# as / like / than



## Gavril

Hello,

Many European languages seem to express the meaning “than” using the same word (or words) that they use for the meanings “as” or “like”. Below are some examples – do you know of any others?


German _als_:

_Er ist grösser als sie._ “He is taller than she is.”
_Ich betrachtete ihn als Freund_. “I regarded him as a friend.”

Finnish _kuin_:

_Olen pidempi kuin hän_. “I am taller than he is.”
_Hän juoksee kuin __hevonen_. “He runs like a horse.”

Slovene _kakor, __kot_

_V__i__šji je kakor/kot jaz._ "(He) is taller than I am”
_Teče kakor/kot konj._ "(He) runs like a horse.“
_Sem ga obravnaval kakor/kot prijatelja. "_I regarded him as a friend.“


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## apmoy70

Not in Greek:


(1) He is taller than she is: *«Είναι ψηλότερος από εκείνη»* ['ine psi'loteros a'po e'cini]; the word is *«από»* [a'po] --> _by, from, about, than_ < Classical prefix and preposition *«ἀπό» āpó* --> _far away, away from_ (PIE *h₂epo-, _from_ cf Skt. अप (apa), _away_, Hitt. āppa-, _after_).
(2) I regarded him as a friend: *«Τον θεωρούσα (ως) φίλο μου»* [ton θe.o'rusa (os) 'filo mu]; the word (which can be omitted) is *«ως»* [os] --> _as, so far as, until, by, to_ < Classical adverb and conjunction *«ὡς» hōs* --> _as, so far as_, also temporal _when_, causal _because_, final _therewith_ (PIE *Hio-, _which_ cf Skt. यत् (yat), ind. _that_).


In the ancient language the construction of (1) is: masc. synthetic comparative form *«ὑψηλότερος» hŭpsēlótĕrŏs* + fem. personal pron. in genitive *«αὐτῆς» autês* (in objective cases the reflexive pronoun *«αὐτός, -ὴ, -όν» autós* (masc.), *autḕ* (fem.), *autón* (neut.) is used as personal pronoun).


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## ahmedcowon

In Arabic, 

We use the word *من* /min/ to mean "from" and "than".

He is taller than she is: هو أطول منها /huwa atwal *min*ha/


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## Gavril

In Finnish and Slovene, one consequence of these facts is that equative statements (e.g. "as good *as*") can have almost the same syntax as comparative statements (e.g. "better *than*"):


Finnish 
_Hän on niin/yhtä pitkä *kuin *minä_ "He is as tall *as *I am"
_Hän on pidempi *kuin *minä_ "He is taller *than *I am"


Slovene
_Ta človek je (tako) visok *kot/kakor* jaz_ "This person is as tall *as* I am"
_Ta človek je višji *kot/kakor* jaz._ "This person is taller *than* I am"


However, if Google Translate is reliable here, this pattern does not apply in standard German, where _wie_ (rather than _als_) seems to be the linking word in equative statements: e.g., _Er is so gross *wie *ich._ "He is as tall *as *I am."


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## origumi

Hebrew:

 "From" and "than" are _min_ (often shortened to _mi_).
"As" and "like" are _ke_ (often lengthened to _ke-mo_, _ke-fi_).


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## Encolpius

You use one word "mint" for those three English words in *Hungarian*.


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## Gavril

Encolpius said:


> You use one word "mint" for those three English words in *Hungarian*.



Hi Encolpius,

Can you give examples of how _mint_ is used? E.g. how would you translate the last three example sentences in the original post?

Thanks


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## Encolpius

*Hungarian*: 
taller than she is > nagyobb, mint ő
he runs like a horse > fut mint, a ló
regarding him as a friend > úgy tekint rá, mint barátra


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## apmoy70

apmoy70 said:


> Not in Greek:
> 
> 
> (1) He is taller than she is: *«Είναι ψηλότερος από εκείνη»* ['ine psi'loteros a'po e'cini]; the word is *«από»* [a'po] --> _by, from, about, than_ < Classical prefix and preposition *«ἀπό» āpó* --> _far away, away from_ (PIE *h₂epo-, _from_ cf Skt. अप (apa), _away_, Hitt. āppa-, _after_).
> (2) I regarded him as a friend: *«Τον θεωρούσα (ως) φίλο μου»* [ton θe.o'rusa (os) 'filo mu]; the word (which can be omitted) is *«ως»* [os] --> _as, so far as, until, by, to_ < Classical adverb and conjunction *«ὡς» hōs* --> _as, so far as_, also temporal _when_, causal _because_, final _therewith_ (PIE *Hio-, _which_ cf Skt. यत् (yat), ind. _that_).
> 
> 
> In the ancient language the construction of (1) is: masc. synthetic comparative form *«ὑψηλότερος» hŭpsēlótĕrŏs* + fem. personal pron. in genitive *«αὐτῆς» autês* (in objective cases the reflexive pronoun *«αὐτός, -ὴ, -όν» autós* (masc.), *autḕ* (fem.), *autón* (neut.) is used as personal pronoun).


Apologies for quoting my self, but I forgot to give the Greek equivalent of "like":

S/he runs like a horse: *«Τρέχει σαν άλογο»* ['treçi san 'aloɣo]; the word is *«σαν»* [san] --> _like (somewhat similar to), as if (mimicry)_, aphetic form of Byz. preposition *«ὡσάν» ōsán* --> _like, as if_ < Classical phrase *«ὥς ἐάν» hṓs ĕā́n* --> _as if like_ < Classical adverb _similes_ *«ὥς» hṓs* --> _like as, just as_ (PIE *se-/*seue-/*suo-, (reflexive pronomial stem) cf Lat. conj. sī, _if_ > It./Por. se, Sp./Fr. si, Rom. să;  Proto-Germanic *swa/*swē, _so_ > Ger./Eng./Nor. so, Isl. svo, D./Swe./Nor. så) + Classical conj. *«ἐάν» ĕā́n**, Attic *«εἰάν» eiā́n** --> _if_.


*Compound; particle introducing a (i) wish, (ii) condition, (iii) question, *«εἰ» ei* --> _if_ (with obscure etymology) + modal particle *«ἄν» ā́n* (with obscure etymology). In late Classical and Koine Gr. *«ἐάν» ĕā́n* is simplified to *«ἄν» ā́n* (=Modern Gr. *«αν» *[an] --> _if_).


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## Dymn

In *Catalan*, both "like" and "as" are translated "com", but "than" is "que". The same happens in Spanish, and I think in French too (como, que; comme, que); so I guess it might be something that Romance languages have in common.


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## ThomasK

Dutch: "groter *dan *haar" (than) vs. "Ik zie hem *als *een vriend" vs. "Hij loopt *als *een paard" (like a horse) vs. "Hij doet *zoals *zijn ouders (het deden)" (s his parents did it).

I am quite surprised that the 'than' is treated/ translated as 'as' in so many countries. I thought the comparative expresses a contrast or a difference, and that therefore one might expect 'than' or '[different] from'... But no, or at least not everywhere. I did notice *από *in Greek; so we are not quite alone, _*que *_in Spanish_..._


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## AutumnOwl

In Swedish "than" would be _"än",_ and "like" and "as" would be _"som"_

_Han är längre än hon_ - He is taller than she is
_Han är lika lång som hon_ - He is as tall as she is
_Han äter som en häst_ - He eats like a horse
_Han äter mindre än en häst_ - He eats less than a horse
_Jag såg henne som en vän_ - I regarded her as a friend
_Hon är mer än en vän_ - She is more than a friend


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## ThomasK

So in Swedish we have the difference again, whereas I think French has _que _in all cases (_plus grand que, aussi ... grand que, _...), but whereas _comme_,  like, is quite different again. Intriguing...


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## Linguoman

Russian.

The first one is different (than). The latter two are the same (as = like). Actually, as = like = "как" literally translates "how".

"(He) is taller than I am” - Он выше чем я. or Он выше меня. (The second option is to use the genitive case without any preposition or conjunction)
"(He) runs like a horse.“ - Он бегает как конь.
_"_I regarded him as a friend.“ - Я относился к нему как к другу.


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## ThomasK

I would say that 'how' is a question word, maybe also used as a relative pronoun, and a _pendant/ a matching piece _of 'like'... Or isn't it?



Encolpius said:


> *Hungarian*:
> taller t*han s*he is > nagyobb, *mint *ő
> he runs *like *a horse > fut *mint*, a ló
> regarding him *as *a friend > úgy tekint rá, *mint *barátra


Do you use the same word three times, Encolpius, or do I misunderstand? _(My knowledge of Hungarian is existent, apart from _kôszönöm, egészeg_... ? ) _


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## Linguoman

Yes, in Russian "как" (how) is both a question word and a relative pronoun. And when being a relative pronoune, it sometimes translates as "like" or "as".


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## DearPrudence

In *French*, generally
*than = que *(= *that *_(Je pense *que*... L'exemple *que *j'ai pris / I think *that*... The example *that *I took...)_/*whom*_(L'homme *que *j'ai vu / The man whom I saw...)_)
*as / like = comme *(so it is generally hard for us to translate it well into English)

_Il est plus grand qu'elle. _“He is taller than she is.”
_Il court comme un cheval_ “He runs like a horse.”
_Je le considère comme un ami._ “I regarded him as a friend.”


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## ThomasK

Would you think there is a [semantic, ...] link between these two "que"'s somehow? It is not impossible, never thought of that.


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## ger4

German:

He is taller than she is - Er ist größer als sie (dialects: "Er ist größer wie sie")
He is as tall as she is - Er ist so groß wie sie
He eats like a horse - Er frisst wie ein Pferd (off-topic: to eat: humans: "essen"/animals: "fressen". This human being, though, might be eating like an animal...)
I regarded her as a friend - Ich betrachtete sie als eine (gute) Freundin/ Bekannte (off-topic: friend: "Freund"/ some good friend, acqaintant: "Bekannter")
She is more than a friend - Sie ist mehr als eine (gute) Freundin/ Bekannte

> We distinguish between "wie" and "als"


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## ThomasK

What would be the oldest form in the comparative, Holger? Somehow it is funny to see that in (4) you are using 'als' again, not 'wie' (Dutch : _ik beschouw ze als ._..). 

To me the variations are amazing, and I cannot seem to find a rationale, whether I had thought (hoped ;-)) the (1)  sentence type would have been different from the others, because of a semantic difference (or an apparent/... )...


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## bibax

Czech:

(1) _(He) is taller than I (am). = _(On) je vyšší *než* já.

Originally* než* (< *neže) was a strengthened negative particle (*ne* = not), meaning: he is taller, not (at all) I. However we do not feel _než_ as a negative particle anymore, it is a comparative conjunction.

_(He) is as tall __as__ I (am)._ = (On) je stejně (= equally) vysoký (= tall) *jako* já.

(2) _(He) works like a horse._ = (On) pracuje* jako *kůň.

(3) (_I) regarded him as a friend._ = Pohlížel jsem na něj *jako* na přítele.

Interrogative how is *jak* (jak se máš? = how are you?).


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## ger4

Structures (examples):

(1) He is taller than she is.          
(2) He is as tall as she is.       
(3) He eats like a horse.         
(4) He eats less than a horse. 
(5) I regarded her as a friend. 
(6) She is more than a friend. 

I added the following six sentences because some languages have similar formal features here as in sentences (1)-(6) in one way or another. 
They might later be deleted as they don't really seem to have any functional features in common with (1)-(6). 

(7) How are you?
(8) How many horses?
(9) As if horses hadn't been mentioned often enough here...
(10) As (=because of the fact that) horses have been mentioned earlier, this time a donkey might be worth getting a mention. 
(11) When the first electric cars were introduced, they were unaffordable and inefficient.
(12) As time progresses (=gradually), electric cars seem to become more affordable and more efficient. 

Germanic:
English:  1.than  2.as  3.like  4.than  5.as  6.than  7.how  8.how many  9.as if  10.as/because  11.when  12.as
Swedish:  1.än  2.som  3.som  4.än  5.som  6.än  7.hur  8.hur många  9.som om* 10.(där)för (att)*  11.då*, när* 12.
German: 1.als  2.wie  3.wie  4.als  5.als  6. als  7.wie  8.wie viele  9.als ob  10.weil/ da  11.als  12.nach und nach (gradually), mit der Zeit (as time progresses) 
Dutch: 1.dan  2.als*  3.als  4.dan* 5.als* 6.dan* 7.hoe  8.hoeveel?  9.als of*  10.omdat* 11.toen*  

Balto-Slavic:
Russian: 1.čem  2.kak  3.kak  4.čem  5.kak  6.čem  7.kak  8.skol'ko  9.kak esli by/ budto by  10.tak kak  11.kogda  
Czech: 1.než  2.jako*  3.jako  4.než*  5.jako  6.než  7.jak  8.kolík*  9.jako*  
Latvian: 1.nekā  2.kā  3.kā  4.nekā  5.kā  6.nekā  7.kā  8.cik  9.tā kā*  

Greek: 1.apo  5.os

Arabic: 1.min
Hebrew: 1.mi(n)

Uralic:
Finnish: 1.kuin  2.kuin  3.kuin  4.kuin  5.-na 6.kuin  7.kuinka/miten  8.kuinka monta/montako  9.ikään kuin   
Hungarian: 1.mint 3.mint 5.mint

----

I put an * wherever I wasn't sure.

----

One common pattern seems to be 1=4=6 (not very surprisingly, though...)

----

As for Latvian: nekā in negative comparisons (as "not as tall as") becomes kā to avoid double negation (ne- is a negative prefix in Latvian). Latvian and Czech seem to have similar uses of combinations with ne- as a negative prefix.


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## Linguoman

If you wouldl ike an input for Russian:

1. чем [chem] 2. как [kak] 3. как [kak] 4. чем [chem] 5. как [kak] 6. чем [chem] 7. как [kak] 8. сколько [skol'ko] 9. как если бы [kak yesli by] or будто бы [budto by] - for the whole "as if" structure


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## ger4

Linguoman said:


> If you wouldl ike an input for Russian:
> 
> 1. чем [chem] 2. как [kak] 3. как [kak] 4. чем [chem] 5. как [kak] 6. чем [chem] 7. как [kak] 8. сколько [skol'ko] 9. как если бы [kak yesli by] or будто бы [budto by] - for the whole "as if" structure



Spasibo! Should "tak kak" be deleted here completely or could it still be an option? - And, by the way, do you think the Romanization I'm using here is readable? It might help to compare Russian to Czech and Latvian, with all those háčeks...


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## Gavril

Finnish:

1 through 4: _kuin 

_NB-- if you modify #2 slightly to say, "He is tall, like she is", then the word _kuten_ would be used to translate "like" instead of _kuin_.

5: case form -_na_ 
6: _kuin_
7: _kuinka_ or _miten_
8: _kuinka monta_ or _montako_
9: _ikään kuin 
_
(_kuin_ by itself can translate "as if" in many contexts, but since your sentence #9 emphasizes that something isn't true, the full phrase _ikään kuin_ may be necessary when translating it -- I'm not completely sure.)


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## Linguoman

Holger2014 said:


> Should "tak kak" be deleted here completely or could it still be an option?



Yes, it should. The reason was I did not notice the "if" when I was reading your example for the first time:
I though it was "_*As horses *_hadn't been mentioned often enough here..."

Therefore I proposed "так как" to mean "due to the fact".

Later I took a notice of "if". That completely changes the meaning: "as if" is like "as though": _He behaved *as if *he had never seen me before_. Do I get it right? It was actually the reason why I edited my post.




Holger2014 said:


> do you think the Romanization I'm using here is readable?


 Yes, at least for me, it is. You just need to remove the apostrophe from "budto" as there is no palatalization in this word.


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## ger4

@ThomasK#11
Dutch: Hij loopt als een paard - English: ...like a horse - German: ...wie ein Pferd
Dutch: Hij doet zoals zijn ouders - English: ...as his parents did - German: ...wie es seine Eltern machten/taten/(rather bookish):zu tun pflegten
German uses "wie" in both cases, although often preceded by "so" (similar to Dutch "zoals"): ... so, wie es seine Eltern...

@ThomasK#20 and Gavril#25
As for type (5) sentences: Estonian, just like Finnish, uses a suffix -na ("Essive case"):
Estonian: Ta töötab arstina - (S)he works as a physician (#ta =(s)he #töötab=works #arst(i)=physician #-na=Essive suffix)

Could this mean that German 'als' type (5) simply performs a different role or might "Essive-als" be a completely different word, accidentally in the same shape as 'als'   Probably not, ethymologically both als'es seem to have the same root.


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## mataripis

In Tagalog,1.) he is taller than she is.- lamang siya sa tangkad kaysa(than) sa isa.(other one).so than- kaysa . 2.) He runs like a horse. - parang/tila kabayu siya kung manakbo but in erroneous pilipino it is gaya siya ng kabayo kung tumakbo.so like is gaya or para or tila or tulad. 3.) I treat her as my friend.- itinuring ko siya bilang(as) isang kaibigan. As- bilang, tulad ng, gaya ng.


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## ger4

A simplified summary:

(1) (≠) He is taller than she is. 
(2) (=) He is as tall as she is. 
(3) (=) He eats like a horse. 
(4) (≠) He eats less than a horse. 
(5) (=) I regarded her as a friend. 
(6) (≠) She is more than a friend. 

(=) expressing equality in one way or another
(≠) expressing inequality

English: 1.than | 2.as | 3.like | 4.than | 5.as | 6.than 
Swedish: 1.än | 2.som | 3.som | 4.än | 5.som | 6.än 
German: 1.als | 2.wie | 3.wie | 4.als | 5.als | 6. als  
Dutch: 1.dan | 2.als(?) | 3.als | 4.dan(?) | 5.als(?) | 6.dan(?) 

Russian: 1.čem | 2.kak | 3.kak | 4.čem | 5.kak | 6.čem
Polish: 1.niż  | 2.jak
Czech: 1.než | 2.jako(?) | 3.jako | 4.než(?) | 5.jako | 6.než 
Latvian: 1.nekā | 2.kā | 3.kā | 4.nekā | 5.kā | 6.nekā  

Greek: 1.apo | 5.os

Arabic: 1.min
Hebrew: 1.mi(n)

Finnish: 1.kuin | 2.kuin | 3.kuin | 4.kuin | 5.-na | 6.kuin
Estonian: 1.kui 
Hungarian: 1.mint | 3.mint | 5.mint

Tagalog: 1.kaysa  | 3.gaya/ para/ tila/ tulad | 5.bilang/ tulad ng/ gaya ng

-----

- Latvian and Czech stress inequality in sentences 1,4,6 by prefixing ne-
- Tagalog seems to stress equality in sentences 5 (by adding ng)
- Finnish seems to use the same word in1,2,3,4,6; in 5, the Essive suffix is used 
- The only language so far that has the same form in sentence 5 as in sentences 1,4,6 is German


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## mataripis

Holger2014 said:


> A simplified summary:
> 
> (1) He is taller than she is.
> (2) He is as tall as she is.
> (3) He eats like a horse.
> (4) He eats less than a horse.
> (5) I regarded her as a friend.
> (6) She is more than a friend.
> 
> Germanic:
> English: 1.than 2.as 3.like 4.than 5.as 6.than
> Swedish: 1.än 2.som 3.som 4.än 5.som 6.än
> German: 1.als 2.wie 3.wie 4.als 5.als 6. als
> Dutch: 1.dan 2.als* 3.als 4.dan* 5.als* 6.dan*
> 
> Balto-Slavic:
> Russian: 1.čem 2.kak 3.kak 4.čem 5.kak 6.čem
> Czech: 1.než 2.jako* 3.jako 4.než* 5.jako 6.než
> Latvian: 1.nekā 2.kā 3.kā 4.nekā 5.kā 6.nekā
> 
> Greek: 1.apo 5.os
> 
> Arabic: 1.min
> Hebrew: 1.mi(n)
> 
> Uralic:
> Finnish: 1.kuin 2.kuin 3.kuin 4.kuin 5.-na 6.kuin 7.kuinka/miten 8.kuinka monta/montako 9.ikään kuin
> Hungarian: 1.mint 3.mint 5.mint
> 
> Tagalog:1.) As- bilang,gaya ng, tulad ng 2.) Than- kaysa 3.) Like -katulad,kagaya,parang, tila


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## ger4

mataripis said:


> Holger2014 said:
> 
> 
> 
> A simplified summary:
> 
> (1) He is taller than she is.
> (2) He is as tall as she is.
> (3) He eats like a horse.
> (4) He eats less than a horse.
> (5) I regarded her as a friend.
> (6) She is more than a friend.
> 
> Germanic:
> English: 1.than 2.as 3.like 4.than 5.as 6.than
> Swedish: 1.än 2.som 3.som 4.än 5.som 6.än
> German: 1.als 2.wie 3.wie 4.als 5.als 6. als
> Dutch: 1.dan 2.als* 3.als 4.dan* 5.als* 6.dan*
> 
> Balto-Slavic:
> Russian: 1.čem 2.kak 3.kak 4.čem 5.kak 6.čem
> Czech: 1.než 2.jako* 3.jako 4.než* 5.jako 6.než
> Latvian: 1.nekā 2.kā 3.kā 4.nekā 5.kā 6.nekā
> 
> Greek: 1.apo 5.os
> 
> Arabic: 1.min
> Hebrew: 1.mi(n)
> 
> Uralic:
> Finnish: 1.kuin 2.kuin 3.kuin 4.kuin 5.-na 6.kuin 7.kuinka/miten 8.kuinka monta/montako 9.ikään kuin
> Hungarian: 1.mint 3.mint 5.mint
> 
> Tagalog:1.) As- bilang,gaya ng, tulad ng 2.) Than- kaysa 3.) Like -katulad,kagaya,parang, tila
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you for adding Tagalog. I am trying to update the list so it doesn't get too confusing. By the way, I noticed Tagalog often has -ng at the end of words or even ng standing on its own. Does it have a special meaning? Does it emphasize or stress the word that follows?
Click to expand...


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## mataripis

Ng here has equivalent meaning ( ...the one) as in same as her. I add ng so that when using the translated word in sentences, it will be clear to the Pilipino readers.


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