Have Done and Doing

Level 3

One simple tense covers the English perfect and the English -ing form.

How It Works

English	Esperanto
I eat / I am eating	Mi manĝas.
I ate / I have eaten	Mi manĝis. / Mi jam manĝis.
I have been learning for two years	Mi lernas jam du jarojn.

Jam adds the idea of already. Mi jam manĝis puts the eating before now. Mi lernas Esperanton jam du jarojn says that the learning started two years ago and still goes on.

Esperanto has no havi plus a past verb, and no estas plus -is. A longer compound with estas plus a participle exists, and you will meet it at Level 4, but the simple tenses are almost always enough.

Examples (4)

Mi jam manĝis.
I have already eaten.
Mi manĝis with jam covers the English have eaten.
Ni lernas Esperanton jam du jarojn.
We have been learning Esperanto for two years.
The present tense with jam shows that it is still going on, and du jarojn takes -n because it says how long.
Nun Kofi skribas leteron al sia fratino.
Kofi is writing a letter to his sister now.
The simple present covers the English -ing form.
Ĉu vi jam vidis la urbon?
Have you seen the city yet?
Jam and the simple past ask the English perfect question.

Common Mistakes

Building the perfect with havi.
Mi havas manĝis.
Mi manĝis.
Esperanto does not build the perfect with havi. The simple past does the job.
Using estas with a past verb.
Mi estas iris.
Mi iris.
Estas is not followed by a finite verb. Say iris, or use a participle later at Level 4.

How It Connects

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

Have Done and DoingLevel 3

Learn This First

Whether something is finished or still going on shows in the choice of tense and time word.

jam, ankoraŭ, ne pluAlready, Still, No Longer
Know jam and ankoraŭ, since these time words show whether something is finished or still going on.
Level 3

Practice Have Done and Doing in Bubblegum

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