134 Comments
Jes, Esperanto estas tre facila! Mi ŝatas Esperanton.
Kaj nun, ses monatoj poste mia komento, mi povas paroli Esperanton eĉ pli bone!
It is. I actually make more mistakes in English than in Esperanto while doing this curse, haha.
Reply to this comment in Esperanto. If there are no mistakes, then you've proven your point.
"course", not "curse" ;)
Jes Esperanto estas facile (I might have got confused with French).
2063
I think you got confused with French.
Facila is an adjective because it ends with -a.
Facile would be an adverb because it ends with -e.
Hi, I like your avatar, good old Yuri :D
I would more likely end a sentence with, "right?" instead of "is it not?" which sounds very drawn out... and maybe like I'm trying to sound pretentious. :P
For me it sounds naturally, like polish, because:
ĉ=cz, ĉu?=czy?, ne=nie=not, ĉu ne? = czy nie?
- 2407
Makes sense, as the creator of the language was Polish. I'm glad there's some Slavic influence, because I've never studied a Slavic language and I really want to. This is a nice, gentle introduction to some of those elements.
Well i have to suggest Serbian. We've got the simplest writing system, one sound one letter, or formulated as a rule: "speak as you write, and write as you speak". Also you can use either latin or cyrilic script. The grammar is pretty straightforward and easy. On the other hand if you have no experience with cases, you won't have a fun time as we have 7 of them (only Russians have 6). But if you learn it you'll be able to fully understand, and be understood by Serbians, Croatians, Montenegrin, and Bosnians, as those languages form a dialect continuum with only really subtle differences. And you'll be able to comunicate with Macedonians and Slovenians. Also there are more of our people livining in the diaspora then here. And even with the most basic understanding it will be really easy to find people to help you out. It's also a great stepping stone for other Slavic languages, as it has far simpler writing system and grammar, and a lot of words with roots in German, English, French, and Turkish.
In fact, that ending with a somehow arbitrary negative is surprisingly present in many languages, even in English (...., isn't it?). It's funny that such an apparently oxymoronic ending for a positive question is widespread. I'm glad to hear that in Polish it's also similar... I'll search for other Slavic languages (Russian and South Slavic) to see if there is a general pattern.
- 2063
In English, tag questions can go a few different ways.
It's easy, yeah?
It's easy, no?
However, tag questions that derive from the main verb are always the opposite in terms of positive vs. negative.
She is coming, isn't she?
You're not sick, are you?
He will be here, won't he?
I won't regret this, will I?
In Russian we have a strong immutable phrase. The full version of phrase Literally is "This is not true?" (это не так? Eto ne tak?) or "isn't that so?" (не так ли? (ne tak li?) in short version.
It doesn't change it's form whatever you have in first part of sentence - I mean different pronouns or positive and negative form of the verb
Sorry for my bad English :) I hope I describe it well.
To my Russian ears, “cxu ne” sounds like «чё не?», which would be a bydlo-style tag question (or just spoken by a really annoyed person) :D
Yeah, and I put 'or not' because 'cu ne' sounds like the Polish 'czy nie', and 'czy nie' is translated to 'or not'.
Literally yes, but polish "czy nie?" at the end of the question is translated to "isn't it?"
Well, yeah, but that isn't the grammatically accurate way of translating it. The most accurate translation would be 'or not', but 'isn't it' is also valid.
In Czech ĉ = č, ne = ne, či ne? = or not Though, it's not the most common version.
Yeah. I was more arguing for an alternative English translation than changing the esperanto wording. It sounds fine in esperanto. :) Oftentimes a literal translation isn't the best and makes you sound like a foreigner.
- 105
Actually, ending the sentence with "isn't it?" is very common in the UK and Ireland.
"Right?" is now accepted.
Also, ĉu ne? reminds me of various "isn't that so" expressions, including nicht wahr and n'cest pas.
- 2063
"...isn't it?" is a common tag question.
But it also accepts "...don't you think?"
Hey! Random question but what is the flag with the red and yellow stripes you have?
The ne is like Japanese. They use the same term. "so des ne" isn't that so?
actually ne is the opposite of Japanese, the no element, so it looks the same but it's the cxu that is the yes part.
- 2063
More or less, I suppose. They're all tag questions, like the English "...is(n't) it?"
When I first came to Duolingo, there was a option by which I could play a record at either normal speed or slowly. But the option seems to be disappeared now. Why is that?
They say Esperanto very quickly in record.
- 2063
I see what you mean, but it's just a coincidence. In Japanese, "desu ne" breaks down into "desu = is" and "ne = interrogative particle". In Esperanto, "ĉu" is the interrogative particle that comes from the Polish "czy" and "ne" is the negative that derives from Indo-European.
I love how I know French as a lingua franca and English as my mother tongue, so I automatically know this language. Cheers to the Polish optometrist who made up this language! :)
Is it wrong to translate facila as simple? I know that simple has some negative connotations but it sounds ok to me in this sentence.
Well, simple and easy have subtle differences. Easy means that it is not difficult to accomplish or complete. Simple means that it is not complex or difficult to understand. When people say, "Easier said than done," they're talking about things that are simple, but not easy. It's also possible for something to be complex and yet still easy at the same time.
Thanks, I get the difference (however you could say both about Esperanto :-)).
Let me reformulate the question: if facila has the same meaning as easy, what best corresponds to simple?
There is a word for simple in Esperanto:
simpla
Does Esperanto (whenever you're saying it in a sentence and it's the first word) stay like that or is it special and you don't have to put anything (REMEMBER- it is the first word in a sentence) Thank you
- 2063
The singular subject of a sentence takes the default noun form. You add suffixes if it's plural or the direct object of a verb.
Esperanto is easy: Esperanto estas facila. "Esperanto" is the subject, and thus in the nominative case. It takes no suffixes.
I speak Esperanto: Mi parolas Esperanton. "Esperanto" is the direct object of the verb, and thus in the accusative case. It takes the -n suffix to mark this.
- 2063
I think you mean "mi amas lerni Esperanton." The -u suffix makes it the imperative. The -i suffix is the infinitive.
Jes! Espéranto estas tre facila (pour un européen dont la langue maternelle est basée sur le latin)
"Esperanto is quit easy, is it not?" is not accepted, please, fix this.
- 2063
The comments section is not the place to suggest alternative answers. You need to report it.
Endoktrinigo estas en plena svingo. Ili reproduktiĝas Esperantan supera raso. Saluton Duo
Ĉu ne? sound to me a lot like the Polish "Co nie?", which is a common way of saying "don't you agree?" or "isn't it?"
- 2063
Well, ĉu does come from the Polish czy.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C4%89u
Not when you're trying to learn German at the same time. It confuses me endlessly.
I was just getting on here to take a break from German's Dative Case and welp now I'm just confused. Thanks multitasking, thanks.
ironically i got this wrong the first time because i forgot about 'ne' on the end
- 2063
More experienced Esperantists can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's acceptable to leave off the "ne" part of "cxu ne" when speaking informally.
"Esperanto is quite easy, isn't it?" isn't accepted.
Shouldn't it be accepted or am I missing something? :/
Thanks, I already did do that, I am just commenting in case I am accidentally missing something here.
You don't have to capitalize "Esperanto". It's done because Esperanto is a name, whereas "la angla" is a description. It's a shortening of "la angla lingvo".
Not entirely right!
Esperanti is both the language and a hoper.
esper-ant-o. esper = hope, ant = active doer, o = noun suffix.
Usually the context clarifies the meaning. But in rare cases it matters if you capitalize it or not.
e.g.:
Li estas Esperanto = He is the personification of Esperanto.
Li estas esperanto = He is a hoper.
As an English speaker and take German classes (German was very easy for me and I speak proficient at it), I agree.
la komenta sekcio nun fariĝas loko por spektakloj de kion ni komencantoj scias nur: "Jes, kaj mi amas esperanto!"
This is the first time that (an attempt at) learning a language has made me feel smart, not stupid! I love Esperanto!
- 2063
Oversight or glitch. Next time that's rejected, flag it and report "My answer should be accepted."
