# cogito ergo sum



## not my real name

hi!
i know that this isn't a latin forum but i really need to know what "cogito ergo sum" means. can anyone help me??
thanx a lot everyone!


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## Josh_

It is Rene Descartes' famous phrase "I think, therefore I am."


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## Negg

In french we say "je pense, donc je suis" which means, to me, if I can think, it means I'm alive, I exist.

He buscado, en español se dice "pienso, luego existo"


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## not my real name

thank you so much for answering!!    i just really needed to know!


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## Chazzwozzer

It's actually Latin translation of French "Je pense, donc je suis."



			
				Negg said:
			
		

> He buscado, en español se dice "pienso, luego existo"


How about "penso, por lo tanto existo?"

*P.S: *Not my real name, Please try to use standard thread titles such as: "Latin: cogito ergo sum" and since we don't have a specialized Latin forum, this is the right place.


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## not my real name

in spanish we say "pienso, luego existo"  but i think that your translation from french is better.


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## Aldin

Cogito,ergo sum.-The blond girl said and disappeared.

In Bosnian. Mislim,dakle postojim.


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## Chazzwozzer

Aldin said:


> Cogito,ergo sum.-The blond girl said and disappeared.
> 
> In Bosnian. Mislim,dakle postojim.


The blond girl said and disappeared? What's it?


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## brian

It's a joke, Chazzwozzer.  She disappeared (i.e., was not being), implying she was not thinking (because she was blond).  But let's leave it at that please.


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## Chazzwozzer

D'oh! Thanks, Brian.


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## Joca

Not my real name:

Just remember to pronounce it approximately this way:

kóghito, érgo sum. (The written accent shows the stressed syllabe.)

José Carlos


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## Neutrino

Ciao!

Come si traduce questa frase di Descartes in italiano?

"Sto pensando quindi esisto" ???

Non so se sia il forum coretto ma grazie in anticipo.

The next four posts (including this one) has been merged from another thread.


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## Salegrosso

Penso dunque esisto,
Penso quindi sono.

Also with a comma, if you want:
Penso, dunque sono.


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## IkHouVanPulcino

Penso, dunque sono is the most common. Anyway every Italian would understand the Latin version as well 

Simona


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## Neutrino

Grazie per l'aiuto. Mi avete insegnato una nuova parola "dunque"


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## piraña utria

Good evening my friends.

Recently in Solo Español Forum we’ve had a kind discussion about the possible equivalent phrase in our language of Descarte’s very known sentence _Cogito ergo sum_, more precise on could it be the accurate Spanish expression to name the idea or concept behind the Latin one.

My point is: What is its concrete meaning in order to obtain an exact translation into Spanish?

Thanks in advance for your answers.


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## Cagey

piraña utria said:


> [....]
> My point is: What is its concrete literal meaning in order to obtain an exact translation into Spanish? [....]



The literal meaning is the one given in post #2: 
I think (_cogito_), therefore (_ergo_) I am (_sum_).​


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## piraña utria

Cagey said:


> The literal meaning is the one given in post #2:
> I think (_cogito_), therefore (_ergo_) I am (_sum_).​


 
Dear Cagey.

Thanks for your answer and correction and that is in fact our issue's cause: Both English and Latin have just a verb that means the Spanish “ser” and “estar”?

Regards,


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## Cagey

piraña utria said:


> Dear Cagey.
> 
> Thanks for your answer and correction and that is in fact our issue's cause: Both English and Latin have just a verb that means the Spanish “ser” and “estar”?
> 
> Regards,



Yes, we use one verb to give both those meanings in both Latin and English.  If we wanted to be more explicit in English, we could say:"I think therefore I _exist_." ​This is what Descartes was interested in proving.  He wanted to get back to the first question of his own existence before he went on to the larger question of how we know that a world that exists outside our thoughts.

As post #5 says, this was originally written in French.  Descartes himself translated it into the well known Latin phrase.


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## piraña utria

Thanks Cagey. Now the point is very clear.

Regards,


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