Passive: estas + -ita
Passive Results
The thing that received the action is now in the state the action left behind.
How It Works
| Participle | What it shows | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ata | the action goes on or repeats | La pordo estas fermata. (someone is closing it) |
| -ita | the action is done and the result stays | La pordo estas fermita. (it is shut) |
A quick test helps. If the sentence still works with "once and for all", choose -ita. If it still works with "little by little" or "again and again", choose -ata.
An -ita sentence often describes the result at a given moment, and the finishing may lie before that moment: Kiam ni alvenis, ĉiuj biletoj estis jam venditaj. The tickets were sold before we came.
A thing that receives the action takes a passive participle. With -inta the subject does the action: La viro estas skribinta means the man has written.
Examples (4)
- La pordo estas fermita; ni ne povas eniri.
The door is closed; we cannot go in.
The closing is done, and the result is a shut door.
- La letero estis skribita hieraŭ vespere.
The letter was written yesterday evening.
The writing was completed, and the letter now exists.
- La laboro estos finita antaŭ la kongreso.
The work will be finished before the congress.
Estos finita looks ahead to a finished result.
- Kiam ni alvenis, ĉiuj biletoj estis jam venditaj.
When we arrived, all the tickets had already been sold.
The selling was complete before we came, and venditaj agrees with biletoj.
Common Mistakes
Using the active -inta for a thing that receives the action.
La letero estis skribinta hieraŭ vespere.La letero estis skribita hieraŭ vespere.With -inta the subject does the action, so the first sentence says the letter wrote something. A thing that receives the action takes -ita.
Leaving -j off the participle after a plural subject.
Ĉiuj biletoj estis vendita.Ĉiuj biletoj estis venditaj.The participle agrees with the subject like an adjective after estas, so biletoj needs venditaj.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Estas with -ita makes a passive sentence with a finished result.
Related Patterns
Practice Passive: estas + -ita in Bubblegum
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