News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on E-Prime – English without the verb “to be”. Parent comment

Re:E-Prime – English without the verb “to be” by onlyrealcuzzo on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @01:43PM (#27293683)
My favorite is that it's ingrained in the language that living is temporary:

"I am alive" uses "estar" -> "Estoy vivo."

But "I am dead" also uses "estar" -> "Estoy muerto."

AFAIK, when most people die, they are dead forever.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:E-Prime – English without the verb “to be” by eloisius on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @11:38PM (#27299119)
Because temporary vs permanent is not the correct categorizations of estar and ser. It's more like state vs characteristic. State and characteristic is still a fuzzy boundary, but hey it's a human language.
[ Parent | on HN ]