Re: "There can be"
| From: | Philip Newton <philip.newton@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, April 11, 2008, 13:22 |
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On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 1:22 PM, Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> wrote:
> How do langs with various other idiomatic renderings of "there is/are"
> convey the idea "there can be"? (c.f. Favorite catchphase of
> fantasy-struck boy-children of the 80's, "there can be only one").
> Would "se puede hacer" send the right message in Spanish? What the
> heck can you do with "I'll y a" in French - "I'll y peux avoir"?
German usually uses "es gibt" (it gives).
"There can be only one" is "Es kann nur einen geben" (it can only one give).
I believe people in Switzerland tend to use "es hat" (it has), so
presumably they would have "Es kann nur einen haben".
Cheers,
Philip
--
Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>