The International Auxiliary Language Esperanto Part 29

IMPERATIVE, OR "U" MOOD.

Active Voice (Compound Form) and the Pa.s.sive Voice.

(Por ke) mi estu tenanta = _(In order that) I may be holding._

(Por ke) mi estu tenata = _(In order that) I may be held._

(Por ke) mi estu teninta = _(In order that) I may have held_, or, _might hold_.

(Por ke) mi estu tenita = _(In order that) I may have been held_, or, _might be held_.

(Por ke) mi estu tenonta = _(In order that) I may be about to hold._

(Por ke) mi estu tenota = _(In order that) I may be about to be held._

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

170. CONJUGATION OF A REFLEXIVE VERB.

(INDICATIVE MOOD).

Present (Simple).

Singular. Mi lavas min = _I wash myself._ Vi lavas vin = _You wash yourself._ Li, si, gi, lavas sin = _He, she, it washes himself_, _herself, itself_.

Plural. Ni lavas nin = _We wash ourselves._ Vi lavas vin = _You_, _ye wash yourselves._ Ili lavas sin = _They wash themselves._

Present (Compound), with the Three Participles.

Ili ne estas lavantaj sin = _They are not was.h.i.+ng themselves._ Cu ni estas lavintaj nin? = _Have we washed ourselves?_ (lit., _are we having washed ourselves?_) Mi estas lavonta min = _I am about_ (or, _going_) _to wash myself_.

Past (Simple).

Si ne lavis sin = _She did not wash herself._ Cu ni lavis nin? = _Did we wash ourselves?_ Cu ili ne lavis sin? = _Did they not wash themselves?_

Past (Compound), with the Three Participles.

Kiam vi estis lavantaj vin? = _When were you was.h.i.+ng yourselves?_ Ni estis lavintaj nin = _We had washed ourselves._ Kiam li estis lavonta sin? = _When was he about_ (or, _going_) _to wash himself_?

Future (Simple).

Cu ni lavos nin? = _Shall we wash ourselves?_ Li ne lavos sin = _He will not wash himself._

Future (Compound), with the Three Participles.

Si estos lavanta sin = _She will be was.h.i.+ng herself._ Kiam li estos lavinta sin? = _When will he have washed himself?_ Mi estos lavonta min = _I shall be about_ (or, _going_) _to wash myself_.

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

Se li lavus sin = _If he should wash himself._ Cu si lavus sin, se...? = _Would she wash herself, if...?_

Conditional (Compound), with the Three Participles.

Se ni estus lavantaj nin kiam.... = _If we should be was.h.i.+ng ourselves when_....

Cu ili estus lavintaj sin, se.... = _Would they have washed themselves if_...?

Se li estus lavonta sin kiam.... = _If he should be about to wash himself when_....

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

Singular. Mi lavu min = _Let me wash myself._ Mi ne lavu min = _Let me not wash myself._ Lavu vin = _Wash yourself._ Ne lavu vin = _Do not wash yourself._ Li lavu sin = _Let him wash himself._ Li ne lavu sin = _Let him not wash himself._ Plural. Ni lavu nin = _Let us wash ourselves._ Ni ne lavu nin = _Let us not wash ourselves._ Lavu vin = _Wash yourselves._ Ne lavu vin = _Do not wash yourselves._ Ili lavu sin = _Let them wash themselves._ Ili ne lavu sin = _Let them not wash themselves._

MOODS (Modoj).

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 (kondica) 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 Pa.s.sive 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 ricaj, ili estus felicaj = _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.

THE INFINITIVE MOOD (Sendifina Modo).

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:--

Present (simple), Skribi = _To write_.

Present (compound), Esti skribanta = _To be writing_ (lit., _to be being-writing_).

Past (compound), Esti skribinta = _To have written_ (lit., _to be having-written_).

Future (compound), Esti skribonta = _To be about to write_ (lit., _to be being-about-to-write_).

174. The pa.s.sive voice is formed by the verb esti and one of the pa.s.sive 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 laudata de li_ = I am ashamed to be praised by him. _Mi devas peni atingi tiun rezultaton_ = I must try to attain that result.