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A question of adverbs

by richardhall, June 9, 2008

Messages: 7

Language: English

richardhall (User's profile) June 9, 2008, 10:25:53 PM

On this thread a user asked a question about whether the instant messager can be used with other programs, or just here at Lernu!

To which an answer came
Miascie oni povas uzi ĝin nur per Lernu.
Is this better Esperanto than, "Mi scias, ke oni povas uzi...", which is what I assume it means? Is this sort of construction always possible?

mnlg (User's profile) June 9, 2008, 11:22:53 PM

I think the verbose version is "laŭ mia scio"; I would perhaps render it in English as "according to my knowledge" or, better, "as far as I know". Compound adverbs (-e) are, in general, very flexible in Esperanto and more than once (especially at first) I was surprised to see them used in ways I would have never imagined possible or proper. I'm not sure if this sort of construction is "always possible", but to me at least it turned out to be more frequent and more powerful than I thought at first. Mi ne havas vortaron ĉemane is another example.

As to the question whether such a form is "better Esperanto", I honestly don't know. I guess it's more refined, more elegant in a way, but also less immediate; it takes a decent deal of practice with the language to become confident enough with these forms, not because they are difficult per se, but, I think, because they are unexpected. I like to use them and to experiment with them, but I tend to keep to simpler forms when there are beginners around. After all, one of the main reasons for the existence of this language is to facilitate communication.

richardhall (User's profile) June 10, 2008, 8:39:04 AM

That's helpful. Thanks.

erinja (User's profile) June 10, 2008, 2:31:55 PM

I agree with everything mnlg has said, and I would like to add, that these adverb forms are addictive in a way. And I remember that when I was studying Italian, these adverbs were really something I missed a lot - there were lots of things I wanted to say with an adverb, that you simply can't say with an adverb in Italian (or in English for that matter!)

Once your Esperanto gets good enough, I think you will really enjoy playing with the capabilities of the language, and using its grammatical flexibility to say things in elegant and interesting ways.

richardhall (User's profile) June 10, 2008, 11:28:42 PM

erinja:Once your Esperanto gets good enough, I think you will really enjoy playing with the capabilities of the language, and using its grammatical flexibility to say things in elegant and interesting ways.
That would be good. Though I haven't achieved 'elegant and interesting' in English yet! okulumo.gif

Ganavion (User's profile) June 11, 2008, 4:36:04 PM

erinja:I agree with everything mnlg has said, and I would like to add, that these adverb forms are addictive in a way. And I remember that when I was studying Italian, these adverbs were really something I missed a lot - there were lots of things I wanted to say with an adverb, that you simply can't say with an adverb in Italian (or in English for that matter!)

Once your Esperanto gets good enough, I think you will really enjoy playing with the capabilities of the language, and using its grammatical flexibility to say things in elegant and interesting ways.
Mi volas saluti vin, geamikaj, kaj mi salutas kun granda plezuro Erinijan, kiu helpis min en lerni Esperanto.
Dankon

I want to say hello to all of you, friends, and I want to say hello with much pleasure to Erinja, who helped me to learn Esperanto.
Thank you

richardhall (User's profile) June 11, 2008, 6:30:29 PM

Ganavion:I want to say hello to all of you, friends, and I want to say hello with much pleasure to Erinja, who helped me to learn Esperanto.
Thank you
Amen to that -- Erinja and others here have been a great encouragement.

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