LESSON XVIII.

List of Principal Conjunctions.

ed (e), and.
od (o), or.
od ... od, either ... or.
nek, nor.
nek ... nek, neither ... nor.
or, now (in argument).
nam, for (= because).
do, then, so (= therefore).
ma, but.
tamen, however, nevertheless, yet.
yen, here is, here are.
lore ... lore, now ... then.
ka(d), (question word) whether.
ke, that.
se, if.
sive .. sive, whether ... whether.
se ne, if not.
se ... nur, nur se, provided that.
ecepte se, unless.
quale se, as though.
quankam, although.
pro quo? why?.
por quo, what for?.
de kande, as soon as, since when.
por ne, lest (with infinitive).

Compound Conjunctions.

In addition to the conjunctions formed from prepositions by adding ke (see Lesson IX.), many can be formed from adverbs in the same way:
tale ke, so that, in such a way that.
tante ke, so much that.
tam longe ke, as long as.
kaze ke, in case.
kondicione ke, on condition that.
unfoye ke, once (that).
omnafoye ke, each time (that).
tam ofte ke, as often as.
time ke, for fear that.
tante plu ... ke, all the more ... that.
quante plu ... tante plu, the more ... the more.
quante min ... tante min, the less ... the less.
tante plu bone ke, all the better ... because.

A few examples will help to understand the value of the most difficult, and show how many others not given above can be formed. The general rule is that every word means one definite idea, to form the exact equivalent of any English phrase consisting of two or more words that have often lost their original meaning:

se means if,
nur means only,
se nur (=if only) is translated provided that.

de means from,
kande means when,
de kande is translated since when? or how long?

pro means on account of,
quo means what thing,
pro quo is translated why?

quik means immediately,
kande means when,
quik kande is translated as soon as.

pro means immediately,
to means that (thing),
pro to is translated that's why.

quante means so much,
min means less,
tante means thus much,
quante min ... tante min is translated the less ... the less.

E.g.-
Quante min me manjas, tante min me drinkas,
(How-much less I eat, thus-much less I drink,)
The less I eat, the less I drink.
De kande vu lojas hike? me lojas hike de un monato,
(From when you are-living here? I am-living here from one month,)
How long have you lived here? I have lived here one month.
De kande il arivis...
(From when he arrived).
As soon as he arrived...
Apene il arivis, kande el klozis la pordo,
(Hardly he arrived, when she shut the door,)
He no sooner arrived than she closed the door.

And.

Very often, between an imperative and an infinitive, and cannot be translated by ed:
Take care and behave yourself, Take care that you behave yourself,
Sorgez ke vu kondutas bone.
Be careful and see that he does it,
Sorge atencez ke il facas ol.
Be sure and come, Fail not to come
Ne faliez venar.

As.

The word as conveys so many different ideas, that several examples of its use are necessary:
He came in as I spoke (= while I spoke),
Il en-venis dum ke me parolis.
It happened as I told you (= in the way in which I told you),
Lo eventis, quale me pre-dicis a vu.
They were as like as two peas (comparison),
Li esis tam simila kam du pizi,
or: Li tam similesis una a l'altra kam du pizi.
Great as he is, he is not infallible (= although he is great),
Quankam il esas granda, il esas eroriva.
Much as I regret it ... (= however much...),
Irge quante me regretas ol...
Such as have anything to say... (= those who),
Ti, qui havas ulo dicenda...
It's pluck as does it (= which causes success),
Audaco esas to, quo sucesigas.
As you are angry, you should not speak (= because you are angry),
Pro ke vu iracas, vu devas silencar.

Kom and Quale.

These both translate as, or like, but while kom implies identity, quale only marks resemblance:
Il esis aceptata kom rejo,
He was received like a king (and he was a king).
Il esis aceptata quale rejo,
He was received like a king (though he was not a king).
Il aparis quale Hamlet,
He appeared as Hamlet (in the character of H.)
Me ne parolas kom experto.
I do not speak as an expert.
(As one who was an expert would.)

Nor.

At the beginning of a sentence or clause, nor means: and not:
Nor was he tired,
Ed il ne esis fatigita.
Nor ... either is translated nek ... anke:
I am not tired, nor he either,
Me ne esas fatigita, nek il anke.

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James Chandler 2001