- Forum >
- Topic: Esperanto >
- "Estas plezure renkonti vin."
20 Comments
The use of the adverb, here again, standard? Most often on Facebook, I tend to see simply "...plezuro renkonti vin."
Those two sentences mean essentially the same thing, but are expressing it slightly differently (but both correctly). With the adverb it means pretty directly "it is nice to meet you" where the adverb describes the action. With the noun, it means "it is a pleasure to meet you," equating the action with the noun pleasure.
Also, your username is pona. :)
Learning Esperanto has deepened my realization of the extent to which English has suffered attrition since the days of Bunyan—"good to meet you" vs. "well met."
I actually do tend to say "Estas plezuro..." but this way is also perfectly acceptable.
1329
I've also been known to say "Estas mia plezuro". Shorthand for the above, but emphasizing that the pleasure is all mine.
And you must say it whenever you meet another Esperantist, even if you are not pleased to meet them. :)
What is the typical response to this? "The pleasure is all mine" is what I would say in english. "La plezuro estas tute mian."?
Mi pensas, ke oni dirus, "La plezuro estas tute (la) mia." Vi ne bezonas la akuzativon en tiu cxi okazo.
I think one would say "La plezuro estas tute (la) mia." You don't need the accusative in this case.
- 1329
Close enough.
Estas is often translated as "it is". One need but ask "what is the it about which I'm speaking" to determine whether to add ĝi, or not. If you can't pin it down with any degree of accuracy, then leave that word off and just use estas.
I agree with LouisSepdekdu here.
As far as FredCapp describes English and not Esperanto, I agree with him here too.
I still, also, hold that the subject of this sentence is an "understood" word.
I think that's the wrong way to look at it. English requires a "dummy it" here. Esperanto does not because there is no "actual it" that is good here. It's renkonti vin that's good.
We can have infinitive subjects in English too:
- To know him is to love him.
In practice - whether we think of the subject as impersonal (NOT "implied") or as the infinitive, the structure is the same.
- 1329
In Esperanto Adverbs are, indeed, used, in connection with forms of esti, as the compliment of a verbal subject.
Vin, with its predicate -n cannot be in the subject. But that's a worthy attempt to find an understood subject.
If there is any subject, it is the implied, or understood, my as in "It is my pleasure…"
The subject is certainly not "vin". It's "renkonti vin".
"My" cannot be the subject in your sentence either. It's a determiner. In "it is my pleasure", "it" is the subject.
- 1329
You may be right about mia, but I will hold until further notice that renkonti vin is a verb and a predicate, not any sort of subject.
I still, also, hold that the subject of this sentence is an "understood" word.
Being a verb has no bearing on it being able to be used as the subject of a sentence. An infinitive can be a subject in Esperanto and in English: Renkonti vin estas plezure ; To meet you is a pleasure. In English, a gerund can be a subject too.
