3 ms·
Different languages are precise and vague in different domains. For example English requires articles. You can have a book or the book. You cannot just have bo
by ajuc 3y ago
Different languages are precise and vague in different domains.
For example English requires articles. You can have a book or the book. You cannot just have book. In my native language we don't have articles. If I want to specify it's "a" book I can (with the word to the effect of "some"), if I want to specify it's "the" book I can (with the equivalent of "this" or "that"). But by default we don't care.
On the other hand every verb encodes gender in my language. So when author wrote in English "Somebody in the audience said >I was with you<" - the translator has to guess what was the gender of that person. Because "was" is a different word depending on the gender of that person :)
EDIT: I'm -> I was, because in present tense verbs can be the same :)
- stefncb 3y agoWhat's your native language?
- Joker_vD 3y agoI'd guess it's one of the non-Southern Slavic languages (e.g. Polish or Russian): those languages repurposed what used to be past participles (and so, just like adjectives, had genders) to be past tense verbs themselves. The Southern ones (e.g. Bulgarian) did not do this.
- ajuc 3y agoYup, Polish.
- ted_dunning 3y agoPast tense in Russian also has gender. I was => был for the masculine case but to была for a female subject.
- thriftwy 3y agoNot caring whether it is a book or the book pales in comparison to not caring whether it's foot or leg.