Mesaĝoj: 12
Lingvo: English
chrisim101010 (Montri la profilon) 2011-februaro-16 08:05:19
Imponi kaj Impresi
what are the uses of the two versions, and which word is best for the above sentence? My best guess is "Mi imponas ke ....."
the other word sounds like it means "the hammer made an impression on the wood" or "la martelo faris impreson sur la ligno". Is this right?
sudanglo (Montri la profilon) 2011-februaro-16 09:39:40
Tio ne imponas.
Miland (Montri la profilon) 2011-februaro-16 10:43:03
Imponi: Impress, command respect, make a strong impression on
Impresi: make an impression on, affect, influence.
The second word can refer to physical as well as mental influences, but in the latter case it is not something that necessarily involves emotion or is particularly strong, as in imponi.
If you want to say "I am impressed that X" you would be referring to a strong and emotional impression, and so you would use imponi: X imponas al mi, or perhaps Imponas min, ke X. Note that imponi means "to be impressive", so to say Mi imponas .. would not be a modest statement!
johmue (Montri la profilon) 2011-februaro-17 06:26:30
chrisim101010:I attempted to use the word "impressed" in a sentence "I am impressed that ......." but there are 2 words that i can not differenciate:That would mean that you are impressing someone.
Imponi kaj Impresi
what are the uses of the two versions, and which word is best for the above sentence? My best guess is "Mi imponas ke ....."
"Mi estas imponita, ke ..."
jchthys (Montri la profilon) 2011-februaro-17 17:04:14
To me, impresi puts more weight on the person being impressed—it is more like the person doing the impressing is not necessarily trying to, but that they have a subjective influence on the impress-ee.
Does that make sense?
T0dd (Montri la profilon) 2011-februaro-17 17:17:59
For what it's worth, my way of using them is:
IMPRESI -- To make an impression, big or small, positive or negative, physical or mental.
IMPONI -- To be impressive, to earn respect or admiration.
chrisim101010 (Montri la profilon) 2011-februaro-17 23:40:44
T0dd:It appears all the above messages comply with this usage, so i will adopt the same.
IMPRESI -- To make an impression, big or small, positive or negative, physical or mental.
IMPONI -- To be impressive, to earn respect or admiration.
So just playing around with suffixes:
impresigi to cause someone make an impression
impresiĝi to cause oneself make an impression
imponigi to cause someone to be impressive
imponiĝi to cause oneself to be impressive
Is this right?
so if i were to call myself, impresig-imponulo, this would certainly not be modest
So back to the original question, for me to say "i was impressed by their work", this would be "mi estis impresa pri ilia laboro." Is this a correct translation?
T0dd (Montri la profilon) 2011-februaro-18 00:20:27
chrisim101010:Someone or something. A foot can make an impression in the mud.T0dd:
impresigi to cause someone make an impression
impresiĝi to cause oneself make an impressionNope. When the root verb (impresi) is itself transitive, the suffix -IĜI makes it passive. So IMPRESIĜI would mean to receive an impression.
imponigi to cause someone to be impressiveYes, although I can't imagine using this verb.
imponiĝi to cause oneself to be impressiveNo. -IĜI just doesn't mean "to cause oneself". -IĜI isn't causative at all. IMPONIĜI would mean "to become impressive."
so if i were to call myself, impresig-imponulo, this would certainly not be modestI think only Kim Jong-Il can say that.
So back to the original question, for me to say "i was impressed by their work", this would be "mi estis impresa pri ilia laboro." Is this a correct translation?No. And this is a good example of trying to translate an English expression literally, instead of looking at the whole meaning.
As you now know, the English word "impress" has more than one sense. In this case, you're trying to express that you found their work impressive.
You could say ILIA LABORO IMPRESIS MIN. Or MI ESTIS IMPRESITA PER ILIA LABORO. The latter use of the passive voice, though common in English, lacks verve in Esperanto. Of the two, I'd go with the first.
Even so, ILIA LABORO IMPRESIS MIN means only that their work made an impression on me. If you want to convey that their work was truly impressive, you could say MI TROVIS ILIAN LABORON IMPONA.
Furthermore, it's not clear whether you mean "work" in the sense of toil, which would be LABORO, or "work" in the sense of a finished work, which would be VERKO. In the latter case, MI TROVIS ILIAN VERKON IMPONA would do the job.
In short, to use Esperanto or any other new language, you must first open your eyes to what you're doing in English. Do you mean "work" or "work"? Do you mean merely make some kind of impression or be truly impressive? The more you think about what you actually mean, the easier it will be to choose the words that fit.
Miland (Montri la profilon) 2011-februaro-18 12:38:59
chrisim101010:for me to say "i was impressed by their work", this would be "mi estis impresa pri ilia laboro." Is this a correct translation?1. To be impressed in that way is not just to receive an impression; there is an emotional component. Therefore, in my view the verb imponi would be preferable here; Ilia laboro imponis min (or al mi).
2. Impresa in any case is not a correct passive form. You might use imponita.
3. The preposition pri means "about". In my view pro, "on account of" would be preferable, or possibly per, "by means of", depending on the context.
Chainy (Montri la profilon) 2011-februaro-18 23:07:38
T0dd:I agree that it's best to think of 'impresi' as meaning 'to make an impression on'. And then the context makes it clear just what kind of impression is implied (positive or negative, etc). Although, I'd say the natural assumption is that the 'impression' is good unless you specifically state otherwise (this is backed up by the meaning of 'impresa', which I mention later)
For what it's worth, my way of using them is:
IMPRESI -- To make an impression, big or small, positive or negative, physical or mental.
IMPONI -- To be impressive, to earn respect or admiration.
In NPIV2002 one of the examples for 'impresi' is:
"Tio ne impresas min!" - So, I suppose that would mean 'That makes no impression on me', but I have a sneaky feeling that the context could enable this to mean the same as 'that doesn't impress me' (in the sense of it not evoking admiration)
In terms of 'imponi', I would say that it should be reserved for things that really do evoke a very strong sense of admiration/respect etc. For example, NPIV2002 compares the word 'impona' with 'grandioza, majesta, solena, okulfrapa'. These are not the kind of words you would use for being just averagely impressed by something!
NPIV2002 also describes 'impresa' as meaning:
"tia, ke ĝi faras fortan impreson - impresa spektaklo, rakonto, propagandilo"
- now that sounds rather like 'impressive' in the more general sense, rather than the more dramatic 'impona'.