Verda Drako- Esperanto Club Notes and English-Esperanto Course

Esperanto ASAP- Chapter 13(1)

^CAPITRO 13 (DEK TRI) Parto 1

Reported Speech / Raportita Parolado

1). Reported Speech

When one reports a direct quotation it is included in inverted commas e.g.

"Mi kontraûstaras tian ideon" (I oppose such an idea) (kontraûstaras = stand (stari) against (kontraû).

When it is reported indirectly, however, we use ke e.g.

Li diris, ke li kontraûstaras tian ideon. (He said that he opposed such an idea)

If the report is in the past tense (i.e. diris) then English has a peculiarity as regards the tense. The quoted statement moves one step back into the past i.e.

"I am thinking..." becomes He said that he was thinking

"I have thought.." becomes He said that he had thought

"I shall have ..." becomes He said that he should have .

This problem is avoided in Esperanto as the rule is simple - the reported speech uses exactly the same tense as the original quotation. i.e.

"Mi pensas" Li diris, ke li pensas

"Mi pensis" Li diris, ke li pensis ktp.

There should always be a comma before ke

Notice that reported speech is not restricted to actual spoken dialogue but applies equally to thoughts, opinions etc. e.g. it can follow pensi (to think), kredi (to believe), scii (to know), bedaûri (to regret), senti (to feel) etc.

If the direct speech involves a question then ke is replaced by ^cu (whether,if) e.g.

Mi scivolas, ^cu li venos. (I wonder if he will come) (scivoli : 'wish to know')

If the direct speech involves a command (even as a wish or request) then the imperative ending -u is used. e.g.

Mi konsilas, ke ili skribu (I advise that they should write)

Ordonu al ili, ke ili ne vetu (Order them not to bet)

2). Word Pairs

Certain word pairs have an important use in Esperanto :

This can be varied with the use of the prefix mal- to cover the other possibilities the more... the less and the less....the more etc. e.g. ju pli mi pensas pri tio, des malpli tio pla^cas al mi (The more I think about that, the less it pleases me)

3). Past continued into the Present

Whenever an action occurred in the past and is still continuing today Esperanto uses the present tense whilst English tends to use the past e.g.

I have been an Esperantist for twenty years ( Mi estas Esperantisto dum dudek jaroj. )

More Affixes

kaj.....kaj	both.....and	Kaj mi kaj mia amiko	both my friend and I
aû.....aû	either......or	Aû vi aû via peranto venu	Either you or your representative should come
nek.....nek	neither.....nor	Mi parolas nek france, nek germane	I speak neither French nor German
^cu.....^cu	whether.....whether	La bebo pla^cos al mi, ^cu knabo ^cu knabino	The baby will please me, whether a boy or whether a girl
jen.....jen	sometimes.....other times	mi preferas jen bovina^jon, jen šafida^jon	Sometimes I prefer beef, other times lamb
eble.....eble	possibly.....perhaps	eble jes, eble ne	possibly yes, perhaps no
ju.....des	the more.....the more	Ju pli vi provos kareon, des pli vi ^satos ^gin	The more you try curry, the more you will appreciate it.

4). -Ebl-

This suffix indicates possibility e.g.

5). -Ind-

This suffix indicates worthiness or merit e.g.

6). Ek-

vidi	to see	videbla	possible to see, visible
legi	to read	legebla	legible
kredi	to believe	kredebla	credible

vidi	to see	vidinda^jo	something worth seeing, a tourist sight
rimarki	to notice	rimarkinda	worth noticing,remarkable
ami	to love	aminda	lovable

This prefix indicates either momentary action or the beginning of an action e.g

7). Before and After as Conjunctions

Before and after as prepositions (i.e. followed by nouns) are antaû and post. However when they serve as conjunctions (followed by verbs or phrases) they become antaû ol and post kiam.

8). Prepositions and infinitives

Five prepositions can be followed by the infinitive of the verb (which is translated in English by a -ing word) :

rigardi	to look at	ekrigardi	to glance at
brili	to shine	ekbrili	to flash, shine for instant
dormi	to sleep	ekdormi	to fall asleep
bruli	to burn	ekbruli	to catch alight

Antaû la anonco	before the announcement
Antaû ol li aûskultis la radion	before he listened to the radio

Kiu monato venas post aûgusto?	Which month comes after August?
Post kiam mi banas min, ^ciam mi soifas.	After I've had a bath (bathed myself) I'm always thirsty.

Anstataû telefoni	Instead of phoning
Krom mensogi	Besides (in addition to, except) telling lies)	E : mendacious
Por tondi la harojn	In order to cut the hair
Antaû ol morti	Before dying	E : mortal
Sen pensi	Without thinking