Til innholdet
Svare

How to say "It makes sense" in Esperanto?

fra bryanwag,2012 11 11

Meldinger: 42

Språk: English

Chainy (Å vise profilen) 2012 11 12 10:38:17

Regarding 'sense', I've just been tidying up the Lernu dictionary entry. It now looks like this:
sense = (meaning) senco; (common sense) prudento; (faculty) sens-o, sentum-o, -i, sensorgano; (to feel) senti; to make sense: havi sencon
Do you think that's ok? It seems that ReVo prefers 'sentumo' rather than 'senso', but I've left the latter in as it appears in Wells, Vortaro.net and Kondratjev.

I agree with the others in this thread that 'havi sencon' is the common way of saying 'to make sense', so I've included this in the entry, too.

orthohawk (Å vise profilen) 2012 11 12 15:55:41

J_Marc:

It makes no sense! = nonsense = "volapukaĵo!" I think "malvolapukaĵo", though it literally makes sense, would be pushing it, though!
Well, then, let's push it one more step! "Tio malvolapukaĵas!"

jcelko (Å vise profilen) 2012 11 29 21:07:00

bryanwag:I wonder if there is any similar expression in Esperanto? If not, how to translate it then?
Tio estas logika

Vestitor (Å vise profilen) 2012 12 3 05:13:15

jchthys:
sudanglo:Tio verŝajnus, I would translate as 'that would seem likely'.
…which is what "that would make sense" really means, when you think about it.
I've just thought about it and I don't think they're interchangeable in meaning at all, except perhaps in a colloquial sense. Likely is referring to probability, whereas something making sense is about it being comprehensible or tallying with expectation. Not the same at all.

jchthys (Å vise profilen) 2012 12 3 23:00:02

Maybe it's just my native year, but I would think that (as you said, at least in a colloquial sense) that they are roughly equivalent.

An example situation would be, "Is you mother at home or at work? — I guess she's at work, because it's a weekday… Oh wait, it's a holiday, so she's probably at home. — That makes sense." That last sentence, more formally, could also be "That's probably the case."

tommjames (Å vise profilen) 2012 12 4 09:27:48

Yes, "that makes sense" could be used colloquially to express probability, and if that's the meaning you're after then some use of "verŝajna" would be fine. But I doubt this is what the OP had in mind when he created the thread. Perhaps bryanwag would care to confirm, if he's still checking the thread?

J_Marc (Å vise profilen) 2012 12 4 11:39:34

jchthys:Maybe it's just my native year, but I would think that (as you said, at least in a colloquial sense) that they are roughly equivalent.

An example situation would be,
A: Is you mother at home or at work?
B: I guess she's at work, because it's a weekday… Oh wait, it's a holiday, so she's probably at home.
A: That makes sense.

That last sentence, more formally, could also be "That's probably the case."
Re "that would seem likely" = "that makes sense" and the example above, it seems to be an example of using less-clear language to make it sound politer, in this case, using "would seem" rather than "is". I don't think "That makes sense" is about probability in this case or any case, just that "she's probably at home" is a logical and sensible conclusion. "That's probably the case" also is agreement with Speaker B's logical conclusion that mother is 'probably' at home.

If Speaker A in the example above said, "That would seem likely", it would come across as softer and therefore more polite. Even softer/borderline annoying: "Yes, I suppose that would seem fairly likely." In contrast, an even more direct affirmation may come across as impolite/cold. e.g. "I agree that your conclusion is accurate." or "Thank you for the information. Good-day."

The best conversational EO translation of the 'That makes sense' in the example above is something like, "Kompreneble", "Dankon. Mi telefonos ŝian loĝejon", "Mi konsentas", "Kredeble", "Sendube" or "Do, loĝejo". "Tio ŝajnas vere" could be used, even with the -us ending to make it sound softer, as people sometimes do. That way, rather than simply getting the answer he asked for and going away, Speaker A can also agree with Speaker B's conclusion, making Speaker B feel better, because everyone likes it when their opinion is agreed with. Makes them feel good. Nice social interaction.

A: Ĉu via patrino estas en laborejo aŭ en loĝejo?
B: Mi supozas ke ŝi estas en laborejo, ĉar hodiaŭ labortago estas... Ho, ne, hodiaŭ estas ferio, do kredeble ŝi estas en loĝejo.

T0dd (Å vise profilen) 2012 12 4 14:52:53

Would KREDINDE do the job?

scorpjke (Å vise profilen) 2012 12 6 18:20:59

I would say "ŝajnas logike" or "ŝajnas ĝuste". "Estas kredinde" would do the job, too, I suppose, but it feels like it is not exactly what we are trying to say. And the option "havan sencon" makes no sense to me ridego.gif

tommjames (Å vise profilen) 2012 12 6 19:48:42

scorpjke:And the option "havans sencon" makes no sense to me
Pity, because that's a completely normal expression in Esperanto, and is the obvious translation for "makes sense". You could think of "havas sencon" as being the same as "makes sense", only with a more sensible choice of verb.

Tibake til toppen