12
votes
Accepted
Is it incorrect to end a sentence with the word "pri"?
That's a clear anglicism. Some people from scandinavian countries also sometimes speak like that, because their languages also know these grammar structures. But in Esperanto it is clearly wrong. A ...
- 6,328
9
votes
Accepted
Position of unemphatic pronouns
Both are correct. Mi volas vidi lin is the most neutral word order. None of the examples you give strike me as all that shocking or unusual -- or even that emphatic. Of them, I find the following most ...
- 21.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Uses of Word Order in Esperanto
As well as being easier for English speakers, the first form is generally considered the “normal” form. However, it’s not uncommon to swap the order around for emphasis. For example, you could imagine ...
- 17k
8
votes
Is it incorrect to end a sentence with the word "pri"?
No. 1 is incorrect. No. 2 is okay but evades the problem by using a different verb.
Your intention is probably:
Mi ne povas decidi, pri kio paroli.
A preposition cannot appear at the end of a ...
- 13.7k
8
votes
Word order & equivalent sentences
Kiel vi fartas? is how you'll usually hear it, but the other word order is OK and means the same thing.
Nedankinde is a polite thing to say when someone thanks you.
Vi estas bonvena is a way to tell ...
- 21.2k
7
votes
Accepted
"Adjective + noun" or "noun + adjective"?
"Adjective + noun" is definitely the most common word order, both in spoken and written Esperanto. Both variants are correct, but I'd recommend you write "gravan postenon" so your reader doesn't ...
- 1,252
5
votes
Is it incorrect to end a sentence with the word "pri"?
My opinion is that this is an English grammar rule in an Esperanto sentence:
I cannot decide what to talk about.
As far as I know, that is not correct in Esperanto (please correct me if I am wrong)...
- 6,038
5
votes
Accepted
Is there any rule about the adjectives order?
I have never heard of such a rule, I haven't found anything about it in PMEG and I can't remember hearing an adjective order that sounded weird to me. Use what feels natural to you.
- 1,252
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 ...
- 17k
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 ...
- 17k
4
votes
Vortordo kun subfrazo kun «ke»
Viaj frazoj estas kompreneblaj, sed laŭ mia gusto ili ne apartenas al bonstila prozo. Tiaj povas ja aperi, ĉu en poezio pro metrikaj kaŭzoj, ĉu en hasta konversacio, kie foje la parolanto decidas ...
- 1,343
4
votes
"Adjective + noun" or "noun + adjective"?
Lernu explains that you can even mix adjective order and have some before and some after the noun. Lernu makes no difference between formal or informal language.
Lernu klarigas tion tiel:
Epitetaj ...
- 8,117
4
votes
Accepted
Negating "jam" (i.e. to not already have done something)
Kelkaj uzas ne jam same kiel ankoraŭ ne. Tio ne malĝustas, sed estas iel evitinda.
Jen klarigo en PMEG.
Fine de la ligita klarigo (citilojn aldonis mi):
Zamenhof tial prave konsilis, ke oni evitu ...
- 4,575
3
votes
Accepted
Vortordo de adverboj - kiom, kiel, kaj kiam gravas?
La ordo ne gravas en la rilato adverbo-verbo (jen du ekzemploj de Tekstaro, Zamenhofaj)
mi donas publike por tio, ke
mi publike diras mem,
Pri viaj frazoj:
Estas bone legi libron
bone perverbe ...
- 4,575
3
votes
Accepted
Vortordo kun subfrazo kun «ke»
Ambaŭ frazoj ŝajnas al mi tute bonaj. PMEG klarigas tian nekutiman vortordon de subfrazoj jene:
34.2.2. Antaŭmetado el subfrazo
Iafoje oni povas meti frazparton, kiu vere apartenas al subfrazo,...
- 3,439
3
votes
Is it incorrect to end a sentence with the word "pri"?
Remember that prepositions are, by definition, in the pre-position. That means they need to come before a word. (English bends that rule a lot, but Esperanto does not.)
It's not just pri, but this is ...
- 21.2k
2
votes
"Adjective + noun" or "noun + adjective"?
The more common order definitely seems to be adjective + noun, but that doesn't mean it's the one you should use. I always recommend using whichever word order you feel most comfortable with whenever ...
- 635
2
votes
Position of unemphatic pronouns
It is quite common for so-called "light" elements like pronouns to slip into a less stressed position, so it is no wonder that this occurs also in Esperanto, although the language has a heavy ...
- 5,450
2
votes
Uses of Word Order in Esperanto
Word order is in fact very important in Esperanto. Many people new to learning the language are surprised to hear this, perhaps due to the way it's presented in some text books and other learning ...
- 21.2k
2
votes
How does positional emphasis work in Esperanto?
As Eduardo says the normal, neutral word order is SVO, and thus if you begin with something else than the subject, that gets emphasized.
Let's take an example sentence:
La granda hundo kaj la ...
- 3,289
2
votes
Accepted
"mi kaj X" aŭ "X kaj mi"?
There are no conventions that I know of.
La kunliga vorto kaj estas sufiĉe neŭtra. Jen kelkaj ekzemploj Zamenhofaj el Tekstaro:
mi unue:
tiam ni – mi kaj Marcello–
mi kaj ili dormadis
mi kaj li ...
- 4,575
1
vote
Vortordo - kvantadverbo ne rekte apud «da»
Rigardu la prepozicion "da" kiel montrilon de la partitivo, ke ĝi montras parton de io. Tio estas la kutima uzo de la prepozicio "da". Ekzemple
Mi aĉetas du litrojn da lakto.
kie ...
- 3,289
1
vote
Accepted
Vortordo - kvantadverbo ne rekte apud «da»
Sed ĉu ankaŭ tiu havus sencon?
Mi multe havas da X.
Jes. Apartigi multe kaj da per verbo, kvankam vere neofta vortordo, ja estas sencohava. Jen du Zamenhofaj ekzemploj el Tekstaro:
Estas nekredeble, ...
- 4,575
1
vote
Double verb use
Let's see the case government of the two verbs you mentioned.
peti iun pri io or peti ion de iu (see PIV) : to ask something from someone
As you can see the direct object can either be the person ...
- 3,289
1
vote
"mi kaj X" aŭ "X kaj mi"?
Given that Esperanto is for the whole world, I doubt, that there are any steadfast rules for this. Personally I consider Mi kaj mia gasto... as neutral, the reversed order somehow emphasizing.
- 3,289
1
vote
Representing the present perfect continuous
Such a separation to progressive and perfect verbs is an aspect of English and some other languages. Thanks to Kazimierz Bein esti + aktivaj participoj have largely fallen out of use (and that is fine)...
- 3,289
1
vote
Representing the present perfect continuous
The following seems intended, with stress on now.
Nun mi ne faras ĝin, sed mi estis faranta ĝin.
With estis-anta: i.o. the point-of-time estas-inta.
As there is a tendency to use simple tenses, ...
- 3,703
1
vote
Accepted
Adjective order - convention as opposed to rule
You'd probably sound completely normal to some Esperanto speakers (some might not even notice the difference), unusual to other Esperanto speakers and correct but strange to yet others. (Maybe you'd ...
- 3,166
1
vote
Adjective order - convention as opposed to rule
My question is thus whether it would be strange of me in practice to always, or mostly, have adjectives follow nouns.
There is nothing strange about it. If you like it better this way, do it this way....
- 362
1
vote
How does positional emphasis work in Esperanto?
Mallonga respondo:
kion vi mencias unue (komence) kaj ne sekvas SVO, tio estas emfazita. Ni diru ke la surprizo trovi tiun elementon en neatendita loko, tio emfazas ĝin, altiras la atenton al ĝi.
Iom ...
- 4,575
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