Lojban Through Dialogues
Lesson 24. The City Is Beautiful
Walking around Lifri's city. Two words for how good things are — melbi for beauty, xamgu for goodness — and sepli for how far apart things are.
| Lojban | English |
|---|---|
 le tcadu cu melbi | The city is beautiful. |
 .ui .i le zarci cu xamgu | Yay! And the shop is good. |
 xu le panka cu jibni | Is the park near? |
 le panka cu sepli mi lo ki'otre be li re | The park is 2 km from me. |
 xu le zarci cu jibni le zdani be do | Is the shop near your home? |
 go'i .i le zdani be mi cu xamgu | Yes. My home is good. |
 mi birti .i le tcadu cu melbi | I'm sure — the city is beautiful. |
 .ui .i mi prami lo barda tcadu | Yay! I love big cities. |
New words
| Lojban | Meaning |
|---|---|
| melbi | x₁ is beautiful / pretty to x₂ |
| xamgu | x₁ is good / beneficial |
| sepli | x₁ is separated from x₂ by distance x₃ — le panka cu sepli mi lo ki'otre be li re = "the park is 2 km from me" |
| ki'otre | kilometre — lo ki'otre be li N = "N kilometres" |
Grammar note:
sepli takes three sumti: the two things separated, and the measure of the gap. lo ki'otre be li re = "2 kilometres" — ki'otre (kilometre) with be li N to attach the number. Compare: lo ki'otre be li mu no = "50 km," lo ki'otre be li pa no = "10 km."
melbi and xamgu are property predicates: le tcadu cu melbi = "the city is beautiful," le zdani cu xamgu = "the home is good." Both can take a second sumti for "beautiful/good to whom": le panka cu melbi mi = "the park is beautiful to me."
Practice dialogue
Linto and Mentu wander ahead while Lifri leads the way.
| Lojban | English |
|---|---|
 le tcadu cu melbi | The city is beautiful! |
go'i .i le zdani be la lifri cu xamgu | Yes. Lifri's home is good. |
 xu le panka cu jibni | Is the park near? |
le panka cu sepli mi lo ki'otre be li ci | The park is 3 km from me. |
 xu le zarci cu jibni le zdani be la lifri | Is the shop near Lifri's home? |
go'i .i le zarci cu jibni | Yes. The shop is near. |
 .ui .i mi nelci le tcadu | Yay! I like the city. |
Anticipation prompts
| Prompt | Lojban |
|---|---|
| The city is beautiful. | le tcadu cu melbi |
| The shop is good. | le zarci cu xamgu |
| The park is 2 km from me. | le panka cu sepli mi lo ki'otre be li re |
| Is the park near? | xu le panka cu jibni |
| I love big cities. | mi prami lo barda tcadu |
Spaced recall — Lessons 21–23
| Lojban | English |
|---|---|
| .e'u mi'o casnu | Let's discuss. |
| mi prami lo nu tadni la .lojban. | I love studying Lojban. |
| mi ba stali ze'a le djedi be li ci | I'll stay for three days. |
| mi kanpe lo nu mi stali | I expect to stay. |
| mi pu klama fu le taksi | I came by taxi. |
| .ue .i le tcadu cu darno | Wow — the city is far! |
| mi ze'u stali le tcadu | I'll stay in the city for a long time. |
| mi ze'i vitke do | I'll visit you briefly. |
Challenge
| Prompt | Lojban |
|---|---|
| The city is 50 km away. Beautiful! I'll stay here for one week. | le tcadu cu sepli mi lo ki'otre be li mu no .i melbi .i mi ba stali ti ze'a le jeftu be li pa |