----------------------------------- wtd Sun Oct 15, 2006 6:40 pm The Language Thread ----------------------------------- Let's start this off by looking at a phenomenally common Spanish verb. Ser - to be First person: yo soy Second person: tú eres Third person: él/ella es First person plural: nosotros somos Second person plural: vosotros sois Third person plural: ellos/ellas son Estar - to be First person: yo estoy Second person: tú estás Third person: él/ella está First person plural: nosotros estamos Second person plural: vosotros estáis Third person plural: ellos/ellas están Two "to be"s? In Spanish there are two verbs for "to be." Perhaps the simplest explanation is that ser tends to be more permanent. "I am a happy person." vs. "I am well." Yes, you're well at the moment, but that could change. Pronouns You may have noticed some other funky words in there. Those are pronouns. They are relatively simple. I, you, he/she, we, you all, they. ----------------------------------- wtd Sun Oct 15, 2006 7:35 pm ----------------------------------- And a bit of Italian, to continue the romance language theme. un grande Well, grande is "large", and "un" is "a". This is all masculine, and singular. The entire phrase means, "a great one." il grande This means "the great one." i grandi "The great ones." questo grande "This great one." questi grandi "These great ones." è grande "It is great." sono grandi "They are great." ----------------------------------- wtd Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:27 pm ----------------------------------- Welcome In Spanish: bienvenido In Italian: benvenuto ----------------------------------- rdrake Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:31 pm ----------------------------------- Welcome In Spanish: bienvenido In Italian: benvenutoIn French: bonjour ----------------------------------- [Gandalf] Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:35 pm ----------------------------------- German: Guten tag - Good day. Guten morgen - Good morning. Guten nacht - Good night. Auf wiedersehen - Goodbye. ----------------------------------- wtd Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:48 pm ----------------------------------- Spanish Good morning: buena mañana Good day: buen día Good evening: buenas noches Italian Good morning: buona mattina Good day: buon giorno Good night: buona notte ----------------------------------- ericfourfour Fri Oct 20, 2006 7:12 pm ----------------------------------- Actually, bonjour means good day and bienvenue means welcome in French. Its pretty simple actually bon + jour (good + day) and bien + venue (well + come). ----------------------------------- wtd Fri Oct 20, 2006 7:19 pm ----------------------------------- Sí, está igual en las otras lenguas. Todas estas lenguas se derivan de latín. Sì, è lo stesso nelle altre lingue. Tutte queste lingue sono derivate da Latino. ----------------------------------- rdrake Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:07 pm ----------------------------------- Actually, bonjour means good day and bienvenue means welcome in French. Its pretty simple actually bon + jour (good + day) and bien + venue (well + come).Ah yes, my mistake. ----------------------------------- wtd Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:20 am ----------------------------------- How are you? Spanish (formal): ¿Cómo está usted? Spanish (informal): ¿Cómo estás? Italian: Come siete? Where am I? Spanish: ¿Dónde estoy? Italian: Dove sto? Where are you? Spanish: ¿Dónde estás? Italian: Dove siete? I am in the market Spanish: Estoy en el mercado. Italian: Sto nel mercato. I am at the market Spanish: Estoy al mercado. Italian: Sto al mercato. ----------------------------------- wtd Sat Oct 21, 2006 1:31 pm ----------------------------------- I write a program Spanish: Escribo un programa. Italian: Scrivo un programma. I am writing the program Spanish: Estoy escribiendo el programa. Italian: Sto scrivendo il programma. I was writing the program Spanish: Escribía el programa. Italian: Stavo scrivendo il programma. ----------------------------------- wtd Sat Oct 21, 2006 7:38 pm ----------------------------------- I am writing the program for a friend Spanish: Estoy escribiendo el programa para un amigo. Italian: Sto scrivendo il programma per un amico. I am writing the program for my friend Spanish: Estoy escribiendo el programa para mi amigo. Italian: Sto scrivendo il programma per mio amico. I am writing the program for my friends Spanish: Estoy escribiendo el programa para mis amigos. Italian: Sto scrivendo il programma per miei amici. I am writing this program for my friends Spanish: Estoy escribiendo esto programa para mis amigos. Italian: Sto scrivendo questo programma per miei amici. I am writing these programs for my friends Spanish: Estoy escribiendo estos programas para mis amigos. Italian: Sto scrivendo questi programmi per miei amici. I am writing those programs for my friends Spanish: Estoy escribiendo esos programas para mis amigos. Italian: Sto scrivendo quei programmi per miei amici. ----------------------------------- wtd Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:17 pm ----------------------------------- I am examining these difficult programs for my teacher Spanish: Estoy examinando estos programas difíciles para mi profesor. Italian: Sto esaminando questi programmi difficili per il mio insegnante. We are examining these easy programs for our teacher Spanish: Estamos examinando estos programas fáciles para nuestro profesor. Italian: Stiamo esaminando questi programmi facili per il nostro insegnante. ----------------------------------- wtd Sun Oct 22, 2006 11:26 am ----------------------------------- "Old" across the Romance languages Spanish: viejo Italian: vecchio Portugese: velho French: vieux Romanian: veche ----------------------------------- wtd Sun Oct 22, 2006 11:42 am ----------------------------------- A random snippet from today's conversation Hola! Qué dices si digo que vi un coyote? ----------------------------------- wtd Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:35 pm ----------------------------------- Some Romanian time words mîine tomorrow poimîine day after tomorrow răspoimîine 3 days after today mîine dimineaţă tomorrow morning acuma seara tonight săptămâna viitoare next week luna viitoare next month anul viitor next year mîine seară tomorrow evening seara asta tonight, this evening ----------------------------------- Neo Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:07 pm ----------------------------------- Do you speak all these languages? ----------------------------------- wtd Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:32 pm ----------------------------------- I speak Spanish reasonably well, though my vocabulary is atrocious. I am endeavoring to learn Italian, and considering doing the same with Romanian. I have made some effort to learn Mandarin, Japanese, and Farsi as well. I wish I spoke all of those languages. But, you know what they say... practice makes perfect. ----------------------------------- wtd Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:08 am Re: The Language Thread ----------------------------------- A bit of dialog from today / Un poco diálogo de hoy Estoy queriendo para caminar con mi perro y mi esposa sin comprar cualquier alimento. ----------------------------------- CodeMonkey2000 Sat Apr 07, 2007 8:05 pm RE:The Language Thread ----------------------------------- Mi nombre es Sir Bob. Estoy en mi casa. (I think this is right) ?Como esta? Estoy tomando en español this year (I don't know how to say this properly)hasta luego! ----------------------------------- wtd Sat Apr 07, 2007 9:45 pm RE:The Language Thread ----------------------------------- The more idiomatic way to say that would be: Me llamo Señor Bob. ----------------------------------- Drakain Zeil Wed Apr 18, 2007 10:17 pm RE:The Language Thread ----------------------------------- manderin chinese: ni hao = hello wo-de ming zi jao ____ = my name is ___ ni hao wa? = how are you? german: Guten tag, wie ghet's? = Hello, how are you? Es ghet = I'm ok Gut = Good Nicht gut = not good ich hab kein geld = i have no money ich bin gott = i am god wo ist die duche? = where's the shower? hungarian: szer-bous =hello/goodbye (to many)\ saiz = hello (to one) hood-vud = how are you? curs-a-nem-yol = I'm fine, thank you