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Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 09:18:20 -0300
From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Jorge_Llamb=EDas?= <jjllambias@gmail.com>
To: lojban-beginners@lojban.org
Subject: [lojban-beginners] Re: Something, somebody.
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On 11/23/05, Opi Lauma <opi_lauma@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have a very simple question. How to say in Lojban
> "something"and "somebody"? For example: "Somebody is
> in this room". Should I use "prenu" in this case? Or
> may be "zo'e"?

The simplest way is {da}:

 da zvati le kumfa
 There's someone/something in the room.

{da} doesn't distinguish someone from something, so if the
distinction is important and not obvious from context, you
can say {lo prenu} or {lo dacti}:

 lo prenu cu zvati le kumfa
 A person is in the room.

 lo dacti cu zvati le kumfa
 An object is in the room.

{zo'e} is equivalent to omitting the sumti altogether, so it would
be appropriate when it's about a particular thing or person that has
already been mentioned. For example:

   la djan zvati ma    .i [zo'e] zvati le kumfa.
   Where's John?    [He's] in the room.

mu'o mi'e xorxes