Lojban Through Dialogues
Lesson 18. How Many? How Far?
xo is the quantity question word — "how many?" And we get distance vocabulary: sepli (separated/apart), ki'otre (kilometer), cmalu (small).
Oh! So xo da = "how many somethings"?
Exactly — xo slots in where a number would go. "You-have-how-many-children?" → do se panzi xo da.
| Lojban | English |
|---|---|
| do se panzi xo da | How many children do you have? |
| mi se panzi re da | I have two children. |
| xu le panzi be do cu makcu | Are your children grown-up? |
| le bersa be mi ca makcu .i ku'i le tixnu be mi ca cifnu | My son is grown-up. But my daughter is a baby. |
| le bersa be do ca zvati ma | Where is your son now? |
| le bersa be mi ca zvati la .moskov. | My son is now in Moscow. |
| le tixnu be mi ca xabju le zdani be mi | My daughter now lives in my house. |
| .ue | Oh, what a surprise! |
| mi ponse le pa cmalu karce | I own a small car. |
| .ai mi klama le tcadu ca le bavlamdei | I'm going to the city tomorrow. |
| xu le tcadu cu darno | Is the city far? |
| go'i .i le tcadu cu darno | Yes, the city is far. |
| le tcadu cu sepli mi le ki'otre be li mu no | The city is 50 kilometres from me. |
| tu sepli mi lo barda | That is a large distance from me. |
| lo'e dikca ca kargu | Electricity is expensive now. |
New words
| Lojban | Meaning |
|---|---|
| xo | how many? (quantity question) |
| panzi | child / offspring (here used for the group) |
| .ue | surprise! (attitudinal: unexpected) |
| cmalu | small |
| sepli | to be separated / apart |
| ki'otre | kilometre |
| dikca | electricity |
tu sepli mi lo barda — "that is separated from me by a large amount." A relative-clause-free way to say "that's far from me."
Written prompts
Say in Lojban: How many children do you have? (do se panzi xo da)
Say in Lojban: The city is 50 kilometres away. (le tcadu cu sepli mi le ki'otre be li mu no)
Say in Lojban: Oh, what a surprise! (.ue)
Recycle — Lessons 15–17
| Lojban | English |
|---|---|
| la .moskov. cu barda .i ku'i mi xabju lo cmalu tcadu | Moscow is big. But I live in a small city. |
| xu le bersa be do cu zabju la .moskov. | Does your son live in Moscow? |
| go'i .i ri ca makcu | Yes. He is grown-up now. |
Say in Lojban: My daughter lives in my home — not far from the city. (le tixnu be mi ca zabju le zdani be mi .i na darno le tcadu)