The Tenses, Passive Voice.
233. The tenses of the passive voice are formed by the simple tenses of the auxiliary verb esti and the passive participles, -ATA, -ITA, -OTA. All the tenses are therefore compound. As with the active participles, J is added to the three persons of the plural in all the tenses.
234. The signification of the tenses is the same as in the active voice, except, of course, that the subject of a passive verb is acted upon. Since esti is the only auxiliary verb used in Esperanto, it represents the two English auxiliaries, "to be" and "to have"; we must, therefore, translate it accordingly.
235. Care must be taken in the use of these participles. For instance, the participles of skribi = to write used alone mean—
Present, Skribata = Written, or, being written (action going on).
Past, Skribita = Written, or, been written (lit., having been written) (action completed).
Future, Skribota = About to be, or, going to be, written (action about to occur).
236. The various tenses of the verb esti show the time of the action, and the three participles the state of the subject at that time. Note carefully the various shades of meaning in the following examples:—
La pordego estas fermata, ĉar la ludo estas ludota = The gate is being shut, for the game is about to be played.
La pordego estas fermita, ĉar la ludo estas ludata = The gate is (or, has been) shut, for the game is being played.