46 Comments
Pleasantly surprised that the verb "sup" is already accepted as a translation for vespermanĝas ("Do they sup together?"). Here I was thinking it'd mark me wrong and I'd have to report it...
Where is sup used? I'm from California in the USA, and I haven't heard it before.
I'm not sure it's commonly used anywhere anymore...it was certainly in extensive use in the UK through the 19th century. OED currently lists it as "dated" rather than "archaic," so possibly still some use there. There's plenty of evidence for it in common literature (i.e. Stephenson's "Treasure Island:" "...bring up the cold pie and let him sup."). Each meal in English has a dedicated verb to go with it: "I breakfast/he breakfasts," "I lunch/he lunches," "I dine/he dines," "I sup/he sups," "I snack/he snacks." Even tea managed to get one, despite being a relatively recent innovation and an awkward construction ("I tea/he teas"), though I dare say it's rarer than "sup."
Cole Porter knew it - I'd like to sup with my baby tonight/Refill the cup with my baby tonight - Too Darn Hot
bump
i have lived in Texas, New Jersey, and California and I also have never come across the verb 'to sup'
Vespero (evening) + manĝas (eating) = vespermanĝas (eating dinner / evening meal)
"Dine" means a different thing though, doesn't it? It's specifically a formal meal with company. You don't "dine" if you're eating dinner alone, or if you're eating at McDonald's or in front of the TV.
I think there's an implication of a full, tasty meal, or an enjoyable meal, but I wouldn't expect it to imply a formal dinner. "They dined on mince And slices of quince, which they are with a runcible spoon."
What's the difference between vespermangxas, vespermangxi, and vespermangxo?
vespermangxo is the noun form, like "Dinner is on the table" (Vespermangxo estas sur la tablo), while the other two the verb forms (we say "to eat dinner", but they have one word for it). Vespermangxi is the inifinitve form, and vespermangxas is the present tense form as in "I eat dinner" (Mi veserpermangxas).
Also, in some parts of the U.S., "dinner" is the noontime meal and "supper" is the evening meal but, even in places where "dinner" is the evening meal, "supper" is still understood as the evening meal, as well. Likewise, even though "dinner" can be ambiguous, "lunch" is always understood for the noontime meal.
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Same in parts of the UK. Where I live the meal times are: breakfast; dinner/lunch; tea(time) and supper. To talk about eating dinner in the evening just sounds so wrong.
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It was the same in Australia some years ago. Breakfast, dinner & tea. Supper was a light meal or snack later in the evening. "Lunch" has now largely replaced dinner for the midday meal and dinner has been moved to the evening meal. The post-tea/dinner cry was always "What's for pudding?", meaning "What dish is about to be presented as dessert".
The correct answer is dinner, but all the options for vespermangxas include the word afternoon. I know that's a literal translation but is this not a little confusing?
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Evening is when dinner is eaten, right? So, "Eat-at-evening" might be the literal definition
It wanted me to translate it to "Are they eating tea together?". Really weird. I'm guessing it's a bug and the rest of you got the real answer?
I don't think it's a bug. 'Tea' in the UK can be the evening meal. For exanple, 'What are we having for tea, Mum?'
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Phrases 'We're having tea together tonight', 'I'm about to eat me tea' were normal in the part of England where I grew up. I wouldn't be surprised if "eating tea" rather than "having tea" was common in some areas.
Certainly. I would talk about eating tea. Where I am from breakfast is the morning meal, the midday meal is called dinner and then we have tea in the evening
In England, breakfast is always at the start of the day, and lunch is always sometime around midday. After that, it is not even down to regional differences. It varies from family to family.
The midday meal: Lunch or dinner.
The mid-afternoon snack, with a cup of tea or coffee: Tea.
The meal served at the end of the afternoon or at the beginning of the day: Dinner or tea or supper.
A snack before bedtime or late evening: Supper.
I wrote "Do they eat supper together" and I was wrong. I guess in Esperanto Land, supper is the late evening snack!
The suggested correct version "Do they eat tea together?" sounds pretty odd to my U.S. ears.
is ''do they eat dinner together'' correct or does it have to be ''are they eating dinner together''
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That would be using "dinner" as an adjective. To make a noun, add -o. To make an adjective, add -a. To make a verb (in present tense), add -as.
What the..? "Do they eat TEA together" Is the correct answer?
Do they having dinner- or; do they eat - no?? I think there's a mistake
I love this: "kune" > "kun" + e > "with" + adjective ending > with-ly > together
I was under the impression that all adjectives end with -a. Apparently I'm mistaken.
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All adjectives end in -a. All adverbs end in -e. In this case, "kune" is an adverb, describing how one does the verb - they eat together.
Different forms of the verb. The -as ending forms the present tense, vespermanĝas, is/are/am eat[ing] dinner. The -i ending forms the infinitive, to eat dinner. Thus: "mi volas vespermanĝi" "I want to eat dinner." "Mi vespermanĝas" "I eat dinner"
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Some answers in Duolingo give the so called correct answer as "evening meal". Many countries have dinner at midday, where dinner = main meal of the day. I think both answers, evening meal or dinner should be correct.
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Im from USA and I have come across "sup" but only in books, never in real life conversation. It's kind of a last century slang.
