do U think EN needs more words?

Guest   Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:26 am GMT
one word: free
2992   Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:05 am GMT
free is more like "liber"/vacant.
"Gratis" is more like: free of charge, for nothing, gratuitous... coz is talking about costs... Free has so many meanings ... actually I believe nobody know its real one main meaning...
Guest   Tue Feb 13, 2007 7:45 am GMT
No, free also means "free of charge". e.g. free chocolate, free massages, free tickets.

Even with its numerous meanings, it's obvious which it is from the context.

If you get to live in an English speaking country for long enough, you'll become more confident with its usage.
2992   Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:18 am GMT
what about: "free"="free money" ---> like: no money? like: free of charge? equal: "gratis", right? Is that correct, saying "free money"? (following your e.g. free chocolate, free massages, free tickets.) I just wanna say "free"="gratis" is wrong. Maybe in spoken language you can use just "free", but I'm not sure is it's correct.
Correct me if I'm wrong...
El   Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:39 am GMT
what's the Romanian or French or Hungarian equivalent for "gratis"/free of charge?
Eric   Tue Feb 13, 2007 10:15 am GMT
French equivalent of "free of charge": "gratuit".
And just to clear this up, phrases such as "free chocolates" or "free tickets" are perfectly correct and are not coloquial.
El   Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:27 am GMT
Just one word...so what 's the problem with english "lexipoorness"? :-)
Benjamin   Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:42 am GMT
« BTW, how's your understading for foreign languages when it cames of diferentiating a language with male/female/neutre for nouns and comparing with a language (like EN) where you cannot find them... ? »

Very well, thank you.

« I just wanna say "free"="gratis" is wrong. »

It's perfectly right.
2992   Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:16 am GMT
TO el:
"what's the Romanian or French or Hungarian equivalent for "gratis"/free of charge? "
Romanian's "gratis" is "gratis".

Eric: "gratuit" is a little different than "gratis" in romanian. Are you sure "gratis"="gratuit" in french?

BTW: Are gratis=gratuit?

Does anyone knows the latin and germanic word for "gratis"? I mean the original old word...

Just for you friends here, to see why "gratis" is not "free" and "free" is not "gratis"...
We can have: sugar free, no sugar, without sugar... all of you understand the meaining, right?
Can we have the same meaning if we're using: gratis sugar or sugar gratis? Don't think so. So,.... again: "free"="gratis" is wrong!!!

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"I hate spam" = yeah, sure...
Guest   Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:48 am GMT
Nope, because you're not taking word order into consideration. i.e. "sugar free" does not mean the same as "free sugar".

With that attitude of being so convinced that "free" cannot mean "free of charge" you won't get far in English.
2992   Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:16 am GMT
ok.

Then, what about "free money". Is that right to say? Has the same meaning like: no money or without money? Can I use first one instead of second and third?
Guest   Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:25 am GMT
That's such an oxymoron that I don't know what you mean by "free money".

By "no money", "without money" do you you mean broke, skint, poor?
2992   Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:32 am GMT
choose which one u like better.... coz they are so many.... and I have no idea which one will be suitable...

What about "gratis"?.................... I choose "gratis" for "free money".... ;)
Guest   Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:52 am GMT
Like I said, I don't know what you mean by "free money".
Guest   Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:55 am GMT
Use "complimentary" if you need a more common yet fancy word for "gratis".