tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 02 15:14:16 1996

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RE: KLBC: Huch QaQ

December 02, 1996 8:48 AM, jatlh loDDoq:

> lu' ghoj Qagh jIH
> I will learn from my mistakes.

Hmmm . . . I'm not sure how you came up with that one.  Think of it this way: 
the main point of the sentence is "I will learn."  {jIghoj}  Why will you 
learn?  "Because of my mistakes."  {QaghwIjmo'}

QaghwIjmo' jIghoj.

> Huch vuS jIH. SoH'a' ?
> I like money.do you?

{vuS} is "limit," not "like."  You also forgot the verb suffix on it.  If "I" 
is the subject, and "money" is the object, you need the {vI-} suffix from the 
table on TKD p. 33.

{par} means "dislike."  If I add the {-Ha'} "undo" suffix to it, it means 
"like."  (Although the fact that "like" is a negative word speaks volumes . . 
. why do people insist on using {parHa'} so much more than {par}?  {QeychoH 
QeH!}  I guess you're all pessimists.  :)

Huch vIparHa'.
I like money.

The "Do you?" question is actually (in English) a shortened way to say "Do you 
also like money?"  In Klingon, you must say the whole thing.  {SoH'a'} means 
"are you."  This isn't it.

Huch DaparHa''a' je?
Do you like money too?

> Hov leng bej vuS  jIH
> I like to watch star-trek.

Again, it's {parHa'}, not {vuS}.  This is actually a more complex sentence 
than that.  You need to use the sentence-as-object construction (TKD section 
6.2.5).  The two sentences are

I watch Star Trek.
and
I like (enjoy) that.

Note that {tIv} "enjoy" would probably be a better word choice than {parHa'} 
"like."  Mostly, because one shouldn't write every sentence in negatives, but 
also because of some bias of mine which I can't quite identify.  If anyone can 
point it out to me, please do so.

These two sentences are

<Hov leng> vIbej.
'e' vItIv.

However, in Klingon, these two sentences would be pushed together into one.

<Hov leng> vIbej 'e' vItIv.
I enjoy watching Star Trek.

Compare this with the examples in TKD section 6.2.5.

> bIQ tlhutlh jIH
> I drink water(I'm drinking water?)

You must remember to use verb prefixes.  I recommend rereading TKD section 4.1 
again.  Once more, you need the {vI-} prefix.

bIQ vItlhutlh jIH
or
bIQ vItlhutlh.

Note that the {jIH} is optional.  If you use it, you're emphasizing that YOU 
are the one who is drinking, not someone else.

If you said {bIQ vItlhutlhtaH}, it would mean "I am drinking water, 
continuously, and without a certain stopping point."  If you say {bIQ 
vItlhutlhlI'}, it means "I am drinking water, continuously, and I know at 
exactly what point I will stop."  If you simply say {bIQ vItlhutlh}, it just 
means that you  take a drink of water.  The action is not continuous.

> Qapla' Huch je ,

Huch yIpol 'ej Qapla' vIchav jay'!  {{>:-)

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 96922.5

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