161. A transitive verb has two forms or voices, the active and the passive.

(a). A verb is in the active voice when the subject is acting upon the object. The object then, being governed by the verb, must be in the accusative case; as:—Johano batis la hundon = John beat the dog. Here Johano is the subject acting upon hundon, the object; therefore hundon is in the accusative.

(b). A transitive verb is in the passive voice when the subject is acted upon; as:—La hundo estis batata de Johano = The dog was (being) beaten by John. The preposition "by" or "with," preceding the complement of a verb in the passive voice, is de or per. De is used for the agent, and per for the means or manner, as:—La domo konstruita de mia patro estas kovrita per ardezoj = The house built by my father is (having been) covered with slates.

162. An intransitive verb expresses an action confined to the actor, as:—Johano dormas = John sleeps, or, is sleeping. Intransitive verbs have therefore no object and no passive voice.

163. There is but one auxiliary verb in Esperanto, esti = to be. This verb is used to form the passive voice, and also all the compound tenses of the active voice. The verb havi = to have is in no sense an auxiliary, but is an ordinary active verb denoting ownership, and governing the accusative case, as: Mi havas libron = I have a book.

In Esperanto the following and other verbs are often used where English would usually employ "to be," viz., kuŝi = to lie; sidi = to be situate; sin trovi = to find oneself; troviĝi = to be found; stari = to stand; farti, or, stati = to be (well or ill).

Examples.—La krajono kuŝas (estas) sur la tablo = The pencil is (lies) on the table. Sur la kameno staris (estis) fera kaldrono, en kiu sin trovis (estis) bolanta akvo; tra la fenestro, kiu sin trovis (estis) apud la pordo, la vaporo iris sur la korton = On the hearth was (stood) an iron kettle, in which was (found itself) boiling water; through the window, which was near the door, steam went out into (on to) the yard. Kiel statas via tuso? = How is your cough?

164. Verbs used impersonally (senpersone) express a fact or action without indicating any person as the subject or actor. In English they are used only in the third person singular, preceded by "it," but in Esperanto they are entirely impersonal. The following are cases of their impersonal use:—

(a). Verbs which relate to the weather.

Examples.—Pluvas = It rains. Pluvos = It will rain. Fulmis = It lightened. Neĝus = It would snow. Hajlis = It hailed.

(b). Verbs which are generally used with the subject expressed, but occasionally without.

Examples.—Okazas = It happens. Ŝajnos = It will seem. Prosperis al mi trovi = It was my fortune to find.

(c). The verb esti = to be, when used with an adjective-adverb, or passive participle-adverb.

Examples.—Estas pli bone forkuri = It is better to run away. Estas dirite, ke ... = It is said that ...

(d). In the compound tenses the participle takes the adverbial form, since there is no noun or pronoun with which it can agree (see par. 245).

Examples.—Se estus pluvinte hieraŭ, ni ne estus povintaj eliri = If it had (should have) rained yesterday, we should not have been able to go out. Mi tondigos la herbon, kiam estos pluvinte = I shall get the grass cut, when it has (will have) rained.

165. Reflexive verbs show the action of the subject on itself. They are used only when the subject really acts on itself, and not, as in many other languages, on other occasions (see par. 128 on the use of the reflexive pronoun si, and par. 170, conjugation of a reflexive verb).

Examples.—Mi lavas min = I wash myself. Li lavis sin = He washed himself. Vi razos vin = You will shave yourself. Ili vestis sin = They dressed themselves.

166. When there are more subjects than one, and the act goes from one to another of the subjects, the word reciproke, or the expression unu la alian, may be used. With the latter the personal pronoun is not repeated.

Examples.—Ili batis sin reciproke, or, Ili batis unu la alian = They beat one another. Ili ĵetis terbulojn al la kapo unu de la alia = They threw clods (lumps of earth) at one another’s heads.

167. CONJUGATION OF ESTI.

The following are the simple tenses and moods of esti, by the aid of which all the compound tenses in the active voice and all the tenses in the passive voice of every verb in Esperanto are formed. The compound tenses of esti, such as mi estas estanta = I am being, etc., are very rarely used.

INFINITIVE MOOD.

Esti = to be.

PARTICIPLES.

Note that participles take the plural J and accusative N if required (see par. 207); also the adverbial E (see par. 209 (c)).

INDICATIVE MOOD.

Present.

N.B.—The pronoun ci = thou is rarely used.

Past.

Future.

CONDITIONAL MOOD.

The Conditional or US mood has no tenses (see par. 192). We can show its meaning best by using the conjunction se, which frequently introduces it. It has no time value in itself, and may relate to the past, present, or future.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

The imperative or U mood has no tenses.

The following is its form and meaning in a chief proposition (see par. 199).

The following is its meaning in a dependent proposition, which is usually introduced by the conjunction ke = that (par. 200).

168. CONJUGATION OF AN ACTIVE VERB.

The conjugation of the compound forms is given in par. 169. When simple forms sufficiently convey the meaning, they are preferable to the compound forms.

INFINITIVE MOOD.

PARTICIPLES.

INDICATIVE MOOD.

Present (Simple).

N.B.—Ci = thou is rarely used. Vi = you is used, as in English, for both singular and plural; but when vi is plural, the participle in compound tenses takes the plural J.

Past (Simple).

Mi, vi, etc., tenis = I, you, etc., held, have (or, had) held, was holding, did hold.

Future (Simple).

Mi, vi, etc., tenos = I, you, etc., shall hold, or, shall be holding.

CONDITIONAL MOOD (OR "US" MOOD).

The translation of this mood into English depends upon the context, viz., whether we use the auxiliaries "should," "would," "were," "had," or simply the English past tense. It is frequently introduced by the conjunction se = if (see pars. 190–194).

(Se) mi tenus = (If) I held, or, should hold, or, should be holding, or, were holding, or, were to hold, or, had held.

IMPERATIVE MOOD (OR "U" MOOD).

(See remarks on the Imperative mood, pars. 195–202).

169. The following shows the compound tenses in the active and passive voices, and the compound forms of the conditional and imperative moods:—For the three persons of the plural add J to the participle (see pars. 173, 174, 235, 236).

CONDITIONAL, OR "US" MOOD.

Active Voice (Compound Form) and the Passive Voice.

N.B.—In the active voice use the simple form instead of the present and past participle, unless the compound form is necessary to emphasize the meaning. For instance, in the sentence "He would not have struck me if you had held him," we use the past participle to show the anteriority, but we need not use it for the first clause; so we say:—Li ne frapus min, se vi estus teninta lin. If we use the simple form, Li ne frapus min, se vi tenus lin, it would be read:—"He would not strike me if you held him," unless the context clearly showed the action was completed. We could, however, use the adverb antaŭe instead of the compound form, and say:—Li ne frapus min, se vi antaŭe tenus lin = He would not have struck me if you had held him (lit., if you beforehand held him) (see par. 226 (a) and remarks on the Conditional mood, pars. 190–194).

IMPERATIVE, OR "U" MOOD.

Active Voice (Compound Form) and the Passive Voice.

(See remarks on the Imperative mood, pars. 195–202.)

170. CONJUGATION OF A REFLEXIVE VERB.

(INDICATIVE MOOD).

Present (Simple).

Present (Compound), with the Three Participles.

Past (Simple).

Past (Compound), with the Three Participles.

Future (Simple).

Future (Compound), with the Three Participles.

CONDITIONAL, OR "US" MOOD (Simple Form).

Conditional (Compound), with the Three Participles.

IMPERATIVE, OR "U" MOOD (Simple Form).

171 (a). The moods in Esperanto differ from those in English. They are three in number, the Conditional, Imperative, and Infinitive. Dr. Zamenhof makes no mention of any other mood. In Rule 6 (see par. 94) he mentions only the three tenses:—Present, ending in -AS, Past, in -IS, Future, in -OS; the Conditional (kondiĉa) mood in -US, the Imperative (ordona) mood in -U, and the Infinitive (sendifina) mood in -I; the three Active Participles:—Present, -ANT-, Past, -INT-, Future, -ONT-, and the three Passive Participles:—Present, -AT-, Past, -IT-, Future, -OT-. These twelve forms serve amply to represent all the various tenses and moods in English. However, to make the forms of the verb clearer to the student accustomed to the use of our indicative mood, we have called the tenses -AS, -IS, -OS, by that name.

(b). There is no Subjunctive mood, and it is not required. This mood has been defined as one governed by conjunctions, but since conjunctions have no bearing on any mood in Esperanto, it is clear that a mood, under the name of "subjunctive," is not required (see remarks on ke, par. 198).

The English Subjunctive, in the Present and Perfect, is represented by the Esperanto Imperative, and in the Pluperfect, Future, and Future Perfect, by the Esperanto Conditional mood. The auxiliaries "may" and "might" of the English Subjunctive are often rendered by the aid of such verbs as permesi, povi, or some word expressing possibility, as eble (see par. 237 (m)).

172. The mood to be used in Esperanto is determined solely by the meaning the speaker wishes to convey, and as Esperanto is a purely logical language, we must be careful not to pedantically copy our own, but to use the logical mood and tense required by the ideas we wish to convey. If, therefore, we translate English literally into Esperanto, we may, in some points, be misunderstood by a foreigner, although our translation might be perfectly clear to an Englishman. For instance, our verbs in the present and past tenses of the Indicative and Subjunctive moods have the same inflection in the first person singular and in the three persons of the plural. In Esperanto there is no such ambiguity. In such a phrase as "If they were rich, they would be happy," we must be careful to use the proper mood. Both the first and second propositions are conditional or suppositive, therefore in Esperanto the Conditional mood is logically employed, as:—Se ili estus riĉaj, ili estus feliĉaj = If they were rich, they would be happy. There is nothing of the past in the first proposition; the idea to be conveyed is of something that has not occurred, but which might occur.

173. The Infinitive mood in the active voice is formed by adding -I to the root of the verb for the simple tense, and by the auxiliary verb esti = to be with one of the active participles -ANTA, -INTA, -ONTA of the verb for the compound tenses, as:—

174. The passive voice is formed by the verb esti and one of the passive participles, -ATA, -ITA, -OTA.

Present, Esti skribata = To be written (lit., to be being-written).

Past, Esti skribita = To have been written (lit., to be having-been-written).

Future, Esti skribota = To be about to be written.

175. The Infinitive mood expresses the state of action denoted by the verb.

176. In Esperanto the infinitive is almost always used without a preposition, whereas in English the preposition "to" nearly always precedes the verb.

Examples.—Mi volas lerni danci = I wish to learn to dance. Li devigis min kuri = He compelled me to run. Mi hontas esti laŭdata de li = I am ashamed to be praised by him. Mi devas peni atingi tiun rezultaton = I must try to attain that result.

177. The only prepositions that can be used before the infinitive are:—(a). Por = To, or, in order to. (b). Anstataŭ = Instead of. (c). Antaŭ ol = Before. (d). Krom = Except, or, besides.

178. Por is used before the infinitive, when in English for the word "to" we could substitute the words "in order to" or "for to"; or, in some cases, when we could use "for" or "of" with a participle instead of the infinitive (par. 259 (24)).

Examples.—La plej bonaj metodoj por ricevi ĝin.... = The best methods to (in order to) obtain it (or, for, or, of obtaining it).... Mi havas ion por diri al vi = I have something to (for to) say to you. Kion vi havas ankoraŭ por skribi? = What have you still to (for to) write? La tempo por legi = The time to read (for reading). Tio estas malfacila por kompreni = That is difficult (for to) understand.

179. Anstataŭ, Antaŭ ol and Krom are used before the infinitive, when in English we use the participle or a simple tense.

Examples.—Anstataŭ trinki = Instead of drinking. Anstataŭ agi honeste, li fariĝis ŝtelisto = Instead of acting honestly, he became a thief. Antaŭ ol manĝi = Before eating. Antaŭ ol foriri, ili surmetis la ĉapelojn = Before going away (before they went away), they put on their (the) hats. Ne ekzistas alia bono por la homo krom manĝi kaj trinki = There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink (than eating and drinking) (Pred. II, 14; III, 12).

180. As in English, the infinitive is used:—

(a). As the subject when the act demonstrated is general.

Examples.—Erari estas home = To err is human. Bone pensi kaj bone agi sufiĉas por vivi bone kaj feliĉe = To think well and to act well suffice for living well and happily.

(b). As the complement to explain an idea.

Examples.—Vivi estas agi; kiu ne agas, tiu ne vivas = To live is to act; he who acts not, lives not. Li ĉesis kuri = He ceased to run (running, or, from running).

181. The infinitive, used thus as the subject, resembles a noun, but, of course, never takes the article before it. The qualifying word, used as its predicate, takes the adverbial -E. The infinitive, when used as the subject, can always be changed into the noun by substituting -O or -ADO for -I; the noun then takes the article, since it is used in a general sense (see 99 (a)).

Examples.—Scii estas utile = To know (or, to have knowledge) is useful; or, La scio estas utila = Knowledge is useful. Legi estas agrabla okupo, or, La legado estas agrabla okupo = Reading is an agreeable occupation.

182. The infinitive, or its noun, is used for the gerund, or a gerundial phrase in English.

Examples.—Promenadi estas sanige, or, La promenado estas saniga = Walking is healthy. Instrui infanojn diligentajn (or, La instruado al infanoj diligentaj) estas agrabla okupo = Teaching diligent children is an agreeable occupation.

183. Occasionally another mood, a participle, or the suffix -EBLA is used for our infinitive (par. 275 (c)).

Examples.—Vi bone faris, ke vi venis (or, venante) = You did well to come (that you came). Diru do al li, ke li al mi respondu = Tell him, then, to answer me. Estos pli saĝe, se ni ne piediros domen = It will be wiser not to walk (go on foot) home (lit., if we shall not walk). Estus malfacile renkontebla sindonemo pli plena, ol lia = It would be difficult to meet with more complete devotion than his. Ŝi ŝajnis (esti) forgesinta, ke ŝi estas maljunulino = She seemed to have forgotten that she was (is) an old woman.

184. Sometimes the infinitive is used when we use another mood or the participle.

Examples.—Mi prenos miajn glitilojn kaj iros por gliti = I shall take my skates and go skating. Mi ĉesos kanti, se vi farados tiom de bruo = I shall cease singing if you go on making so much noise. Mi kredis vidi ŝipon = I thought I saw a ship.

185. In the following examples it will be seen that the infinitive (present or past) is used in Esperanto after a noun, adjective, or participle, when in English a participial form is usually employed, as:—

La deziro morti = The desire of dying (to die). La ĝojo esti venkinta = The joy of having conquered. Tro laca marŝi = Too tired for walking. Lerta paroli = Clever in speaking. Bona por manĝi = Good for eating.

186. As stated in par. 171 (a), the indicative is not an Esperanto mood, but we use the name in order to explain more clearly to the English student the present, past, and future tenses of Esperanto verbs.

The Indicative mood, in the Active Voice, has three terminations, viz., -AS for the Present, -IS for the Past, and -OS for the Future simple tenses. For the Compound tenses the auxiliary verb esti = to be, is used with one of the three Active participles of the verb, -ANTA, -INTA, -ONTA.

187. The Passive Voice is formed by the auxiliary esti with one of the Passive participles, -ATA, -ITA, -OTA.

188. By the Indicative mood we express something as actually true, either affirmatively, or negatively, or interrogatively. It is therefore the mood of certainty.

Examples.—La patro venas = Father comes, or, is coming. Patrino venis = Mother came, has come, or, did come. Kiam mia frato venos, ni foriros = When my brother comes (shall come), we will go away. Se li estas malsana, mi senkulpigas lin = If he is ill, I excuse him. Li estis juste rekompencita = He had been justly rewarded. Oni devas pardoni al li = One must pardon him. Li estis amata de ĉiuj = He was (being) loved by all. Mi estas vestita du horojn = I have been dressed for two hours (lit., I am having-been-dressed two hours).

189. The Indicative is therefore obligatory in Esperanto after verbs, adjectives, participles, and nouns expressing in a positive manner what one thinks or feels about an act presented as certain.

Examples.—Mi esperas, ke li venos hodiaŭ = I hope that he will come to-day. Ŝi ne estas certa, ĉu Petro sukcesis = She is not sure whether Peter succeeded (or, has succeeded). Mi ne dubas, ke li venos = I do not doubt that he will come. Mi timas, ke la respondo alvenos, dum mi estos promenanta = I fear that the answer will arrive whilst I am (shall be) taking a walk. Mi timas, ke li venos, kaj eble difektos la ĝardenon = I fear that he will come, and possibly (perhaps) damage (or, and may damage) the garden. Mi ne dubas, ke ŝi estos vestita kiam mi alvenos = I do not doubt that she will be (will have been) dressed when I arrive. Ĉu vi opinias, ke li estas juste rekompencita? = Do you think that he has been justly rewarded?

190. In the Active Voice the Conditional mood is formed by adding -US to the root of the verb for the simple form, and by ESTUS and one of the participles -ANTA, -INTA, -ONTA for the compound forms. These compound forms are not often used.

191. In the Passive Voice it is formed by ESTUS and one of the participles -ATA, -ITA, -OTA.

192. It shows that the matter spoken of is conditional, namely, that it depends on supposition; that an act had not taken place (past), and was not taking place (present), but that it might happen or have happened if something else actually occurred. In English the pluperfect, future, and future perfect tenses of the Subjunctive mood represent the Conditional mood in Esperanto.

193. After the conjunction "if," expressing a supposition, both the chief and dependent propositions are in the Conditional mood in Esperanto, when the act is conditional.

Examples.—Se li estus riĉa, li havus multajn amikojn = If he were rich, he would have many friends. Se vi volus, vi estus feliĉa = If you wished, you would be happy. Se ni estus avertitaj, ni estus defendintaj vin = If we had been (should have been) warned, we should have defended you. Se li forirus, li riskus, ke la patrino ne trovus lin = If he went (should go) away he would risk that his (the) mother would not find him.

193. (a). Note the various ways in which estus may be translated with the present and past passive participles in the following two sentences:—

(1). Se li estus sendata Berlinon, li estus devigata lasi sian edzinon hejme.

(2). Se li estus sendita Berlinon, li estus devigita lasi sian edzinon hejme.

(1). If he were (should be) sent to Berlin he would be compelled to leave his wife at home.

(2). If he had (should have) been sent to Berlin he would have been compelled to leave his wife at home.

194. As in other languages, the Conditional is used in Esperanto to attenuate or soften an expression that would be harsh or imperative, if the verb were in the Indicative; in fact, such attenuation implies some unexpressed condition.

Example.—Mi volus, ke tiu laboro estu finita hodiaŭ vespere = I should like that work (to be) finished this evening. Here the condition might be, "if you possibly can do it" (see par. 202 as to estu, Imperative mood, for the Infinitive).

195. In the Active Voice the Imperative (or "U") mood is formed by adding -U to the root of the verb, or by estu and one of the participles -ANTA, -INTA, or -ONTA for the compound forms; but the latter are very rarely used.

196. In the Passive Voice it is formed by estu and one of the participles, -ATA, -ITA, or -OTA.

197. The "U" mood implies order (ordono), purpose (celo), entreaty (peto), wish (volo), obligation (devo), fitness (konveno), necessity (neceso), merit (merito), intention (intenco), etc. It will be seen that the Esperanto u has a wider application than what is usually understood by the "Imperative" mood, for it may indicate not only a direct command or order, but also desire or expediency of any degree, expressed or understood.

198. The ending u is used not only in a chief but also in a dependent proposition, and in the latter case it is usually introduced by the conjunction ke = that; but it must be borne in mind that conjunctions have no more influence in the Imperative than they have in other moods (pars. 171, 263), although when ke is followed by the Imperative we translate the phrase into English either by some tense of the Subjunctive mood, or, perhaps, more frequently, by the Infinitive.

199. In a chief proposition it is used to command or entreat, and when the verb of a chief proposition is in the Imperative, if the dependent proposition also contains an order of entreaty, its verb will, naturally, likewise be in the Imperative.

Examples.—Venu tien ĉi = Come here. Donu al mi tiun libron = Give me that book. Li venu tien ĉi tuj = Let him come here at once. Ni iru Parizon morgaŭ = Let us go to Paris to-morrow. Do ne maltrankviligu vin (or, Vi do ne maltrankviliĝu) pri la afero = Do not then trouble yourself about the matter. Ordonu, ke li venu = Order him to come (that he come). Diru al ŝi, ke ŝi foriru = Tell her to go away (that she go away). Atentu, ke vi ne falu = Take care not to fall (or, lest you fall). Ni ne toleru, ke li tiamaniere kontraŭstaru al ni = Let us not suffer him in that way to oppose us (or, Let us not tolerate that he oppose us in that manner). Ni zorgu, ke li nenion povu difekti = Let us take care that he can damage nothing. Diru al li, ke mi deziras, ke li estu silenta = Tell him that I desire him to be silent (that he be silent). For other examples see par. 237 (m).