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- "Kie ili staras?"
20 Comments
Can this be used to refer to a stance on an issue, like in English, "Where do they stand on poverty?", etc?
12
I don't know that I've ever heard it used that way but it would probably be understood in context. Afterall, standing up to someone is expressed with the compound word "kontraŭstari". However it would probably be more likely to hear "Kion vi opinias pri malriĉeco?" or "Kiel ni solvu malriĉecon?" or even "Kian politikon vi subtenas rilate al malriĉeco?"
The question I had just before this was "Kien Sofia iras?" Why is this question not "Kien ili staras?"
- 12
The -as suffix is the present tense for verbs. The -i suffix is the infinitive. "Kie ili staras" means "Where are they standing" or "Where do they stand". An infinitive verb such as "stari" is usually subordinate to another verb, such as "Mi volas stari" (I want to stand).
For now you probably don't need to worry about the other uses of the infinitive but here are a couple examples: "Esti aŭ ne esti? Jen la demando" (To be or not to be? That is the question). "Ami estas vivi" (To love is to live). "Manĝi estas bone" (To eat is good).
Since when does Jen mean that? Esperanto is suppose to be easy to learn and im not liking all these words meaning the same thing.
Translate the meaning, not the words. "Jen" gives the same feel "that is", laŭ mi.
- 12
It's not a literal word-for-word translation. Neither was Zamenhof's: ĉu esti aŭ ne esti—tiel staras nun la demando
Your treating it like a code. I've studied codes a lot more than languages and yes, in the case of a code everything translates exactly. But when it comes to languages, perhaps a better way to think of it is not "this word means this word" and more like "this word means this, and here's a word you understand to help you get the idea." A language is its own thing thing, it just so happens that other languages have similar meanings.
"Jen mi estas, jen mi restas! " - House Atreides was more my association. Here "mi" makes sense as it's Leto Atreides's declaration upon arriving on Arrakis. His descendants merely take the same stance.
In this House Mormant quote, whoever they are, it sounds rather weak: "Here I stand"? Is there a context, or should it really be: "Ĉi tie ni staras." (Here we stand.)
If its from old, then maybe they're not just standing. Like in standin around doing nothing. Maybe they are taking a stand in battle. Or making a stand in battle at that very place.
- 1208
Where are they standing doesn't have to have context. If you need to provide it with some, then go ahead, but it's your context, not Duo's or anybody else's.
Sometimes we are given unattached phrases, or statements that people will actually make as lessons.
"Oh I see them!" "Where are they standing?" "Over by the bike rack"
I guess i was thinking about him saying that it sounded week. That depending on the cercomstances it could be something mighty. : ) Like when they take a stand in battle. Also wondering if the stand was being taken in that very place. How that might alter the sentence or the meaning of the sentence.
