"If you have to work, you have to work."
Translation:Se vi devas labori, vi devas labori.
20 Comments
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"havas" is about possesion, e.g. "Vi havas pomon" = "You have an apple."
When English "have" is more like "must", use "eo: devas", e.g. " You have to pay" ("You must to pay.") = "Vi devas pagi."
It's like the difference between "tienes" (possesion) and "debes" (obligation) in Spanish.
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Wouldn't the word "oni" be used here? Also, aren't there "if/then" statements in Esperanto? What about the "then" part?
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If you were talking in general, jes, but if you were talking to someone who just said they can't attend the esperanto meeting this week on account of work, then no.
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Do you always have to say "vi" twice in a sentence like this, or can you omit the second "vi"?
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If the two clauses were equal to each other then they could be combined, but the SE-clause describes the main clause. Two clauses, two subjects.
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So omitting the second vi here should have been accepted? It wasn't for me.
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Mi havas demandon. Se oni uzas "devus" en la unua frazo, ĉu ĝi estas korekte? Do, la frazo iĝas "Se vi devus labori, vi devas labori".
It's like English. You're using the helping verb like usual -- "have", and then the infinitive -- "to work". So when you have to work, you have to work.
Using devi the second time would be like saying: when you have to work, you to have to work.
