espérant

Espérant is the present participle of the French verb espérer, which means to hope. As a participle, it conveys ongoing or progressive sense in English words such as “hoping.” It can also function as an adjective meaning “hopeful,” describing a noun and agreeing in gender and number with it.

Etymology and formation: Espérer comes from Old French esperer, itself from Latin sperare, “to hope.” The present participle is formed with the suffix -ant, giving espérant for masculine singular, and espérante for feminine singular. In practice, espérant appears most often in phrases that translate roughly as “hoping” or “hopeful.”

Usage notes: Espérant is frequently used in subordinate clauses or phrases to indicate intention or expectation. For example, Il avançait, espérant atteindre son objectif means “He advanced, hoping to reach his objective.” The construction en espérant is common in written French to denote a manner or condition, as in En espérant des résultats positifs, l’équipe a poursuivi le projet (“Hoping for positive results, the team continued the project”). When used as an adjective, it agrees with the noun: une personne espérante (a hopeful person) vs. un homme espérant in a more limited sense.

Translations and relation to related terms: Espérant translates most directly as “hoping” or “hopeful.” It is distinct from espéré, the past participle used in passive or future-in-the-past senses, often seen in expressions like résultats espérés (“hoped-for results”). The related noun espérance means “hope” or “expectation,” and the noun espoir also covers similar meanings.

See also: espérance, espérer, espoir, French present participles.