Is this positive or negative

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Bert
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Location: Arthur Ontario Canada

Is this positive or negative

Post by Bert »

οὐκ ἔχομεν ἡμεῖς, ὥσπερ καὶ ὑμεῖς, οἶκον μέγιστον
Does this sentence mean: We do not have the biggest house, like you do.
Or does it mean: We, just like you, do not have the biggest house.

Is it possible for a word like μέγιστον to be used to emphasise the size?
In other words, can it mean -very big- rather than -the biggest-?
In English this is quite common.

Emma_85
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Post by Emma_85 »

Yes, you can and probably should translate it as 'very big' here. If the adjective does not have an article even though it's in the superlative form then you often translate it like that (it's called elative translation).

As for the meaning of the sentence... well, I think that it must be you second translation. I would translate kai as 'aswell' here, 'and' would not make any sense. So they too have a small house.

Bert
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Posts: 1889
Joined: Sat May 31, 2003 2:28 am
Location: Arthur Ontario Canada

Post by Bert »

Thanks Emma.

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