Hello, Could you say "read!" the imperative form of it in your own languages, please? I am going to make a "read cloud" with photoshop using them, which is to be pressed on a bag. Thank you. kt.
Czech: čti - imperative for 2nd person singular čtěte - imperative for 2nd person plural or 2nd person singular (T-V distinction) čtěme - imperative for 1st person plural
Turkish: oku - imperative for 2nd person singular okuyun - imperative for 2nd person plural or 2nd person cordial form (T-V distinction)
Hebrew: proper use is second person (singular/plural male/female) only and the imperative form is its own time tense, but commonly people use the future tense (except for some verbs) proper use: קרא kra male singular קראי kir'i female singular קראו kir'u plural (when there are two males and more its always male form) male (+ female); 1 male 1 female is this form. קראנה krana plural female (if theres one male and 2+ females its this form) common use: תקרא tikra male singular תקראי tikre'i female singular תקראו tikre'u plural male/female
Russian: Читай! The second person singular works well for a bag. The exclamation mark is better to be written.
Arabic: اقرأ iqra' (male singular) اقرأي iqra'i (female singular) اقرئا iqra'a (dual) اقرأوا iqra'u (male plural) اقرأن iqra'na (female plural)
«Διάβασε!» ['͡ðʝavase!] --> 2nd p. sing. present imperative «Διαβάσ(ε)τε!» [͡ðʝa'vas(e)te!] --> 2nd p. pl. or 2nd p. formal present imperative The verb in the indicative (present tense) is «διαβάζω» [ði.a'vazo] or [͡ðʝa'vazo] --> to read < Byz. v. «διαβάζω» diabázō < Classical v. «διαβιβάζω» dĭăbĭbázō --> lit. to carry over or across, transport, lead over, metaph. to read < compound; prefix, adv. and preposition «διὰ» dià, in two, apart, through (PIE *dis-, apart) + Classical v. «βαίνω» baínō (casual, «βιβάζω» bĭbázō) --> to go (PIE *gʷem-/*gʷeh₂-, to step, go, come, approach cf Skt. गच्छति (gacchati), to go; Lat. venīre, to come, approach; Proto-Germanic *kwemaną, to come > Ger. kommen, Eng. come, Dt. komen, D./Nor. (Bokmål) komme, Nor. (Nynorsk) kome/koma, Swe. komma)
In French: Lis ! (for one person, informal or to children) (tu) Lisez ! (for one person, formal or several people, formal or informal) (vous) So I suppose the latter would work better.
That is actually interesting. In Russian, the singular&informal form is often used for slogans, appeals, etc (informal appeals, of course) – exactly because it is informal. The formal&plural form, instead, could be understood a bit like "read right now!", "read what's written here!", though the general meaning ("read books!") is also there. I.e., in Russian the singular form is, I suppose, better for exactly the same reason that you suppose in French the plural form is better. If, on the same bag, some inscriptions use the singular form and other inscriptions use the plural form, that would probably look a bit strange. So?..
Yes, that's complicated In commercials, on TV, radio, we are talked to as 'vous', as we are potential consumers with money (even for gambling sites or games sites, aimed at teenagers and young adults). Shopkeepers also use 'vous'. So I was quite shocked in Spain when they used 'tú' with everyone Here, we are not buying anything but the informal 'tu' would seem, to me, more appropriate for a children's section in a library.
As far as I know, we are even less likely than you to use the informal address, and certainly less likely than Spanish or Italians (who, as far as I know, use 'lei' in stores anyway). But commercials and especially social or political slogans tend to be agressive, so in Russia they would use rather the singular number form. Commercials are written with the formal address more often than not, but with slogans, it is the other way around. Yes, I understand your reaction. In libraries, book stores etc, it would of course be only the plural in Russian. Well, if the author of the thread wants to align for the formal variant, the Russian one is «Читайте!». I would say, it is somewhat more moralising, though I may have made this impression up.
In Portugal the singular informal address (tu) is mostly used in slogans addressed specifically to the younger demographics. On the other hand, the plural (vocês) sounds a bit too formal, or even awkward, in a generic one-word sentence. So I picked the formal singular (você), which seems to be the most common in advertising.
Thank you so much so far! And I'm sorry because I should have emphasised that I only really need the 2nd person singular form. I still need many more languages and only 2 days left. Could you keep on writing please please please?
So far: Czech: čti - imperative for 2nd person singular Turkish: oku - imperative for 2nd person singular Hebrew: (I couldn't really decide which one to use) קרא kra male singular Russian: Читай! Arabic: اقرأ iqra' (male singular) Swedish: Läs! Portuguese: Leia! Greek: Διάβασε! French: Lisez ! Dutch: Lees ! Slovak: čítaj Croatian/Bosnian/Serbian/Montenegrin: čitaj Spanish: lee Hungarian: olvass Latin: lege Sanskrit: पठ Urdu: پڑھو Persian:بخوان Hindi: पढ़ो Punjabi: ਪੜ੍ਹੋ Gujarati: વાંચો German: Lies I think that informal works better, but I'll use the one DearPrudence suggested for French.
Hungarian is interesting. All conjugated forms have two variants: indefinite and definite. olvass - 2nd person singular indefinite olvasd - 2nd person singular definite Examples: Olvass minden nap! = Read every day! (an appeal to the children) Olvass és álmoss! = Read and dream! Olvasd a Bibliát! = Read the Bible! (a = the definite article!) Olvasd újra! = Read it once more (again)!
^ I think the pronunciation of "i" and "y" is different. @YellowOnline: I keep enough layouts/input methods to be able to type in the languages I know but I have also got the Belgian one.
