tuj elirontaj, kiam ekpluvis_ = We were on the point of (_or_, just) going out when it began to rain.

226. The past tense of esti (estis) and the past participle (_-INTA_) of the verb correspond with the pluperfect in English. It denotes an action that was completed at a time now past. As before stated, it need not be employed when the simple past tense in _-IS_ sufficiently expresses the meaning wished to be conveyed.

Examples.--_Kiam si estis rakontinta cion, kio okazis, si ekploris_ = When she had related everything that happened, she began to weep. Here, in English, we should probably say "everything that _had_ happened," but "_cion, kio estis okazinta_" is unnecessary in Esperanto, as the meaning is quite clear with "_okazis_." _Li ne estis parolinta du sekundojn, kiam mi diris al li "Silentu!"_ = He had not spoken for two seconds when I said to him, "Be silent!"

226 (_a_). The adverb antaue = _beforehand_ (or jam, or jam antaue) is sometimes used with the past and future simple tenses, or with the simple forms of the Conditional or Imperative mood, instead of the compound tenses or forms (see Part III, Exercise 8).

Examples.--_Kiam vi eniris en la cambron, la gastoj jam antaue foriris (or, estis foririntaj)_ = When you entered the room, the guests had departed (lit., already beforehand departed). _Kiam vi venos al mi, mi jam antaue finos_ (or, _estos fininta_) _la laboron_ = When you have (will) come to me, I shall have finished the work.

_Li ne acetus la libron, se vi antaue ne donus_ (or, _estus doninta_) _al li la monon_ = He would not have bought the book unless you had given him the money (lit., if you beforehand should not give him the money).

The Future.

227. The Future (simple) ends in _-OS_. The future (compound) is formed by the auxiliary esti and one of the three participles, _-ANTA_, _-INTA_, _-ONTA_, but the compound form should be used only when we wish to express anteriority, that is to say, action taking place previous to that of the princ.i.p.al action.