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Daft question?

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Ubutumwa 5

ururimi: English

richardhall (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 31 Mukakaro 2007 09:39:25

At the risk of making myself look stupid (What do you mean, 'look'? rido.gif ), why do greetings like 'Good morning' etc take the accusative ending? I daresay that it's obvious, but it bugs me that I don't know!

Matthieu (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 31 Mukakaro 2007 09:57:30

I think that “good morning” means “I wish you a good morning.”
So, in Esperanto, “[Mi deziras al vi] bonan matenon.”

mnlg (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 31 Mukakaro 2007 12:41:43

Yes, that's correct. Other examples are "[Mi donas al vi] saluton", "[Mi ofertas al vi] miajn kondolencojn", "[Mi petas al vi] pardonon", etc.

richardhall (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 31 Mukakaro 2007 12:56:42

Thanks -- I knew it would be obvious as soon as someone explained!

EL_NEBULOSO (Kwerekana umwidondoro) 31 Mukakaro 2007 15:45:44

By the way, it's the same in German:

"Guten Tag" (good day) is accusative (nominativ would be "guter Tag") and it's also because it means "I wish you a good day". Strangely, (nearly) nobody in Germany knows, why we use the accusative.

Just another example, how Esperanto is able to also help you improve the knowledge of you own language! rido.gif

Gerald

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