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Re: OT: Slightly OT: French as a second language

From:Patrick Dunn <tb0pwd1@...>
Date:Tuesday, November 20, 2001, 21:01
On Tue, 20 Nov 2001, Elliott Lash wrote:

> verite = truth (noun) > vrai = true (adjective) > > Imperatives take 'suffixed' pronouns: tuez-le 'kill him' > Infinitives take 'prefixed' pronouns: le tuer 'to kill him' > > And of course the pronoune is 'lui' only when its an indirect object: donnez-lui 'give him'
Ooooh! Okay. I hang a lot of French on my knowledge of Spanish, which isn't quite as awful. Spanish suffixes, optionally, the pronoun to the infinitive; that's probably where I got that. And I don't need to dig for twenty minutes through a dictionary and a table of conjugations to figure out how to say the same sentence in Spanish: Sabe la verdad! Ahora tenemos que matarlo! Although now I'm dubious; I don't remember at all if "verdad" is just the adjective form, or if it is also the noun. Damn, I love language. :) Hey, that'd make a good translation exercise. . . .

Replies

Muke Tever <alrivera@...>
Dan Sulani <dnsulani@...>