"They ask, and we answer."
Translation:Ili demandas, kaj ni respondas.
8 Comments
1489
Could this also be ili petas? I would have thought they were asking for something or for someone to do something.
- 1489
Right, that is my point. When someone says "they ask, and we answer," I would have thought it did not mean we were conveying information to them, but rather that we were saying "yes, sir" and the doing whatever ili petis.
Hah, jen kial mi ne ŝatas respondi angle. Jen, per BER:
- demandi: diri ion al iu por ekscii ion (to say something to someone in order to know something)
- peti: diri, ke oni deziras ekhavi aĵon aŭ servon; diri, ke oni deziras, ke iu faru ion; diri "bonvolu.... -i" (to say that you desire to have a thing or service; to say that you desire that someone does something; to say "please.... [do])"
- 1489
I suppose the answer to my question, then, is that one would be clearer saying this in Esperanto, but what I would understand, if someone were to say "They ask and we answer," would be possible, since I would understand that to mean "Ili petas kaj ni respondas." "Will you go and fight on my behalf?" "Yes sir, of course, sir."
Hmmm. Ok, how I might use this sentence realistically:
- Ili demandas (al ni ĉu ni ŝatas kukon) kaj ni respondas (ke ni ne ŝatas kukon!)
- Ili petas (ke ni ne plu faru tion) kaj ni respondas (fek' al vi! Ni faru tion, kion vi volas!)
