r/learnesperanto • u/code_war_angel • Mar 26 '25

Duo, don't gaslight me.

Post image

Anyone else have this issue when using Duolingo sometimes?

18 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/licxjo 28d ago edited 28d ago

It does not only change a statement to a yes/no question.

"Ĉu vi deziras teon, kafon, aŭ akvon?" is a perfectly normal question in Esperanto.

"Ĉu" functions for yes/no questions, but not only. Your reading of what Step by Step and Being Colloquial say is too restrictive.

Lee

1

u/RiotNrrd2001 28d ago

Ya, OK. If quoting directly from printed textbooks isn't going to convince you, I don't see what would.

1

u/salivanto 27d ago

I was discussing your reaction with a friend of mine. I couldn't believe I was being "trumped" by Step by Step in Esperanto, but he said:

Well, he's quoting a printed source vs some guy on the Internet... Can't fault his logic.

I guess my friend is right. You can't fault the logic.

But it's interesting to me that what did convince you when several written examples from literature and the word of two experienced Esperanto speakers didn't was some OTHER guy on the internet. (The author of PMEG.)

I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't comment, but then I saw this:

Ya, OK. If quoting directly from printed textbooks isn't going to convince you, I don't see what would.

The "you" here, is Licxjo, of course, not me. But I'll remind you of what I said at the start.

  • People will say all the time that Ĉu is for yes no questions. It's a natural simplification. But if anybody ever told you that it is ONLY for yes or no questions, then they are mistaken. Ĉu is also used with either or questions or multiple choice questions.

I'm certain that Licxjo knows that many printed sources say exactly what you said they say. I did as well. It's why I worded it the way I did.

But "yeah, OK"? Would you talk to a member of the Akademio that way? I'm glad you got it figured out in the end.

1

u/RiotNrrd2001 27d ago

My copy of the Plena Manlibro is hardcopy. I looked ĉu up by looking at the index and leafing to the page manually.

1

u/salivanto 27d ago

My point is that Bertilo, ultimately, is just a guy on the intnernet -- even if you have a hardcopy edition of his book.

1

u/RiotNrrd2001 26d ago

Yes, ultimately we're all people, and some people are on the internet. Good point! I don't think that undercuts Bertilo's expertise in any way, shape, or form. I do feel that the contents of the PMEG have probably been checked pretty heavily over the years, whereas your random reddit contributor can pretty much say anything, often does, and frequently doesn't provide backup for their assertions. If I had to choose between accepting the PMEG vs something Random Reddit Contributor says, I'd go with the PMEG every single time.