The International Auxiliary Language Esperanto Part 37

_Cu vi volas, ke mi iru?_ or, _Cu mi iru?_ = Shall I go? Am I to go? (pars. 58 (_a_), 237 (_m_) (3)). "Will I go" is bad English, and untranslatable!

Should and Would.

237 (_o_). "Should" and "would" follow the rules of "shall" and "will" when employed in parallel circ.u.mstances. They express:--

(1). Supposition, or a future that is doubtful, conditional, or merely supposed (par. 192), as "_I should do it if I knew how._"

(2). Duty or obligation (par. 237 (_a_)) as "He _should_ not do that."

(3). Determination, as "Nothing could influence him, he _would_ do it."

(4). The softening of an expression (par. 194), as "Would you object to do that?"

(5). The future in _indirect_ speech (par. 232), as "_She said she would (will) come._"

(6). Would, when it signifies _custom_ or _habit_, is sometimes translated by adding the suffix _-AD-_ to the verb.

The following sentences will show how these various meanings may be expressed in Esperanto. The number before each example shows under which cla.s.s of meanings it comes.

Examples.--(1). _Mi gin farus, se vi min permesus_ = I should do it if you would permit me. (1). _Li min frapus, se li ne timus_ = He would strike me if he were not afraid. (3). _Li insistis gin fari malgrau la dangero_ = He _would_ do it in spite of the danger. (4).

_Cu vi donus al mi tiun libron?_ = Would you give me that book? (1).

_Se vi vidus Johanon morgau_ (2) _vi devus diri al li, ke li ne acetu tiun domon_ = If you should see John to-morrow, you should tell him not to buy that house. (5). _Si diris al mi, ke si venos_ = She told me that she would (will) come. (1). _Mi iomete suspektis, ke ili venos_ = I had a slight suspicion that they would come. (6).

_Ili ofte rajdadis tra la arbaroj, kie la brancoj tusadis iliajn sultrojn, kaj la birdoj kantadis inter la fresaj folioj_ = They would often ride through the woods, where the branches would touch their shoulders, and the birds would sing amid the fresh leaves.

Must, Ought.

237 (_p_). "Must" and "Have to" always signify physical or moral obligation, and are stronger terms than "ought," which implies moral obligation or duty. Compare "_You must_ (_have to_, _are to_) _go_"

with "_You ought to go._" The former can be rendered by devi, and the latter, "ought," by _deci_, or some word implying moral obligation.

Devi is also used for "ought" in the Conditional mood; devus, in this case, being the softened form of the Conditional mood (see par. 194).

Care must be taken not to translate "must" when it signifies "have to" or "am to" by havi or esti (see par. 237 (_a_) on devi).

Examples.--_Li devas labori_ = He must (has to) work. _Mi devas havi tiun libron_ = I must have that book. _Cio, kio trovigas en tiu ci libro, devas esti rigardata kiel deviga por ciuj_ = Everything which is in this book must be regarded as obligatory for all.

_La "Fundamento de Esperanto" devas resti severe netusebla_ = The "Fundamento de Esperanto" must remain strictly unalterable (untouchable). _Vi devus ne fari tion_, or, _Ne decas, ke vi tion faru_ = You ought not to (it is not proper, right that you should) do that. _Vi devus viziti (Decas, ke vi vizitu) la patron_ = You ought to see (it is proper that you should see) your father. _Li devus ne forgesi_ (or, _esti forgesinta_) = He ought not to have forgotten.

_Decas, ke mi alportu miajn servojn al la rego_ = I ought to offer my services to the king. _Kiam vi devos vidi la h.o.m.on?_ = When must you (will you have to) see the man? _Mi devus vidi lin hierau, sed li malsanigis, tial nun mi devos atendi gis morgau_ = I ought to have seen him yesterday, but he fell ill, so now I must wait till to-morrow.

N.B.--Note, in the last example, that the adverb _hierau_ = yesterday, clearly shows the action is past; it is therefore unnecessary to use the past infinitive _esti vidinta_.

ADVERBS (Adverboj).

238. Adverbs are more widely used in Esperanto than in any other language. The root of every word, and any grammatical termination or affix, the sense of which permits this, can be made into an adverb by adding the adverbial termination _E_. This facility enables the Esperantist to express in one word, to an unlimited extent, what in other languages often takes two, three, or more words to express adequately. E.g., Tiamaniere = _In such a manner_. Matene = _In the morning_. Vespere = _In the evening_.

239. An adverb answers to a preposition accompanied by a complement.

Example.--_Li parolas sage_ = "He speaks wisely," has the same signification as _Li parolas kun sageco_ = He speaks with wisdom.

240. Adverbs are used to modify the meaning of verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

Examples.--_Li agas bone_ = He acts well. _Tiu ci estas tre granda domo_ = This is a very large house. _Li skribas treege bone_ = He writes extremely well.

N.B.--When an adverb seems to qualify a preposition, it really qualifies an adverbial phrase, as:--Multe antau la horo = _Much before the time_ (_hour_).

241. Position.--Adverbs, as a rule, immediately precede or follow the words which they modify (see par. 88).

242. There are two cla.s.ses of adverbs in Esperanto, which for the sake of distinction we will call (_a_) "Primary" and (_b_) "Grammatical."

(_a_). Primary adverbs are all to be found in the list of primary words in Part V. They have no distinctive termination.

(_b_). Grammatical adverbs are those which are formed by adding _E_ to a root, grammatical termination, or affix. Some are formed by adding _E_ to a primary word.

A list of adverbs will be found at page 166.

243. No influence on case.--Adverbs exercise no influence on the case of nouns, adjectives, or p.r.o.nouns. If such be in the accusative, it is not by the influence of the adverb. For example:--Mi amas Johanon tiel varme, kiel mian fraton = _I love John as warmly as my brother_. Here kiel exercises no influence on mian fraton, for both mian fraton and Johanon are governed by the verb amas.

Therefore the meaning is that the speaker loves my brother and John equally warmly. Or, we can place mian fraton in the nominative, as:--Mi amas Johanon tiel varme, kiel mia frato = _I love John as warmly as my brother_ (_does_). Ask yourself the question, "as my brother does what?" and the answer is "loves John." In English we are obliged to add "does" or "loves him," but in Esperanto the meaning is quite clear from the case of the noun (see also pars. 247 and 105).

244. Adverbs formed from Prepositions.--When a preposition has no complement, noun or p.r.o.noun, the preposition then takes the adverbial termination _E_. For instance, in the phrase mi staras apud li (_I am standing by him_); apud here is a preposition because it is followed by its complement li. But if li be omitted, we must alter the sentence, as:--Li staras apude = _He is standing by_ (_near_).

245. Subject not expressed.--When, in a sentence in Esperanto, there is no noun or p.r.o.noun which the adjective can qualify (as in case of verbs in the infinitive, or used impersonally), the adverb is used in Esperanto in place of the adjective.

Examples.--_Mensogi estas honte_ (not _honta_) = To lie is shameful.

_Estas necese, ke...._ = It is necessary that.... _Estas bele, varme, malvarme_ = It is fine, warm, cold. _Ne estas atendate, ke...._ = It is not expected that.... If, however, a noun or p.r.o.noun is expressed, then the adjective is used, as:--_La vetero_ (or, _gi_) _estas bela_, _varma_, _malvarma_ = The weather (_or_, it) is fine, warm, cold.

245 (_a_). Participle-Adverbs.--In Esperanto, when the participle relates to the subject (par. 211), but does not qualify it, then the participle takes the adverbial form. For impersonal use see par. 164 (_d_).

Examples.--_Legante, ni lernas_ = In (by, when, while) reading we learn. _Starante sur la supro de la monteto, li povis vidi la pregejon_ = By standing on the top of the hill, he could see the church. _Estante kolera, si ne volis paroli al sia nevo_ = Being (as she was) angry, she did not wish to speak to her nephew. _Malferminte la fenestron, li vidis la amason sur la strato_ = Having opened (_or_, after opening) the window, he saw the crowd in (on) the street. _Ekrigardinte la libron, si gin metis sur la tablon_ = Having glanced (_or_, after glancing) at the book, she put it on the table. _Forpelite el la urbo, ili rifugis en la arbarego_ = Having been (_or_, after being) driven from the town, they took refuge in the forest. _Batate de la lernejestro, la knabo terure kriegis_ = Being beaten by the schoolmaster, the boy howled terribly.

246. Adverbs of quant.i.ty, like other words signifying quant.i.ty, usually have their complement introduced by the preposition da.

Examples.--_Multe da h.o.m.oj_ = Many men. _Nur malmulte da virinoj_ = Only a few women. _Kiom da cevaloj vi havas?_ = How many horses have you? _Multe pli da bovajo, ol (da) safajo_ = Much more beef than mutton. _Malpli da pano, ol (da) vino_ = Less bread than wine. _Tro da kuiristoj malbonigas la buljonon_ = Too many cooks spoil the broth. _Ne estas sufice da supo_ = There is not sufficient soup.

246. (_a_). Expressions such as "more and more," "at most," etc., are thus rendered:--

Pli-malpli, pli au malpli, plie au malplie = _More or less_.

Plie = _In addition, besides_, _moreover_. Malplie = _Less and less_.[18]

Pleje = _At (the) most_, _mostly_. Malpleje = _At (the) least_, _least_.[18]

Troe = _In excess_, _too many_.

Footnote:

[18] These usages are seldom employed.

Examples.--_Unu pomo plie au malplie ne gravas_ = One apple more or less does not signify. _Plie, mi devas diri al vi, ke...._ = Moreover, I must tell you that.... _Ni estos kvin pleje haj ili sep malpleje_ = We shall be five at most and they seven at least. _En la kesto mi trovis du librojn troe_ = In the box I found two books too many (in excess).