-anta

-anta: Doing Now

Level 4

-anta means doing the action at the time of the main verb.

How It Works

VerbParticipleMeaning
dormidormantasleeping
paroliparolantaspeaking
kantikantantasinging
legilegantareading

La dormanta kato means the same as la kato, kiu dormas, with fewer words. It acts like any adjective, so it agrees: la dormantaj katoj, la dormantan katon. A participle can keep its own object, which still takes -n: la knabo leganta libron (the boy reading a book).

The time is the time of the main verb, not of the moment you speak. In Mi vidis la laborantan Hiron, Hiro was working when I saw him.

Examples (5)

  1. La dormanta kato estas sur la seĝo.

    The sleeping cat is on the chair.

    Dormanta describes the cat that sleeps now.

  2. Ĉu vi vidas la parolantan viron apud la pordo?

    Do you see the man who is speaking by the door?

    Parolantan agrees with viron, so it has -n.

  3. Kofi aŭskultas la kantantan birdon.

    Kofi is listening to the singing bird.

    Kantantan describes the bird that sings.

  4. La kantantaj infanoj estas gastoj en nia klubo.

    The singing children are guests in our club.

    Kantantaj has -j because infanoj is plural.

  5. Mi vidis la laborantan Hiron.

    I saw Hiro, who was working.

    The working takes place at the time of vidis.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out -j on a participle.

    La dormanta katoj estas sur la seĝo.
    La dormantaj katoj estas sur la seĝo.

    A participle is an adjective, so it takes -j when the noun is plural.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-antaLevel 4-anta: Doing Now

Learn This First

-anta is the first of the participles.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.