[Io dubita si io pote exprimer illo clarmente in interlingua,
ergo io lo face in anglese. Ma responsas in interlingua
naturalmente es benvenite.]

I keep finding this a difficult part of the Interlingua grammar:
when to use pauc and pauco (or variants poc and poco), multe and
multo, and alicun (or alcun).

Consider these example dialogs:

1)
-- How much did you contribute to the Wikipedia in Interlingua yet?
-- Very little / a litte / a lot

2)
-- How many articles did you write or edit in the Wikipedia in
Interlingua yet?
-- Very few / some / many, a lot, a lot of them.

In dialog 2, you could say the answer is by adjectives used as
nouns. Or as pronouns? Or are they adjectives proper?

So in Interlingua, you might reply:
-- Multo poc, multo pauc / alcun, alicun / multe

In fact, this is a shorthand for:
-- Multo poc articulos / alcun articulos / multe articulos.

But if these adjectives are replaced by substantivized adjectives
(adjectives used as nouns), could or should they also be pluralised?
-- Multo poches, multo pauches / alcunes, alicunes / multes

Is that possible?

And what about dialog 1? The same answers as in dialog 2?

Note that in English you cannot use the same words: "very few"
and "very little" are not interchangable, "few" can only be used
when you have a countable noun in mind, be it unmentioned: a few
(articles), a litte (salt). "Very litte" refers to a small
quantity in general, without specifying exactly of what it is a
quantity.

So, in Interlingua, would you answer, in dialog 1:
-- Multo poco / alcuno / multo
or
-- Multo poc / alcun / multe

Is that correct? 'Alcuno' means 'someone, somebody', a person.
Can it also be used as a pronoun, referring to something of some
quantity, without saying exactly what that 'something' is?
--
Ruud Harmsen, http://rudhar.com


--
Pro leger le archivos e pro modificar o cancellar le subscription:
http://listserv.icors.org/archives/interlng.html