12
votes
Accepted
How do you translate a row of infinitive words in Esperanto?
You would just put many infinitives one after the other, as you suggested at first. This is grammatically correct and perfectly acceptable. Thus
La spektanto planas rifuzi atesti.
is completely ...
- 4,644
12
votes
Accepted
Infinitive after komenci
Yes, you just say komencis paroli with no extra particle. If you search for this in the Tekstaro there are many examples, such as this one from Zamenhof’s translation of Andersen’s fables:
Nun unu ...
- 17.1k
11
votes
Accepted
Can infinitives be subjects?
Yes, there is no problem with using an infinitive as a subject and I believe it’s not that uncommon. Here is an example from Zamenhof’s translation of the old testament:
Kaj krom tio, mia filo, ...
- 17.1k
8
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't the infinitive take the -n suffix?
I suppose the short answer is "tradition." Many western languages work this way - where a verb-expression can be like the object of the verb - so it's natural that Esperanto works the same way. Nouns, ...
- 21.3k
7
votes
Why doesn't the infinitive take the -n suffix?
Here is the definition of accusative, according to Oxford Dictionaries:
(in Latin, Greek, German, and some other languages) denoting a case of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives which expresses the ...
- 884
5
votes
Accepted
"Sen rigardi": Which preposition+infinitive combos are possible?
Sen, por, anstataŭ —i are all very common, and it is easy to invent examples for some other prepositions:
Vi faris al mi komplezon per peti lin telefoni. You did me a favour by asking him to ring.
Ni ...
- 13.5k
5
votes
Infinitive after komenci
Li ekparolis
Li komencis paroli
Of course ekparoli is far better, but an infinitive is fine too.
- 4,008
5
votes
Accepted
Is the Esperanto infinitive ambiguous?
I don’t think it’s very common to use trovi with an infinitive so I think the meaning here is mostly theoretical. There are no hits for this usage in the Tekstaro. I’m not totally convinced that your ...
- 17.1k
4
votes
How free is word order in a sentence with infinitives
In general I think there isn’t a strict rule about what is a valid order or not. Instead it’s more along the lines that if the phrase is understandable then it is fine. If both the subject and the ...
- 17.1k
4
votes
Infinitive after komenci
If the purpose of the question is to find a parallel in a national language, consider that the infinitive in Esperanto often corresponds to the -ing form in English: he started speaking.
This rule of ...
- 21.3k
3
votes
Ĉu eblas subjekto kun infinitivo?
La frazo sendube estas malbona pro diversaj kaŭzoj, sed certe povas esti infinitiva subjekto. Tio estis la temo de tiu fadeno en kiu ankaŭ vi respondis.
La problemo ne estas la infinitivo...
Gravas ...
- 21.3k
3
votes
"Sen rigardi": Which preposition+infinitive combos are possible?
They're all possible but some are more common than others. Common prepositions used with infinitives are por, sen, and anstataŭ. I've always just ascribed this to tradition.
If you want to use a ...
- 21.3k
3
votes
I-verbo kun relativa «kiu»
Tiaj esprimoj estas ĝustaj.
Ili ne havas, kion manĝi, ili ne havas, per kio hejti la fornon. They do not have anything to eat, they do not have anything to heat the stove with. (Marta)
Oni ankaŭ ne ...
- 13.5k
3
votes
Accepted
Infinitive form of compound tenses?
esti leg(a/i/o)nta is possible in infinitive. See this sentence from the "Ekzercaro de la Fundamento de Esperanto", mainly the part between parenthesis:
... ke tio, kion mi diris, estu vera (aŭ mi ...
- 5,388
2
votes
Ĉu "preta" estas speciala adjektivo pro la rilato kun infinitivo?
PMEG havas kelkajn ekzemplojn kun "preta + i-verbo".
Ŝi estis tute preta eldiri sian konfeson de amo.
Mi ĉiam estas preta fervori en servado al la patrujo.
Tio tiel kortuŝis la soldaton, ke ...
- 4,239
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