Things or words your language has that English doesn't

Posts0Likes0Joined4/9/2018LocationCaracas / VE
Native
Spanish
Learning German, Italian
Other English

Spanish: as far as I've seen, the verb "To Love" depending on how you use it, can be 3 different things in Spanish: "te quiero", "me encanta" or "te amo", like:


- Te quiero - I love you (in a less passionate/romantic way)

- Me encantan las panquecas - I love pancakes

- Te amo - I love you (in a romantice/passionate way)


What about your language?


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#1
Posts0Likes0Joined13/7/2018LocationPasig / PH
Native
Tagalog
Learning English, French, Spanish

Tagalog: "Pang-ilan" is a numerical determiner that roughly translates to "for quantity" and does not translate directly to English. You would have to go to the closest applicable pronoun "which" and associate it with a number adjective (first, next, last) or an ordinal number (second, third, fourth...).


"Pang-ilan ka na sa pila?" asks where you stand in a queue and expects an ordinal number response, like "pangatlo" or "third." This does not translate directly, though many Filipinos try to cobble together make-words like "how many-eth" to do the job. Simply asking "where do you stand in the queue" is not intuitive. It feels awkward. Better to have asked "How long until it's your turn?" or "How many people are ahead of you?" Nowhere in those questions is there a direct translation of "pang-ilan."


This particular word is the backbone of a thirty-year-old riddle that goes How do you say "Pang-ilang Presidente ng Pilipinas si [name of sitting president]?" in English? I assume it's at least thirty years old. It could be older. The first time I heard it, Ferdinand Marcos was Philippine President, and he was deposed in 1983. Literally hundreds of people on the Internet have asserted that they have the correct answer to that question, but they're all wrong.   

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#2
Posts0Likes0Joined10/12/2018Location
Native
German
Learning Afrikaans, Arabic - Standard, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, French, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Toki Pona
Other Polish, Russian, Sinhala, Tagalog

Some German words not included in English (except as loanwords):

Sauerkraut, Kindergarten, Doppelgänger, Zeitgeist, Weltanschauung.


# LovingAMultitudeOfLanguagesIncludingEnglish

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#3
Posts0Likes0Joined10/12/2018Location
Native
German
Learning Afrikaans, Arabic - Standard, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, French, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Toki Pona
Other Polish, Russian, Sinhala, Tagalog

Jess.PWinkler wrote:
Spanish: as far as I've seen, the verb "To Love" depending on how you use it, can be 3 different things in Spanish: "te quiero", "me encanta" or "te amo", like:
- Te quiero - I love you (in a less passionate/romantic way)
- Me encantan las panquecas - I love pancakes
- Te amo - I love you (in a romantice/passionate way)
What about your language?


Maybe I could add something to your initial post, even if you are the Español native, not me.


There also is a fourth way of using "querer" (although it somewhat overlaps with what you already mentioned). No matter if one would say "I like to do it" or "I love to do it", it could be "quiero hacerlo" in both cases.

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#4
Posts0Likes0Joined10/12/2018Location
Native
German
Learning Afrikaans, Arabic - Standard, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, French, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Toki Pona
Other Polish, Russian, Sinhala, Tagalog

Some German words without a direct English counterpart (as far as I know):


- herzallerliebst (which means something that is the most beloved to the heart)


- ein "Hans-Guck-in-die-Luft". Literally it means "a Johnny-look-in-the-air". Someone who doesn't do anything useful, but only some idle activities.


- Gürteltier, Schnabeltier, Faultier, and many other animal names. These three mean onyx, platypus and sloth. But their literal meanings are: belt animal, peak animal, lazy animal.


Reverse examples:


- mind-blowing


- mental interlinking (of some topics, as in "mentally connecting one to another")


- one-time melody


- "monkey see, monkey do" (this may be a bit of a stretch, because it is a phrase and not a single word) 


- a bit of a stretch

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#5
Posts0Likes0Joined5/6/2018LocationLapu-lapu / PH
Native
Cebuano, Tagalog
Other English

In Cebuano, I love you is;

Gimahal tika - Quite soft way of saying 

Gihigugma tika - Hard one

Charlyn Amoin

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#6
Posts0Likes0Joined10/7/2018LocationTrece Martires City / PH
Native
Tagalog
Other English

Here in Philippines, we have "Po" and "Opo", its one way of showing respect. We have been taught to say the words to the elderly. :)

do the right thing even when nobody is watching

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#7
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