Lojban Through Dialogues
Lesson 25. Opinions and Preferences
Over dinner at Lifri's. Discussing what you think, what seems true, and what's more or less. The du'u clause lets you embed a whole sentence as a noun.
| Lojban | English |
|---|---|
 mi jinvi lo du'u le tcadu cu melbi | I think the city is beautiful. |
 le tcadu cu simlu zabna | The city seems nice. |
 le panka cu zmadu le zarci | The park is better than the shop. |
 le titnanba cu zmadu lo nanba | Cookies are better than bread. |
New words
| Lojban | Meaning |
|---|---|
| jinvi | x₁ opines that x₂ is true — mi jinvi lo du'u X = "I think that X" |
| simlu | x₁ seems / appears to be x₂ — le tcadu cu simlu zabna = "the city seems nice" |
| zmadu | x₁ exceeds x₂ in property x₃ — A cu zmadu B = "A is more/better than B" |
| mleca | x₁ is less than x₂ in property x₃ — opposite of zmadu |
| du'u | turns a predicate into a statement-noun — "that…" in English: lo du'u le tcadu cu melbi = "that the city is beautiful" |
Grammar note:
jinvi takes a lo du'u clause as x₂: mi jinvi lo du'u le tcadu cu melbi = "I think [that the city is beautiful]." du'u nominalises a statement (a fact or belief), while nu (Lesson 18) nominalises an event. zmadu and mleca compare two things: A cu zmadu B = "A exceeds B." A third sumti can specify the property — zmadu lo ka melbi = "exceeds in beauty" — but in casual speech the property can be left implicit.
lo ka turns a predicate into a property/infinitive: lo ka melbi = "beautiness; the property of being beautiful; to be beautiful." It appears with comparatives (zmadu lo ka melbi = "exceeds in beauty") and can also express purpose or manner.
Practice dialogue
Over dinner, Linto shares her opinions.
| Lojban | English |
|---|---|
 mi jinvi lo du'u le tcadu cu melbi | I think the city is beautiful. |
 le tcadu cu simlu zabna | The city seems nice. |
le panka cu zmadu le zarci | The park is better than the shop. |
go'i .i mi jinvi lo du'u go'i | Yes — I think so too. |
 le titnanba cu zmadu lo nanba | Cookies are better than bread. |
.ui | Yay! |
Anticipation prompts
| Prompt | Lojban |
|---|---|
| I think the city is beautiful. | mi jinvi lo du'u le tcadu cu melbi |
| The city seems nice. | le tcadu cu simlu zabna |
| The park is better than the shop. | le panka cu zmadu le zarci |
| Cookies are better than bread. | le titnanba cu zmadu lo nanba |
Spaced recall — Lessons 22–24
| Lojban | English |
|---|---|
| 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 sepli mi lo ki'otre be li mu no | Wow — the city is 50 km from me. |
| le zdani be do cu melbi | Your home is beautiful. |
Challenge
| Prompt | Lojban |
|---|---|
| The park is better than the city. I think the city is good too. | le panka cu zmadu le tcadu .i mi jinvi lo du'u le tcadu cu xamgu |