Re: wants and needs

[Chris Bogart <cbogart@QUETZAL.COM>]

Robin wrote to another list:
> mi cu         nitcu la      feraris. le     nu      se         djica  =
ninmu
> I  [function] need [article]Ferrari[article][event] ["passive"]desire =
women
> I need a Ferrari in order to be desired by women.

I would translate this as "I need a ferrari in order to be a desireable =
woman".  If you want "woman" to be a sumti, you need an article.

Also, note that you don't need {cu} here, although it's allowed.

> I could also say simply "mi cu nitcu la porc.", but this would
> automatically invite the response "cu nitcu ko'a ma" (need it (for) =
what?).

You can't start a sentence with {cu}.   Just {nitcu ko'a ma} or {nitcu =
fi ma} would work fine.  I guess the former is clearer when laying out =
these sentences for a naljbo audience.

Chris.