Esti “to be” is one of Esperanto's most frequent verbs, but unlike English be, it is completely regular. It links a subject to an identity or description, locates it, presents existence, builds impersonal descriptions, and combines with participles. It never changes for person or number.
All simple forms and core uses are foundational standard Esperanto. Heavy compound tenses are grammatical but less frequent than the corresponding simple forms unless their aspectual contrast matters.
Complete simple paradigm
The stem est- takes the ordinary six verb endings.
| Form | Value | Example |
|---|---|---|
| esti | infinitive | Mi volas esti preta. |
| estas | present fact/state | Mi estas preta. |
| estis | past fact/state | Mi estis preta. |
| estos | future fact/state | Mi estos preta. |
| estus | imagined/conditional state | Mi estus preta. |
| estu | wanted/volitive state | Estu preta! |
Mi estas hejme, sed miaj kolegoj estas ankoraŭ en la oficejo.
I am at home, but my colleagues are still in the office.
The form estas serves mi, vi, li, ŝi, ĝi, ni, ili, and any noun subject. -Us does not mean past: estus presents an imagined state. -U does not mean future: estu presents a state as wanted.
Se mi estus libera morgaŭ, mi venus kun vi.
If I were free tomorrow, I would come with you.
Estu singarda sur la malseka ŝtuparo.
Be careful on the wet stairs.
Linking a subject to a property
With an adjective complement, esti attributes a property or state to the subject. The adjective agrees in number with a noun or pronoun subject and takes no accusative -n.
La kafo estas varma, sed la tasoj estas malvarmaj.
The coffee is hot, but the cups are cold.
Ĉu la dokumentoj estas pretaj? — Jes, ili estas pretaj por subskribo.
Are the documents ready? — Yes, they are ready to be signed.
Pretaj is plural because it describes dokumentoj/ili. Estas itself does not agree. The complement is not an object: it says what the subject is like rather than naming something affected by an action.
Adjectives after esti can take their own conventional complements: esti certa pri la rezulto, esti preta por la vojaĝo, esti simila al sia patro, esti plena de akvo. Those prepositions belong to the adjective's meaning, not to esti itself.
Mi ne estas certa pri la adreso, do mi kontrolos ĝin denove.
I'm not sure about the address, so I'll check it again.
For the full agreement and -a/-e contrast, see Adjectives after Esti.
Classification and identity with a noun
A noun complement classifies or identifies the subject. It remains nominative.
Mia fratino estas arkitekto kaj laboras en urboplanada oficejo.
My sister is an architect and works in an urban-planning office.
Tiu estas la libro, kiun mi menciis hieraŭ.
That is the book I mentioned yesterday.
Bare arkitekto classifies the sister by profession. Definite la libro identifies a particular referent. Neither is an accusative object, because esti is a linking, intransitive verb.
Esperanto often omits an article before professions, nationalities used as classifications, and other category nouns after esti. The article appears when the complement identifies a contextually unique person or thing: Ŝi estas kuracisto but Ŝi estas la kuracisto, kiu operaciis min.
See Nouns Used Predicatively for class, identity, semantic number, and object-predicate constructions.
Location and situation
Esti plus a place expression means “be located, be present.”
Kie estas la ŝlosiloj? — Ili estas sur la malgranda breto apud la pordo.
Where are the keys? — They are on the small shelf beside the door.
Ni estos ĉe la stacidomo dek minutojn antaŭ la foriro.
We will be at the station ten minutes before departure.
Static location uses ordinary location marking: en la ĉambro, sur la tablo, ĉe la stacidomo, hejme. Directional -n does not belong after static esti: Mi estas hejme, not hejmen.
Location can be abstract:
La projekto estas en danĝero pro la manko de financado.
The project is in danger because of the lack of funding.
The prepositional phrase supplies the situation; it is not an object of esti.
Existence and presentation
Esti can assert that something exists, is present, or is available. The introduced entity often follows the verb.
Estas problemo kun la reta pago.
There is a problem with the online payment.
En la kvartalo estas du bakejoj, sed ne estas apoteko.
There are two bakeries in the neighborhood, but there is no pharmacy.
English uses dummy there and changes is/are. Esperanto uses invariant estas and no dummy pronoun. Problemo, du bakejoj, and apoteko are presentational subjects, not objects, so they have no -n.
Word order shifts the information structure:
Sur la tablo estas pakaĵo por vi. La pakaĵo estas de via onklino.
There is a package for you on the table. The package is from your aunt.
The first sentence introduces the package; the second starts from that now-known subject. Ekzisti makes existence itself explicit—Ekzistas aliaj solvoj—while existential esti is particularly natural for immediate presence or availability.
Existential Clauses develops presentational word order and the difference from ordinary location.
Impersonal esti plus an adverb
When no noun subject is being described, esti combines with an adverbial complement.
Estas tro varme ĉi tie; ĉu ni povas malfermi la fenestron?
It is too warm here; can we open the window?
Estas grave, ke ĉiuj ricevu la saman informon.
It is important that everyone receive the same information.
Varme describes the ambient situation. Grave evaluates the entire following proposition. An adjective would require a noun subject: La ĉambro estas varma; La informo estas grava.
Time and calendar statements use esti without English dummy it:
Estas jam la oka, kaj hodiaŭ estas vendredo.
It is already eight o'clock, and today is Friday.
Esti as a participial auxiliary
Esperanto has six core participles for transitive action verbs and three active participles for any suitable verb. Esti + participle builds compound active forms and the ordinary participial passive.
Kiam vi alvenos, mi estos fininta la raporton.
When you arrive, I will have finished the report.
La ponto estas riparata nun kaj estos remalfermita vendrede.
The bridge is being repaired now and will be reopened on Friday.
In estos fininta, future estos locates the reference time and fininta presents the finishing as already completed relative to it. In estas riparata, passive riparata presents an ongoing process; estos remalfermita presents a future state resulting from completion.
Active compounds such as Mi estas laboranta are grammatical, but simple Mi laboras is normally preferred when present time is all that matters. The compound deliberately portrays the subject as being in a participial state and is therefore heavier.
Mi laboras nun; mi telefonos al vi post duonhoro.
I'm working now; I'll call you in half an hour.
Never put a bare infinitive after esti to copy English be working / be going. Esperanto puts the tense ending directly on the lexical verb unless a real participial construction is intended.
The passive system is treated in detail under the Esti Passive.
Participles and derivatives of est-
Because esti has no direct object, it has active but no ordinary passive participles.
| Form | Core meaning | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| estanta | being/existing at the reference time | la nun estanta situacio |
| estinta | having formerly been | estinta prezidanto |
| estonta | going to be / future | estonta kunveno |
| estante | while being | adverbial circumstance |
| estinte | having been | earlier circumstance |
| estonte | in future / while going to be | often lexicalized as “in the future” |
Estante nova en la urbo, ŝi ofte petis helpon pri la buslinioj.
Being new to the city, she often asked for help with the bus routes.
Frequent family members include estado “state/continued existence,” estaĵo “being, entity,” ĉeesti “be present,” foresti “be absent,” and their nouns ĉeesto, foresto.
Pro malsano mi forestis de la laboro dum tri tagoj, sed morgaŭ mi ĉeestos la kunvenon.
Because of illness I was absent from work for three days, but tomorrow I will attend the meeting.
Ĉeesti conventionally takes the event as a direct object: ĉeesti la kunvenon. The causative estigi means “cause to exist, bring about” and is common in more abstract prose:
La subita ŝanĝo estigis multajn demandojn inter la dungitoj.
The sudden change gave rise to many questions among the employees.
This use is neutral in (formal) and (academic) writing; everyday speech may prefer kaŭzis or kreis according to the intended meaning.
Frequent collocations
Useful high-frequency combinations include:
| Collocation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| esti preta por | be ready for |
| esti certa pri | be sure about |
| esti en ordo | be all right / in order |
| esti respondeca pri | be responsible for |
| esti de iu | be from/by/belong to someone, as context determines |
| esti el materialo | be made of a material |
Ĉu ĉio estas en ordo? — Jes, ni estas pretaj por komenci.
Is everything all right? — Yes, we are ready to begin.
The exact preposition expresses the relation. La ringo estas el arĝento names material; La letero estas de Marta can name source or authorship.
Omission and verbification
Standard Esperanto keeps esti in linking clauses. Contracted forms such as 'stas and proposals to use bare as as a replacement remain (experimental/poetic) rather than neutral usage.
Esperanto can sometimes replace esti + adjective/adverb with an established verb: esti necesa / esti necese → necesi, esti malsana → malsani, and esti kuraĝa → kuraĝi. This is safe only where the resulting verb has a conventional, clear meaning. Do not assume that every adjective root used verbally simply means “be adjective”: ori means “coat with gold,” not “be golden.”
Common Mistakes
Adding accusative to a predicate noun
❌ Mia patro estas instruiston.
Incorrect — instruisto classifies the subject and is not an object.
✅ Mia patro estas instruisto.
My father is a teacher.
Conjugating esti for plural
❌ La infanoj estasj lacaj.
Incorrect — the verb is invariant; only the adjective agrees.
✅ La infanoj estas lacaj.
The children are tired.
Copying an English be + infinitive form
❌ Mi estas atendi la buson.
Incorrect — Esperanto puts present -as directly on the action verb.
✅ Mi atendas la buson.
I am waiting for the bus.
Adding dummy ĝi to an existential clause
❌ Ĝi estas du eraroj en la raporto.
Incorrect — ĝi would refer to a specific thing and cannot mean existential ‘there’.
✅ Estas du eraroj en la raporto.
There are two errors in the report.
Using directional accusative for a static location
❌ La direktoro estas en la oficejon.
Incorrect — esti describes location, not movement into the office.
✅ La direktoro estas en la oficejo.
The director is in the office.
Key Takeaways
- Esti is fully regular: esti, estas, estis, estos, estus, estu, with no person or number agreement.
- It links subjects to adjective and noun complements, which are predicates rather than accusative objects.
- It expresses static location, introduces existential subjects, and forms subjectless conditions with adverbs.
- Esti + participle creates compound active forms and participial passives; esti + infinitive is not an English-style auxiliary pattern.
- Active participles and derivatives such as estinta, estonta, ĉeesti, foresti, and estigi extend the same regular root.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- No Person or Number AgreementB1 — Learn why every Esperanto verb ending remains unchanged across subjects and where person and number are expressed instead.
- Adjectives after EstiB2 — How predicative adjectives after esti describe the subject, agree in number, and remain outside the accusative.
- Copular ClausesB1 — Use esti and related linking verbs to connect a subject with an unmarked description, identity, location, origin, or other predicative expression.
- Existential ClausesB2 — Present people, things, and situations with existential estas while keeping existence distinct from location and identification.
- The Esti-PassiveB1 — Form the standard Esperanto passive with esti plus an agreeing passive participle, while keeping tense and event phase separate.