The active future participle -ont- describes the doer before an action begins. It often presents someone as about to act, intending to act, or expected to act; unlike the ordinary -os future, it focuses on the participant's preparatory state at a reference point.
The Pre-Action Viewpoint
The active participles let you view the same participant at three stages of an action.
| Form | Viewpoint | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ant- | during the action | la parolanta gasto — the guest speaking |
| -int- | after the action | la parolinta gasto — the guest who spoke |
| -ont- | before the action | la parolonta gasto — the guest who is going to speak |
La parolonta gasto kontrolis siajn notojn antaŭ ol iri sur la scenejon.
The guest who was about to speak checked her notes before going on stage.
Ĉu la baldaŭ forirontaj pasaĝeroj jam povas eniri la trajnon?
Can the passengers who will soon depart board the train now?
The speech and departure have not started at the relevant moment. The participant is nevertheless connected to the anticipated action by intention, arrangement, expectation, or immediate circumstances.
That last nuance matters. -Ont- is not simply a decorative replacement for every future verb. Mi skribos al ŝi morgaŭ states a future action. Mi estas skribonta al ŝi describes my present state as ready or intending to write, roughly “I am about to write to her.”
Mi skribos al ŝi morgaŭ, kiam mi havos la adreson.
I will write to her tomorrow when I have the address.
Mi estas skribonta al ŝi nun; ĉu vi volas aldoni ion?
I am about to write to her now; do you want to add anything?
Building -ONT- Forms
Attach -ont- to the verb root, then use the ordinary ending for an adjective, adverb, or noun.
| Ending | Form from vojaĝi | Function |
|---|---|---|
| -a | vojaĝonta | adjective: going/about to travel |
| -e | vojaĝonte | adverb: when/about to travel |
| -o | vojaĝonto | noun: a prospective traveler |
Adjectival -ONTA
An -onta adjective agrees with its noun in number and case. It can include complements just like the underlying verb.
Ni renkontiĝis kun la fakuloj prelegontaj pri artefarita inteligenteco.
We met the experts who were going to lecture on artificial intelligence.
La venontan semajnon mi laboros de hejme.
Next week I will work from home.
Venonta is a highly conventional use: la venonta semajno, la venonta jaro, and venontfoje all present a period or occasion as approaching. Other -onta adjectives can be created productively when the pre-action perspective is relevant.
Ŝi adiaŭis la elirontajn gastojn apud la pordo.
She said goodbye to the guests who were about to leave by the door.
The guests themselves will leave, so the active participle fits. A phrase such as elironta pordo would instead be semantically wrong: a door does not itself exit. Productive morphology does not remove the need to check participant roles.
Adverbial -ONTE
An adverbial -onte clause presents the main-clause subject just before another action. It often supplies a circumstance such as preparation, intention, or an action interrupted before it began.
Forironte, ŝi kontrolis, ĉu ĉiuj fenestroj estas fermitaj.
Just before leaving, she checked whether all the windows were closed.
Telefononte al la kuracisto, mi trovis lian mesaĝon en mia poŝtelefono.
As I was about to call the doctor, I found his message on my phone.
As with every adverbial participle, the understood subject must be the subject of the main clause: ŝi will leave and checks; mi was going to call and found the message. If the intended actor is different, use a full clause.
The construction is neutral and concise, though less frequent in casual conversation than antaŭ ol or ĝuste kiam ... estis faronta. It is particularly useful in narrative prose.
Nominal -ONTO
The noun -onto names a prospective active participant. It normally refers to a person and can take plural and accusative endings.
La vojaĝontoj ricevis liston de bezonataj dokumentoj.
The prospective travelers received a list of required documents.
La prezidonto prezentis sian programon al la membroj.
The future president presented their platform to the members.
Such nouns are fully grammatical but vary in conventionality. Kandidato may be more idiomatic than a newly coined participial noun in many electoral contexts, while vojaĝonto, parolonto, and aĉetonto are transparent when a particular future action is salient. Esperanto word-building gives you an option, not an obligation to replace an established noun.
-ONT- with ESTI and Relative Time
The tense of esti establishes the reference point. -Ont- places the action after that point.
| Form | Relationship |
|---|---|
| estas forironta | is now about/intending to leave |
| estis forironta | was then about/intending to leave |
| estos forironta | will then be about/intending to leave |
La kunveno estas komenconta; bonvolu silentigi viajn telefonojn.
The meeting is about to begin; please silence your phones.
Mi estis elironta, kiam subite estingiĝis ĉiuj lumoj.
I was about to go out when all the lights suddenly went off.
Je la sesa morgaŭ ni estos ekveturontaj, do telefonu pli frue.
At six tomorrow we will be about to set off, so call earlier.
Notice that estis elironta does not guarantee that the speaker actually left. It describes a past intention or imminent action, and the following interruption may prevent it. This makes estis ...-onta, kiam/sed... especially useful.
Mi estis mendonta la pli multekostan modelon, sed la vendisto rekomendis ĉi tiun.
I was going to order the more expensive model, but the salesperson recommended this one.
English “was going to” can also express a loose plan. Esperanto can use estis mendonta, but intencis mendi or planis mendi may state that meaning more directly when no immediate pre-action state is intended.
Compound -ont- forms are grammatically regular but not equally common. Estas komenconta and past estis faronta ... sed are useful; elaborate future forms such as estos estinta faronta burden the listener. In ordinary communication, prefer baldaŭ, intencas, planas, or a simple future when they express the intended relationship cleanly.
Active -ONT- versus Passive -OT-
Voice still depends on participant role. -Ont- describes the future doer; -ot- describes the thing that is to receive the action.
La arkitekto projektonta la bibliotekon vizitis la terenon.
The architect who is going to design the library visited the site.
La biblioteko projektota de ŝi servos tri kvartalojn.
The library to be designed by her will serve three neighborhoods.
The architect designs; the library is designed. The passive future participle often translates English “to be done,” “due to be done,” or “that will be done.” See the passive future participle -ot- for that affected-participant perspective.
Common Mistakes
Replacing every future verb with ESTI + -ONTA
❌ Morgaŭ mi estos aĉetos panon ĉe la superbazaro.
Incorrect — do not copy English ‘will buy’ with two finite verbs.
✅ Morgaŭ mi aĉetos panon ĉe la superbazaro.
Tomorrow I will buy bread at the supermarket.
Using -ONTA for an action already underway
❌ Ne interrompu ŝin; ŝi estas parolonta nun.
Incorrect for the intended meaning if she has already begun speaking.
✅ Ne interrompu ŝin; ŝi parolas nun.
Do not interrupt her; she is speaking now.
Confusing the doer with the affected object
❌ La raporto publikigonta morgaŭ jam estas preta.
Incorrect — the report will not publish something itself.
✅ La raporto publikigota morgaŭ jam estas preta.
The report to be published tomorrow is already ready.
Giving -ONTE a different subject
❌ Forironte, la telefono eksonoris.
Incorrect — this says the telephone was about to leave.
✅ Kiam mi estis forironta, la telefono eksonoris.
When I was about to leave, the telephone started ringing.
Assuming the planned action happened
❌ Ĉar ŝi estis aliĝonta, ŝi certe aliĝis.
Incorrect inference — -onta expresses the pre-action state, not completion.
✅ Ŝi estis aliĝonta, sed poste ŝanĝis sian decidon.
She was going to register, but later changed her mind.
Key Takeaways
- -ont- presents the active participant before an action begins, often with imminence, intention, preparation, or expectation.
- -onta, -onte, and -onto are adjectival, adverbial, and nominal forms.
- The action is future relative to a reference point: estis forironta is a past pre-action state, not a future tense form.
- A simple -os verb normally states a future event more directly; esti + -onta foregrounds the doer's pre-action state.
- Use active -ont- for the prospective doer and passive -ot- for the prospective affected object.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- The Six Participles: A System MapB1 — Map Esperanto's six participles by voice and relative time, then use them as adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and compound verb forms.
- Active Present Participle -ANT-B1 — Learn how -ant- presents the doer of an action while that action is in progress or regularly repeated.
- Active Past Participle -INT-B1 — Use -int- to present the doer of an action after that action has been completed relative to another point in time.
- Passive Future Participle -OT-C1 — Use -ot- for an object whose action is still ahead relative to the reference point, without confusing prospect with obligation.
- Relative Time in ParticiplesC2 — Interpret participial time relative to the described situation, separating ongoing, completed, and prospective action from calendar tense.
- Compound Active TensesB1 — Combine esti with active participles to express ongoing, completed, or prospective action relative to a chosen reference point.