"I speak Esperanto."
Translation:Mi parolas Esperanton.
16 Comments
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One of the suggested translations was "Mi parolas Esperante". Could anyone please explain what the difference would be between using -e and -on? I know that -e is used for adverbs and -on is used for the direct object, but I'm not sure I understand the difference in meaning or usage, if there is one? Are they interchangeable?
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You'll come to find out you can do a lot of really interesting things in Esperanto that you can't do in English. E-words are one of them. In this case "mi parolas esperante" literally means "I speak Esperanto-ly". Doesn't translate well to English but is perfectly acceptable in Esperanto: you have a subject (mi), verb (paroli) and an adverb to describe the manner/way in which you speak (esperante).
Long story short, they're the same. :)
And using e-words (and prepositions) is an easy way to get around those pesky accusatives if you aren't sure if you need one or not. ;)
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That's awesome! I'm loving how flexible Esperanto is, it's so refreshing!Thanks for the explanation, have a lingot :)
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Probably it is not a big difference. I feel that "Mi parolas Esperanton" is more in general (language knowledge) while "Mi parolas Esperante" is more for the moment now.
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That would make a lot of sense! Thank you for taking the time to explain! Have a lingot :)
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I was under the impression that alternative word orders are valid Esperanto, can somebody correct me on whether "Esperanton mi parolas" or "Parolas mi esperanton" etc. should be accepted?
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Valid Esperanto, but rare. Only poetry or when you are kind of joking. A famous poem is "Estas mi esperantisto", http://www.satesperanto.org/Estas-mi-esperantisto.html . Lots of sentences with inverse order.
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That's good to know, I had assumed that it was rare in any case, I'm just glad I hadn't imagined reading about it. Thanks for the response.
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The verb tense. :)
"Parolas" means you're speaking (e.g. Mi parolas means "I speak" or "I am speaking"). Any verb with the "-as" ending means that that verb is in the present tense.
"Parolu" with the "-u" ending means that the verb is in the imperative mood. The imperative mood is used to express commands. (e.g. "Parolu!" means "Speak!")
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I tried "Mi diras esperanton." but it was rejected. What's the difference between diras and parolas?
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I'm a beginner, and guessing here, so take this with a grain of salt, but . . .
I think "diras" is more like "say." So Mi diras esperanton would mean I say the word "esperanton" (rather than speaking it as a language).
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That's right. You can "say" something specific, or "speak" broadly. It would be acceptable to use an adverb with diri (mi diris soluton angle al li/I said hello in Esperanto to him)