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- "Ĉu vi parolas al mi?"
26 Comments
"Are you talking to me?" was correct, nice Robert De Niro reference (for me at least).
I had to attempt a pronunciation of "Ĉu vi parolas al mi?" using a "Nyoo Yawk" accent, and the result was a delightful linguistic mashup. :)
No, because "mi" is not the direct object of "parolas".
You speak words, but you speak to someone.
But I've read the accusative N can replace certain prepositions. La infano obeas al la patro. = La infano obeas la patron. Not sure if the accusative -n would replace the preposition "al" in this case.
I think the difference is that technically here, "mi" is an indirect object, not a direct object.
In your example "patro" is a direct object because it's what is being obeyed. "The infant obeys the father" makes sense in English. In this one "mi" is not a direct object. It's not "are you speaking me?", it's "are you speaking (words) TO me". That's an indirect object.
At least that's my understanding.
Use -n when accusative (direct object). In this case "to me" is not accusative, it is dative (indirect object)
I think, that 'Parolas' needs preposition after it. Otherwise, It won't be accepted.
Every time a sentence implies the word "do" I miss it entirely. I'm concluding the word "do" doesn't even exist in Esperanto and everyone just magically knows when it should be in a sentence. The translation on my page is "Do you speak to me?" How do I know that it is "do?" (I had guessed "Will") Is there a clue I missed? Thanks for any insight.
The "do", "will", etc. in English comes from the tense: past, present, or future. I spoke/I did speak. I speak/I do speak. I will speak.
Verb forms are simpler in Esperanto. There are no auxiliaries like "do" or "will". I spoke/I did speak is just "mi parolis". I speak/I do speak is just "mi parolas". I will speak is just "mi parolos".
Closed questions (yes/no, either/or, multiple choice) are formed with the interrogative particle "ĉu" at the start of the sentence.
I spoke/Mi parolis
Did I speak?/Ĉu mi parolis?
I speak/Mi parolas
Do I speak? Ĉu mi parolas?
I will speak/Mi parolos
Will I speak?/Ĉu mi parolos?
The incomplete expression concept is one of my biggest struggles with Esperanto. I'm not insulting languages with this characteristic, but I genuinely don't understand how people communicate with so much depending on implication.
''Al mi'' translates as ''with me''? As in; Cu vi ludas al mi? would also be correct?
"Al mi" translates as "to me", so Ĉu vi ludas al mi? is correct, however the context would be like someone playing a song for you.
