Questions tagged [word-choice]
Use it for questions about which word, in a list of few words, you should use in a sentence.
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How do you say "blah blah blah" in Esperanto?
As usual, I was mentally translating everyday, common things the other day for practice and wanted to say blah blah blah, but I wasn't sure if there was an already established way of saying this in ...
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Are “la malplej juna” and “la plej maljuna” entirely interchangeable?
Are la malplej juna and la plej maljuna entirely interchangeable? If so, which one is the most common?
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How do you say that something is "on a website"? Which preposition to use?
For saying that something is on a website, I have seen at least four different prepositions:
La demando estas je Stack Exchange
La afiŝo estas en Reddit
La pepaĵo estas ĉe Twitter
Ĝi estas ...
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How to sign a letter in Esperanto?
In English, at the end of a letter, e-mail message, etc., one writes something along the lines of:
Sincerely,
Best wishes,
All the best,
Best regards,
(with the comma) And then on the next line goes ...
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How does one say “What do you mean?” in Esperanto?
I’ve seen (in the romaneto “Gerda malaperis”):
Kion vi volas diri?
However, I suppose that just like in English, there is a slight difference between “What do you mean?” and “What do you want to ...
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What sounds do animals make in Esperanto?
The sounds the animals make are conventionalised in many languages. In German, dogs say "wau-wau", cats "miau", cows "muh", and donkeys "i-ah". Are there conventionalised animal sounds for Esperanto? ...
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Should I use "teamo" or "skipo"?
If I want to speak about the team of a project, should I use teamo or skipo?
I know that teamo is originally for a group with the same objective in a sport, while skipo is for every kind of group of ...
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What is the difference between "flari" and "odori"?
Both words seem to be defined as 'to smell'.
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4
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When to use "ĉu" instead of "se"?
I became aware that I don't know if he is friendly should not be translated into
Mi ne scias se* li estas amika
but into
Mi ne scias ĉu li estas amika
But why? Se means "if", so why it is ...
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2
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Which word should I use for "to drive (a car)"?
I've seen several verbs: konduki, stiri, veturigi. I've thought of aŭti too, and I just saw that ReVo actually suggests it.
Which one is the best? Do they fit in different situations?
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What is the difference between a "kulo" and a "moskito"?
I believe they are not equivalent. Moskito is more broad and only one sub-family of moskitos are Kuloj (Culex). But I am not sure of it.
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Should I use "pasinteco", "estinteco", or "paseo" to talk about the past?
I already use the word pasinteco, or pasintece, to talk about something in the past. I recently read the word estinteco, then while reading in the dictionary, I found the word paseo.
When should I ...
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What is the difference between "gajni" and "venki"?
What is the difference between "gajni" and "venki"? Does it have anything to do with objects? I have a feeling there is a clear difference, but I think I mix them up and use them incorrectly a lot.
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How do you say "vice versa" in Esperanto?
For example, I might say I'll ask you the questions and you respond; then we'll do it again vice versa, meaning that the second time around I would be the one responding to the questions.
Would male ...
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What is the difference between "neŭtra" and "neŭtrala"?
What is the difference between neŭtra and neŭtrala? I learned that they both translate to neutral in English. Is there a nuanced difference between those two words?
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"Jen" and "tie ĉi estas"
I understand that "jen" means "behold" or "here is" and I see it used often. But is it ever proper to use "tie ĉi estas", and what's the difference between the two? When should I use "jen" and when ...
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What is the difference between "gaja", "ĝoja" and "feliĉa"?
Gaja, ĝoja and feliĉa are all happy in English. But I have gotten the impression that they are not synonyms. What is the difference between the three adjectives? When should I use each one?
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Does profunda also mean philosophically deep?
I understand that profunda translates to "deep", as in "deep water". La rivero estas profunda.
But in English we often use the word deep to mean philosophically deep, or profound, as in profound ...
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Is a werewolf a "homlupo" or a "luphomo"?
During the day, a werewolf has a human form, so it is logical to call him a luphomo. During some nights, a werewolf has a wolf form, so it is logical to call him a homlupo. Are both forms used? Is one ...
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What is the difference between "krom" and "escepte"?
I just read this sentence:
... estis nenio sur ĝi escepte de malgranda ora ŝlosilo ...
It's obvious what "escepte de" means, but I previously learned the word "krom" for "except".
So can the ...
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"en" versus "je": What's the difference?
The following sentence came from Duolingo.
Lia kuzo alvenis je la deka.
His cousin arrived on the tenth.
Both en and je mean on. (The former was not one of the choices.) When should I use en or je? ...
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How would one translate "swag"?
Since swag generally means the coolness of a person (e.g. I have swag, I am a swaggy person), would mojosegeco or mojoseco be a good translation for swag?
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What is the difference between "torto" and "kuko"?
Cakes are important matters, I think we can all agree on that ;) It seems to me as if there are two words in Esperanto: torto and kuko. What is the difference between them? I have a feeling they are ...
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What is the correct way to say "to ask a question"?
I have said demandi demandon before and no one has ever corrected me. However, it always sounds awkward to me to have these two words together and I always wonder if people think I sound like an idiot ...
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Is "jam ne" correct? ("Mi jam ne spektas televidon")
Someone told me "jam ne" in "Mi jam ne spektas televidon" is incorrect and should be replaced by "ne plu". Is this true? And if it is true, is the meaning the same?
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"Trink-" versus "drink-"
I am mildly confused about this pair of roots. I learned about trink- first in words like trinki, trinkaĵo, trinkigi etc. Later I found drinkejo used for a pub, so my conclusion was that the latter ...
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"Deveni el" or "veni el"?
I've seen deveni used in places where it seems veni would work as well.
I originally learned Mi venas el Usono.
If I say Mi devenas el Usono, how does the meaning change? "I originally come from the ...
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When I assign sex to an animal, does it become li / ŝi?
I have only seen words like virkoko or kokino in sentences where they were a direct subject or object, I don't recall seeing either referred to by a pronoun. Would that still be ĝi or should I use li ...
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About "ĉu" and "se" in clauses [duplicate]
Which one is correct? If both, what's the difference?
Mi ne scias se ŝi ŝatas min.
Mi ne scias ĉu ŝi ŝatas min.
Mi legis ambaŭ tamen ĉu estas nuancoj?
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What is the difference between "klarigi" and "ekspliki"?
I've learned that both ekspliki and klarigi mean to explain. Is there a difference in meaning? In nuance? In use?
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Should we use "marŝi" or "paŝi" for "to walk"?
I often see people use marŝi for walking. According to PIV, the first meaning of marŝi is military marching. There is also a second meaning which is similar to walking, which I found weird since there ...
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What is 'wow'/variants of wow?
I've heard 'ŭaŭ', 'ho! ', and 'vaŭ'. However, I want to see if there can be a best, official translation.
user301
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What's the difference between the words "aĵo" and "esto" and "estaĵo"
They all seem to be defined as "being", "entity", or "thing", though "estaĵo" also seems to be "creature." Where does this nuance come from? Why do each of these words exist, and how can I use each to ...
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When to use "olda" instead of "maljuna"?
I just read a sentence with the word "olda" to describe becoming an old woman - "fariĝi olda virino". I haven't seen the word before.
Why the use of this cognate? Does it have a different nuance ...
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If I can't find a word in Vortaro.net, should I cease using that word?
For example, I've seen the word dumtempe before used to mean for a while or for some time.
I used the word today, then started second-guessing myself and looked it up at Vortaro.net, but it showed ...
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Ke vs. kiu: which one to use?
What is the difference between these two words? My dictionary mentions that both mean that, but how does one know which one to use? Can you please provide some examples? Dankon!
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Can the words "pajlero" and "ŝalmo" be used to mean "drinking straw"?
Can the words "pajlero" and "ŝalmo" be used to mean "drinking straw"? Are there any better options?
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Is it "Gratulon!" or "Gratulojn!"?
I've seen both. It seems to be random. What's the explanation? Does it matter which one I say? Same with multan dankon and multajn dankojn.
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What is the difference between "festo" and "ferio"?
Both festo and ferio seem to generally translate to English as "holiday", but are they actually interchangeable, or is there a difference that the English translation doesn't preserve?
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When to use ĉi tiu vs tiu ĉi?
What is the difference between tiu ĉi and ĉi tiu? Since both mean this, in what situations should one be used over the other? The following sentence comes from Duolingo and is an example of the former....
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How does one express "to control" in Esperanto?
I've learned that "kontroli" is a false friend. Using which other word(s) may I express "to control" in Esperanto?
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Is it possible to say the time in 24 hour?
Is it possible to say the time in 24 hour in Esperanto, like 22:34?
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What is the difference between "sinmortigi" and "memmortigi"?
As I understood the difference between "sin-" and "mem-":
Mi sinmortigis.
I killed myself (I killed me)
Mi memmortigis la ŝafon.
I killed the sheep myself (I killed it on my own)
But someone ...
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Is it "ĵus nun" or "ĝuste nun"?
I mix "ĵus" and "ĝuste" up a lot, probably because they sound similar. Which one can be put before "nun"? or are both correct? Then, do they have different meanings?
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What’s the deal with “fariĝi”?
In a lot of places I see the word fariĝi when, from context, it seems that the speaker/writer just meant iĝi (to become). For example: «Mi studas por (far)iĝi kuracisto.»
Why is the radical far- used ...
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What is the difference between a "pamfleto" and a "faldfolio"?
I emailed some people a while back about pamfletoj (thanks to lernu's vortaro), and all of them changed the word to faldfolioj in their responses. What is the difference between the two?
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How do you format the time in Esperanto?
What are the ways and the most common ways to format times in Esperanto?
Is it like on a digital clock like 23:10, or more like 23h10 (in French), or 23h10m or other things?
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"tuj antaŭ ol" or "ĵus antaŭ ol"? What should I use when something happened just before an other thing?
I am not sure how to translate
I understood just before you answered.
I think about
Mi komprenis tuj antaŭ ol vi respondis.
and
Mi komprenis ĵus antaŭ ol vi respondis.
tuj antaŭ ol and ĵus ...
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Which word for "foreigner"?
Kio estas la diferenco inter la vortoj "alilandulo", "alilandano", "eksterlandano"?
Se diferenco ekzistas, aŭ oni povas uzi kiel oni volas? Ankaŭ oni ne devas uzi la vorton "fremdulo" por loĝanto de ...
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