English Translation
I can’t find my pen.
“mi ca’o fliba lo ka facki fi lo mi penbi”
This sentence is in Lojban, a constructed, syntactically unambiguous language based on predicate logic.
Let’s break it down:
- “mi” is Lojban for “I” or “me”.
- “ca’o” is an aspect marker showing that there is a continuous action being performed. It could be translated as “am” when combined with an active verb.
- “fliba” is a verb in Lojban, meaning “fail”.
- “lo ka” is a Lojban phrase often used to express the concept of “the event or state of”. It transforms any verb into a noun phrase equivalent to gerunds in English.
- “facki” is a Lojban verb meaning “discover” or “find”.
- “fi” is a Lojban preposition that can mean “regarding” or “concerning”. It generally indicates the target or goal of an action.
- “lo mi penbi” is a nominal phrase that can be translated as “my pen”. “penbi” means “pen”, and “mi” is being used as a possessive adjective (my) modifying “penbi”.
So, putting it all together:
“mi ca’o fliba lo ka facki fi lo mi penbi”
translates to:
“I am failing to find my pen.” This means the speaker is having difficulties trying to find their pen.
or it can also be phrased as:
“I keep failing at the act of finding my pen”. This puts more emphasis on the ongoing action and continuous failures.