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- "I speak Esperanto."
"I speak Esperanto."
Translation:Mi parolas Esperanton.
16 Comments
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?
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. ;)
That's awesome! I'm loving how flexible Esperanto is, it's so refreshing!Thanks for the explanation, have a lingot :)
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.
That would make a lot of sense! Thank you for taking the time to explain! Have a lingot :)
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?
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.
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.
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!")
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).
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)
