modal ? cu'e is a tense/modal question (meaning it takes the place of a fully-specified modal/tense). Specifically, it turns the entire bridi into a question, and requests that the listener provide a tense/modal as an answer. The tense/modal response fills the place where cu'e was in the original bridi and the resulting bridi is the answer offered to the question. To indicate that there is no value that could make that bridi true, use {unknown}. A more extreme rejection of the presuppositions or implicatures involved in a question is to reply with {unknown}.
It is nigh impossible to translate this word into English without using at least three sentences.
A time tense, referring to current space/time absolutely. This tense is used to refer to the current time/space and ignores ki and any tenses used already. It is not grammatical to combine nau with any other cmavo in a tense, except by way of a logical or non-logical connection.
A time tense relation/direction. The meaning as a sumtcita is that the main bridi happens after the attached sumti. Defaults to a perspective of future-tense, and can be used with a meaning similar to future-tense in natural languages, or as "after".
.i .ei pei mi terve'u lo kukte nabypalne .i lo vecnu de'a lo nicte cu vecnu ba zi lo mentu be li so'u
Should I buy a delicious pizza? The pizza place closed for the night, but is open in about a minute.
"pizza" could also be a pie, tostada, or any kind of dish wherein the bread is used as a tray for the rest of the ingredients. The translation reflects the intended meaning, and not in any way the actual words in Lojban.
A time tense relation/direction. The meaning as a sumtcita is that the main bridi happens simultaneous to the attached sumti. Defaults to a perspective of present-tense, and can be used with a meaning similar to present-tense in natural languages, or as "concurrent with" or "at the same time as".
la .ko'an. ca tcidu fi le lojbo gerna
Kohan is reading about Lojbanic grammar.
.i pilno so'i denpa bu .i xu mi ca jimpe
It uses many full-stops. Do I understand this?
before — A time tense relation/direction. The meaning as a sumtcita is that the main bridi happens before the attached sumti. Defaults to a perspective of past-tense, and can be used with a meaning similar to past-tense in natural languages, or as "before".
mi pu zi dunda lo ropno rupnu be li re no la .djef.leit. noi finti la purmo noi me la .nintendon.dys. selkei
I gave twenty euros to Jeff Lait the creator of POWDER, which is a game for the Nintendo DS.
It was actually for the GBA and later got ported to the DS. It's a homebrew roguelike.
tense default — tense/modal: set/use tense default; establishes new open scope space/time/modal reference base --
.i ku'i pu ki ku mi na sanji le du'u do ca mutce gunka tu'a la .penguikon.
Previously, however, I wasn't aware of the fact that you were working hard on Penguicon.
will be going to — time tense: will be going to; (tense/modal) --
mi baba tavla fo la .lojban. xebe'i la .iutub.
I *future-imperfect conjugation of "to talk"* in Lojban on YouTube.
I can't translate this.
will actually — time tense: future actuality; modal aspect --
.ui ba'a .ia sai mi'o ba ca'a turni lo terdi gi'a nai pu bo crida binxo
Yay! I expect and greatly believe you and I will actually govern the earth and not have become faeries.
A cmavo compound time tense relation/direction. Asks with what the main bridi is concurrent, similar to English "when?". See entries (ca) and (ma).
do mo'u cilre fo le balcu'e ca ma
When will you be finished/When did you finish learning at Uni?
before and after — time tense: before and after; (tense/modal) --
ko pilno la mymbl pu je ba lonu litru
Use Mumble before and after travelling.
.i mi pu je ba gletu lo mamta be do
I have and will have sex with your mother.
le pu je ba nolraitru
The once and future king!
Yes, actual usage. Yes, this is ridiculous.
before and during — time tense: before and during; (tense/modal) --
mi pu je ca ca'o citka lei grasu patlu
I was an am now in the process of eating the greasy potatoes.
Context seems to make a big difference in translating. -_-
for a period in past — time tense: for a medium length interval some time in the past; (tense/modal) --
fi mi puze'a reroi cpedu fe le nu sidju le remna poi na slabu mi ku'o le nu cikre le ry. skami .uanai .ue
Twice, each for a decent time, I was asked to help the stranger fix eir computer. Ugh.
(original said "fa le nu", which didn't seem right - originally quoted from rlp)
for an era in past — time tense: for a long interval some time in the past; (tense/modal) --
mi bazi cliva mu'i lenu mi puze'u denpa
I am leaving shortly because I have been waiting for a long time.
Why aren't all of the PU je PU and PU-ZEhA entries in here? I think we're missing cajepu, baze'a, anything with ze'i/ze'u, etc. Do we even really need to include PU* in this list? -lindar