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How to say "how long..."

de Seth442, 2010-julio-20

Mesaĝoj: 16

Lingvo: English

Seth442 (Montri la profilon) 2010-julio-20 01:34:00

I'd like to figure out how to say 2 questions and answers in Esperanto:

1) How long did you speak Esperanto last night?
I spoke Esperanto for one hour last night.

My best try:
Kiom da tempo vi parolis Esperanton hieraux vespere?
Mi parolis Esperanton dum unu horo hieraux vespere.

2) For how long have you been learning Esperanto?
I have been learning Esperanto since June.

My best try:
Kiom da tempo vi ...
Mi ... Esperanton ekde Junio.

I'm not sure how to go about this last one. I can't figure out how to ask "how long have you been" in Esperanto. In English this would imply that you have been doing the thing at least periodically throughout time and are still doing it.
Is ekde the right word to mean "since (june)" in this situation?

ceigered (Montri la profilon) 2010-julio-20 07:22:05

Would "Kiel longe vi parolis Esperante?" work? I honestly can't remember, but I've now got lots of time words stuck in my head like "dum" etc lango.gif

Chainy (Montri la profilon) 2010-julio-20 07:27:10

ceigered:Would "Kiel longe vi parolis Esperante?" work?
That's fine. There are loads of examples of this in the Tekstaro.

Chainy (Montri la profilon) 2010-julio-20 07:35:10

For how long have you been learning Esperanto? = Kiel longe vi lernas Esperanton?
I have been learning Esperanto since June = Mi lernas Esperanton ekde junio.

"Kiom da tempo" is fine, too.

It's fine to use the present tense in Esperanto to express the 'present perfect continuous' (have been learning) - the context makes it clear that the action started in the past and the use of the present tense clearly indicates that it is continuing now!

Chainy (Montri la profilon) 2010-julio-20 07:38:05

I spoke Esperanto for one hour last night = Mi parolis Esperante (aux 'en Esperanto') unu horon hieraux vespere. - or you could say 'dum unu horo' instead of 'unu horon'.

Miland (Montri la profilon) 2010-julio-20 09:48:19

Seth442:1) How long did you speak Esperanto last night?
I spoke Esperanto for one hour last night.
Kiom longe vi parolis Esperanton hieraŭ vespere?
Mi parolis Esperanton dum horo hieraŭ vespere.


Seth442:2) For how long have you been learning Esperanto?
I have been learning Esperanto since June.
Kiom longe vi lernas Esperanton?
Mi lernas Esperanton jam de junio.


With the second it is important to remember that with an action extending from the past into the presest, in Esperanto we use the present. Jam is often used for emphasis, though you could omit it. See pages 93 and 158 of Teach yourself Esperanto. Kiom longe will be found in sections 702-703 of Butler's Step by step in Esperanto.

darkweasel (Montri la profilon) 2010-julio-20 10:16:40

Miland:
Seth442:1) How long did you speak Esperanto last night?
I spoke Esperanto for one hour last night.
Kiom longe vi parolis Esperanton hieraŭ vespere?
Mi parolis Esperanton dum horo hieraŭ vespere.


Seth442:2) For how long have you been learning Esperanto?
I have been learning Esperanto since June.
Kiom longe vi lernas Esperanton?
Mi lernas Esperanton jam de junio.
No, kiel longe. See: Tiom-kiom-ismo.

Miland (Montri la profilon) 2010-julio-20 11:56:10

darkweasel:No, kiel longe. See: Tiom-kiom-ismo.
They can both be used. There are quite a few instances of kiom longe in the tekstaro, and William Auld appears to have been a tiom-kiom-ist (see Exercise 6 of Traduku!). M.C.Butler was an akademiano (like Auld, who was a Nobel laureate as well). So that's good company.

ceigered (Montri la profilon) 2010-julio-20 12:14:34

Kiomism seems rather like a formal style to me, reading it in context. A bit like words like "whilst" and "whence" in English, rather than "while" and "from where".

darkweasel (Montri la profilon) 2010-julio-20 12:27:22

ceigered:Kiomism seems rather like a formal style to me, reading it in context. A bit like words like "whilst" and "whence" in English, rather than "while" and "from where".
To me it doesn't seem like this. I'm only showing you what PMEG says about this, and I prefer to follow what PMEG says as long as I don't see it as an absolute absurdity.

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