Mesaĝoj: 51
Lingvo: English
k1attack (Montri la profilon) 2010-majo-10 12:13:55
darkweasel (Montri la profilon) 2010-majo-10 12:26:02
You use prava in, for example, the expression "you're right" (vi estas prava). In ReVo it's defined as "having an opinion or conduct conforming to truth and justice" or "conforming to truth and justice (speaking of an opinion)".
Ĝusta is best translated as "correct".
Vera means "true", which is a quite different idea from "correct" and "right".
ceigered (Montri la profilon) 2010-majo-10 23:54:19
While the differences between "right" and "true" are pretty much non-existant when you get down to the core meanings, Esperanto still has a distinction which I'd best describe as "truth" having something to do with honesty, integrity etc, while "right" just means something is as it should be, without any such connotations. "truth" also distinguishes itself this way:
"La vera homo" - the true person. This assumes that all the others aren't really people.
"La gxusta homo" - the right person. This assumes that all the others are still people, but not the correct ones for whatever reason.
k1attack (Montri la profilon) 2010-majo-11 10:50:51
e.g. "Which of these sentences are right/correct/true?
3 x 3 = 10
Plants aren't alive."
If you say "3 x 3 = 10", what you saying isn't correct/right/true. It's wrong/incorrect/untrue/false/a mistake.
"3x3=9" is the correct/true answer.
"Yes" means what someone's saying is correct/right/true but "no" means it isn't correct/true/right.
However, "right" can also refer to the side which isn't left, or it can mean "morally acceptable". "true" can mean "genuine" e.g. true friendship"
ceigered (Montri la profilon) 2010-majo-11 13:52:56
k1attack:True and right/correct can mean the same thing:Exactly. It's that small nuance there towards the end that makes there a reason to have two words. And with "correct/true answer", one could nearly argue that the difference between the two is that the "correct answer" is one of many possible answers, but the one that is most suitable, where as the "true answer" is the only answer that could be used at all, regardless of suitability or whether it's "right" or not.
e.g. "Which of these sentences are right/correct/true?
3 x 3 = 10
Plants aren't alive."
If you say "3 x 3 = 10", what you saying isn't correct/right/true. It's wrong/incorrect/untrue/false/a mistake.
"3x3=9" is the correct/true answer.
"Yes" means what someone's saying is correct/right/true but "no" means it isn't correct/true/right.
However, "right" can also refer to the side which isn't left, or it can mean "morally acceptable". "true" can mean "genuine" e.g. true friendship"
k1attack (Montri la profilon) 2010-majo-11 13:56:34
However, the square root or 9 could be 3 OR -3.
ceigered (Montri la profilon) 2010-majo-11 14:28:05
k1attack:But 3x3 only has one answer: 9.It doesn't have just one answer. It only has one correct answer, but if I said "3x3 = 33" I'd still be giving an answer to the question. It'd be horribly wrong, but it's still an answer aimed at the question. But, someone who likes questions like "If a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, did it really fall" might say "3x3 = Powerrangers", in which case that's a false answer in a way.
However, the square root or 9 could be 3 OR -3.
Bad example though. A better example would be those year 12/university level multiple choice questions in tests, where you have multiple "right" answers, but one is false, and one is the most correct.
Anyway, it's not so much a big thing to worry about, it's a distinction that's fairly well ingrained into the human psyche.
E.g.,
English = right/true
Japanese = tadashii/shinjitsu-no
Chinese = 正确 (zhèngquè)/真实 (zhēnshí)
Finnish = oikea/tosi
Maori = tika/pono
Hawaiian = pololei/oia'i'o
(Note I don't know these languages but the dictionaries out there give these as the "right/true" pairs).
The only major exclusion to this that I noticed were languages like Hebrew and Arabic, which was very interesting. Anyway, in short, it's such a common habit in pretty much every language out there so while it might not be 10000% necessary it's probably not bad to include it
k1attack (Montri la profilon) 2010-majo-12 09:03:20
However, an answer which is "true" isn't necessarily correct/right: e.g.
"Which part of the plant cell contains chlorophyll?
Answer: The nucleus contains DNA"
If a question came up in an exam, and you answered "The nucleus contains DNA", the examiner will mark it as a wrong/incorrect answer, even though it's true.
A true answer: If an answer is true, then what's written in it indeed actually happens/happened. (The nucleus DOES contain DNA)
A correct answer is true AND answers the question.
darkweasel (Montri la profilon) 2010-majo-12 12:28:54
Prava and ĝusta both mean "right" or "correct". Prava refers to both people and statements/opinions, ĝusta can refer only to statements/opinions.
In some cases vera can have a similar meaning, you're right (= vi estas prava, btw). It corresponds exactly to English "true".
If you're still having problems, please give a practical example where you're unsure about the usage of these three words.
ceigered (Montri la profilon) 2010-majo-12 13:10:37
darkweasel:I think you're overcomplicating the issue..sorry, couldn't help but turn this into a philosophical conversation
