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I found his a theif

de Alkanadi, 26 de mayo de 2016

Aportes: 20

Idioma: English

Alkanadi (Mostrar perfil) 26 de mayo de 2016 14:48:24

I was reading through an old textbook. Unfortunately, the author is dead so they can't explain this for me.

Does this mean that I discovered he was a thief, or does it mean that I found a thief for him to hire?
Mi trovis lin ŝtelisto

How would you say:
- I found the dog a bone.
- I found him a wife.
- I found the car a shop.

nornen (Mostrar perfil) 26 de mayo de 2016 14:52:17

I found out that he was a thief.

tommjames (Mostrar perfil) 26 de mayo de 2016 15:05:49

Alkanadi:How would you say:
- I found the dog a bone.
Mi trovis por la hundo oston.

erinja (Mostrar perfil) 26 de mayo de 2016 15:38:06

Mi trovis por li edzinon.

Mi trovis por la auxto riparejon.

Your sentence about the thief has omitted the word "esti", but it can be understood through context. This is sometimes done, although it diminishes clarity of meaning, so you should include the "esti" if you want to be completely clear - "mi trovis lin esti sxtelisto".

Vestitor (Mostrar perfil) 26 de mayo de 2016 16:05:41

The sentence should be easy to fathom because the same element 'to be' (or esti as it is here) is routinely dropped in English in everyday speech and sometimes in writing.

I found him (to be) a thief.

Until I saw Erinja's translation of the last sentence I couldn't even work out what it was supposed to mean. A 'shop' is a 'workshop' is AE I gather?

erinja (Mostrar perfil) 26 de mayo de 2016 16:43:43

Vestitor:The sentence should be easy to fathom because the same element 'to be' (or esti as it is here) is routinely dropped in English in everyday speech and sometimes in writing.

I found him (to be) a thief.

Until I saw Erinja's translation of the last sentence I couldn't even work out what it was supposed to mean. A 'shop' is a 'workshop' is AE I gather?
I took it to mean a workshop for auto repairs. In the US, it's common to say "my car's in the shop" if the car is undergoing repairs. The term AE is not used here (or at least, I've never heard it).

Vestitor (Mostrar perfil) 26 de mayo de 2016 17:21:23

Do people not say American English (AE)? I thought that was normal because people mention it on Duolingo sometimes.

I have heard the word 'shop' meaning workshop and also referring to something like: what you are doing when you are involved in some sort of craft or manual skill. I got this from a book called: Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work. A great book I'd recommend to anyone who hasn't read it.

At first it didn't compute when I read the sentence above because it's not standard in the UK.

erinja (Mostrar perfil) 26 de mayo de 2016 18:06:41

AE is American English but in the context I assumed it had something to do with a British name for an auto repair facility.

...then I googled AE and found that it stands for "auto electrical" or "auto electrics" and thought, ah, that must be an alternate British term for a car repair facility.

Vestitor (Mostrar perfil) 26 de mayo de 2016 18:19:37

It's a proper comedy of errors. 'Separated by a common language,' and all that.

Fenris_kcf (Mostrar perfil) 26 de mayo de 2016 18:26:52

Alkanadi:Mi trovis lin ŝtelisto
I didn't know that this is valid Esperanto. To be honest i still doubt it is. It seems way too idiomatic for my taste. I wouldn't understand it.

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