41
votes
How does one express "to share" in Esperanto?
dividi - to divide something into smaller pieces.
kundividi - to share those pieces with other people. (everyone gets a bit)
havigi - to make other people have something. In other words, to give, make ...
- 11.2k
21
votes
Verbs of buttons on websites
There seems to be a consensus, looking at the talk mentioned by Johmue, lernu.net, vortaro.net, and esperantujo.directory:
Commands given to the user by the program/programmers use the imperative (e....
- 2,093
18
votes
Accepted
What can I say instead of "zorgi"?
to care -> interesiĝi (pri)
I do not care about politics
Mi ne interesiĝas pri politiko
to take care of -> okupiĝi (pri)
I am taking care of the garden
Mi okupiĝas pri la ĝardeno
...
- 11.2k
17
votes
Accepted
How can I say "to turn on/off"?
Ŝalti kaj malŝalti estas la vortoj, kiujn mi uzas por tio.
Ŝalti and malŝalti are the words which I use for that.
- 949
17
votes
Accepted
Should I use "komencas" or "komenciĝas" when talking about which letter a word begins with?
Komenci is transitive. If we are told that a word komencas, then what does it komenci? The only immediately intelligible answer is "itself". So it komencas sin or komenciĝas (= "is begun").
Lia nomo ...
- 13.7k
16
votes
Accepted
"Dankon POR via respondo" or "Dankon PRO via respondo"?
Both are correct, and they have practically the same meaning.
By themselves, pro and por have quite different meanings. Basically, pro means 'because of' and por means 'for'.
Pretty much all the ...
- 8,349
15
votes
Accepted
Does Esperanto have gerunds?
You can say:
Mi ŝatas dancadon.
Its meaning is similar to the one Mi ŝatas danci has, though it does not explicitly say that what you like is you dancing. It could also be used when all you like ...
- 8,349
15
votes
Accepted
Can you write "Mi baldaŭ foriras" instead of "Mi baldaŭ foriros"?
No, not as a standalone sentence. Tense-marking in Esperanto is obligatory; the fact that baldaŭ indicates a future time does not change this. According to PMEG (the Complete Handbook of Esperanto ...
- 1,005
14
votes
Do aspekti and ŝajni go with adjectives or adverbs?
I dug into this question back in May of this year and this is what I found out.
Verbs of sense perception (odori, gusti) take an adverb.
La supo gustas bone.
The verb aspekti can take either/or (...
- 21.3k
13
votes
Verbs of buttons on websites
We had this discussion back in about 2003, when I was leading the group who were translating the OpenOffice.org suite into Esperanto.
It boiled down to whether one considers the application to be a ...
- 1,073
13
votes
What can I say instead of "zorgi"?
The word zorgi is vague, but in many cases, surrounding details make it clear what the situation is. In your example, Mi zorgas pri mia avino would usually be followed by something like Mi volus ...
- 13.7k
12
votes
Accepted
Double negatives in Esperanto
In Esperanto we normally say "Mi scias nenion" for "I don't know anything". So like in standard English, we only use one negation, but we tend to put it into a correlative (table word) if possible, ...
- 8,349
12
votes
Can I use "iri" with other verbs?
According to PMEG: "Post movaj verboj kiel iri kaj kuri, oni preferas I-verbon sen rolmontrilo, sed ankaŭ eblas uzi por." So, yes iri x-i is correct and means the same thing as iri por x-i.
Note ...
- 3,191
11
votes
Accepted
Can infinitives be used back-to-back in Esperanto?
There isn't any rule about how many infinitives you can have in a row; you can have as many as make sense in the context. A rather contrived example: Mi volas povi iri lerni danci - I want to be able ...
- 3,789
11
votes
Accepted
How to say "I don't feel like it" in Esperanto
emi is fine. To emphasise that it's not your personality you can say ĵus nun mi ne emas.
EDIT: After a discussion with trustworthy competent Esperantists it turns out that my use of ĵus is wrong in ...
- 6,348
11
votes
Which word should I use for "to drive (a car)"?
To this list we can add ŝofori.
I've been asking myself this same question for close to 20 years and I've come to the conclusion that there is no obvious best answer. Each one at times seems to not ...
- 21.3k
10
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between "veki" and "vekiĝi"?
Veki is the transitive one. Recall that -iĝ- always yields an intransitive verb. You can also look in PIV to check the definition and the transitiveness of a verb.
You use veki when something wakes ...
- 4,663
9
votes
Does “priskribi” only relate to a written description?
"Priskribi" is long established in Esperanto, and essentially functions as an independent word, much like "eldoni". "Pridiri" and "vortpentri" are not forms in normal Esperanto usage, although they ...
- 623
9
votes
Are the compound verb tenses ever really used in Esperanto?
You will find people who stand by the "complex tenses." (It's likely that a few will answer here.) The point of Esperanto is to be simple, and it's possible (and encouraged) to express any thought ...
- 21.3k
9
votes
Ĉu oni "ludas" kiam oni alklakas la butonon?
La ĝusta esprimo en ĉi tiu kunteksto estas ludigi, ĉar oni igas la aparaton ludi la muzikon.
- 8,349
8
votes
Do aspekti and ŝajni go with adjectives or adverbs?
It depends on what the adjective/adverb is exactly refering to. An adjective is refering to a noun while an adverb is refering to a verb.
Lets take "aspekti" as an example.
La pano aspektas bone.
...
- 6,348
8
votes
Can infinitives be used back-to-back in Esperanto?
In Esperanto you would use "por" to connect the second infinitive:
Kion oni devas scii por povi kreskigi terpomojn.
This is not a rule about infinitives but more syntax of the verbs.
- 6,348
8
votes
How to translate "I took two pictures"?
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think preni is wrong in this context. Just because English uses take for pictures doesn’t mean Esperanto must too. I see no examples of such use on PIV and the many ...
- 6,078
8
votes
Accepted
Creating new verbs with -um and nouns
Certe oni povas fari vortludojn per la sufikso -um. Unu el la plej konataj estas geumi, kiu povas havi diversajn signifojn depende de la kunteksto: amindumi, flirti, seksumi kun aliseksa partnero.
...
- 3,162
8
votes
What is the object of "instrui"?
You will see it both ways. In most cases, you use instrui with al:
Mi instruos al li la francan.
However, it is possible for the learner to be the direct object (examples from Fratoj Grimm and La ...
- 21.3k
8
votes
Accepted
What is the object of "instrui"?
Using two direct objects with one verb is not recommended; I'm not sure if it's technically ungrammatical, or just strongly unpreferred, but in either case it's best to avoid sentences like *"Ŝi ...
- 3,789
8
votes
Accepted
Are the compound verb tenses ever really used in Esperanto?
Even though it may seem like the compound tenses only add difficulty to the language, they do have many advantages. They are useful in literature, like you mention, but not only translated works, also ...
- 12.4k
8
votes
Accepted
Kio estas la diferenco inter bezoni kaj necesi?
La diferenco estas, ke "necesi" signifas "esti necesa", kaj "bezoni" signifas "suferi pro manko de [io necesa]" aŭ "ne povi agi sen [io]". Do "bezoni" uziĝas kiel la hispana "necesitar" (angle "to ...
- 3,789
8
votes
Does Esperanto have any rules about the transitivity of verbs?
I am of the school that too much thought is put into the transitivity of verbs. The transitivity follows directly from what the words mean. You've got to learn whether the meaning allows a direct ...
- 21.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Does Esperanto have any rules about the transitivity of verbs?
A very good question and not easy to answer. I'll try anyhow, although my limited command of English makes it even harder.
First some preliminaries (also useful for future questions):
What you are ...
- 5,550
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible