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Translation help: Is there an Esperanto word for "knock down"?

by Polaris, July 26, 2009

Messages: 4

Language: English

Polaris (User's profile) July 26, 2009, 7:42:36 AM

I'd like to know a way to say both "knock down" (as in a building or an object) as well as "tear down" (if there is a usual way to say this). Thank you!

mnlg (User's profile) July 26, 2009, 8:37:20 AM

I might not be skilled enough in English to be aware of the subtle difference between those two verbs, therefore I will just list here all that I could think of (and that my dictionary provides), and I hope you will find something that suits your needs:

detrui, batfaligi, nenioigi, batdetrui, malkonstrui, disfaligi.

Donniedillon (User's profile) July 26, 2009, 11:10:17 AM

I like batfaligi (or just faligi for that matter) for "knock down" and malkonstrui for "tear down."

tommjames (User's profile) July 26, 2009, 11:47:00 AM

mnlg:I might not be skilled enough in English to be aware of the subtle difference between those two verbs
If you're interested, to my native ear the difference between them is twofold.. the manner in which the object in question was brought down, and the intention behind it.

To knock something down would imply forceful impacts from the outside, and it could also be accidental: He fell on a pile of tin cans and knocked them down. You could knock a building down with a wrecking ball, or you could knock a glass over with ur hand.

By contrast tearing something down seems to imply something more deliberate: They tore down those ugly old apartment blocks last week. It might also imply pulling motions, or that it was done in a somewhat agressive haphazard manner.

But of course it doesn't always have to be like that and they may even be completely interchangeable in many cases.

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