I don’t know

[Mutusen]

C’est une phrase que j’utilise assez souvent… J’aimerais savoir comment ça se dit en d’autres langues.
This is a sentence I use quite often… I’d like to know how to say it in other languages.

French: Je ne sais pas.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.

Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.

Chinese: [jiantizi]我不知道。[/jiantizi] (Wǒ bù zhīdào.)

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.

[Narbleh]

I wonder how many languages have a distinct verb for this as Sjal does


French: Je ne sais pas.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.

Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.

Chinese: 我不知道。 (Wǒ bù zhīdào.)

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.

Sjal: Åtton.

[Emandir]

I wonder how many languages have a distinct verb for this as Sjal does

French and Wasaqalu have!
__________

French: Je ne sais pas.
Italian: Non so.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.

Breton: Ne gouzon (gouezan) ket.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.

Ancient Greek: Ὀυκ οἶδα.

Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.

Chinese: 我不知道。 (Wǒ bù zhīdào.)

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.

Cámpe: Benéer pí lembé.
lweltelk: na jin ma
Sjal: Åtton.
Wasaqalu: Uñoñuqu, uwaquru.

[Bubulus]

I wonder how many languages have a distinct verb for this as Sjal does

French!

What do you mean?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
French: Je ne sais pas.
Italian: Non so.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.

Breton: Ne gouzon (gouezan) ket.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.

Ancient Greek: Ὀυκ οἶδα.

Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.

Standard Arabic: لا أعرف.‏ lā ’a‘rifu

Chinese: (我)不知道。 (Wǒ) bù zhīdào.

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.

Cámpe: Benéer pí lembé.
lweltelk: na jin ma
Sjal: Åtton.
Wasaqalu: Uñoñuqu, uwaquru.

[Narbleh]

He means "ignorer" I think, but it's not quite the same, as you wouldn't say "J'ignore" on its own as it is here.

[lumiel]

French: Je ne sais pas.
Italian: Non so.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.
Swedish: Jag vet inte.

Breton: Ne gouzon (gouezan) ket.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.
Russian: Я не знаю.

Ancient Greek: Ὀυκ οἶδα.

Estonian: Ma ei tea.
Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.
North Sami: In dieđe.

Standard Arabic: لا أعرف.‏ lā ’a‘rifu

Chinese: (我)不知道。 (Wǒ) bù zhīdào.

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.
Interlingua: Io non sape.

Cámpe: Benéer pí lembé.
lweltelk: na jin ma
Sjal: Åtton.
Wasaqalu: Uñoñuqu, uwaquru.

[JackFrost]

Catalan: No sé.
French: Je ne sais pas.
Italian: Non so.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.
Swedish: Jag vet inte.

Breton: Ne gouzon (gouezan) ket.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.
Russian: Я не знаю.

Ancient Greek: Ὀυκ οἶδα.

Estonian: Ma ei tea.
Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.
North Sami: In dieđe.

Standard Arabic: لا أعرف.‏ lā ’a‘rifu

Chinese: (我)不知道。 (Wǒ) bù zhīdào.

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.
Interlingua: Io non sape.

Cámpe: Benéer pí lembé.
lweltelk: na jin ma
Sjal: Åtton.
Wasaqalu: Uñoñuqu, uwaquru.

[null]

Catalan: No sé.
French: Je ne sais pas.
Italian: Non so.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.
Swedish: Jag vet inte.

Breton: Ne gouzon (gouezan) ket.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.
Russian: Я не знаю.

Ancient Greek: Ὀυκ οἶδα.

Estonian: Ma ei tea.
Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.
North Sami: In dieđe.

Standard Arabic: لا أعرف.‏ lā ’a‘rifu

[jiantizi]Chinese: (我)不知道。[/jiantizi] (Wǒ) bù zhīdào.

Japanese: 分かりません。(wa ka ri ma senn)

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.
Interlingua: Io non sape.

Cámpe: Benéer pí lembé.
lweltelk: na jin ma
Sjal: Åtton.
Wasaqalu: Uñoñuqu, uwaquru.

[csjc]

Catalan: No sé.
French: Je ne sais pas.
Italian: Non so.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.
Swedish: Jag vet inte.
Dutch: Ik weet niet.
Icelandic: Ég veit ekki.
Faroese: Eg veit ikki.

Breton: Ne gouzon (gouezan) ket.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.
Russian: Я не знаю.

Ancient Greek: Ὀυκ οἶδα.

Estonian: Ma ei tea.
Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.
North Sami: In dieđe.

Standard Arabic: لا أعرف.‏ lā ’a‘rifu
Hebrew: אני לא יודע. (ani lo yodea)

[jiantizi]Chinese: (我)不知道。[/jiantizi] (Wǒ) bù zhīdào.

Japanese: 分かりません。(wa ka ri ma senn)

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.
Interlingua: Io non sape.

Cámpe: Benéer pí lembé.
lweltelk: na jin ma
Sjal: Åtton.
Wasaqalu: Uñoñuqu, uwaquru.

[Emandir]

He means "ignorer" I think, but it's not quite the same, as you wouldn't say "J'ignore" on its own as it is here.

No, but you would say "Je l'ignore."

An example:

- Where has he been? / Où était-il ?
- I don't know / Je ne sais pas, je l'ignore.

[Muisje]

Dutch: not quite wrong, but when you're leaving out the object it sounds more natural to use inversion.

Catalan: No sé.
French: Je ne sais pas.
Italian: Non so.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.
Swedish: Jag vet inte.
Dutch: Ik weet het niet. / Weet ik niet.
Icelandic: Ég veit ekki.
Faroese: Eg veit ikki.

Breton: Ne gouzon (gouezan) ket.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.
Russian: Я не знаю.

Ancient Greek: Ὀυκ οἶδα.

Estonian: Ma ei tea.
Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.
North Sami: In dieđe.

Standard Arabic: لا أعرف.‏ lā ’a‘rifu
Hebrew: אני לא יודע. (ani lo yodea)

[jiantizi]Chinese: (我)不知道。[/jiantizi] (Wǒ) bù zhīdào.

Japanese: 分かりません。(wa ka ri ma senn)

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.
Interlingua: Io non sape.

Cámpe: Benéer pí lembé.
lweltelk: na jin ma
Sjal: Åtton.
Wasaqalu: Uñoñuqu, uwaquru.

[leander11]

Catalan: No sé.
French: Je ne sais pas.
Italian: Non so.
Romanian: Nu ştiu.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.
Swedish: Jag vet inte.
Dutch: Ik weet het niet. / Weet ik niet.
Icelandic: Ég veit ekki.
Faroese: Eg veit ikki.

Breton: Ne gouzon (gouezan) ket.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.
Russian: Я не знаю.

Ancient Greek: Ὀυκ οἶδα.
Modern Greek: Δεν ξέρω.

Estonian: Ma ei tea.
Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.
North Sami: In dieđe.

Standard Arabic: لا أعرف.‏ lā ’a‘rifu
Hebrew: אני לא יודע. (ani lo yodea)

[jiantizi]Chinese: (我)不知道。[/jiantizi] (Wǒ) bù zhīdào.

Japanese: 分かりません。(wa ka ri ma senn)

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.
Interlingua: Io non sape.

Cámpe: Benéer pí lembé.
lweltelk: na jin ma
Sjal: Åtton.
Wasaqalu: Uñoñuqu, uwaquru.

[Bondefanget]

Catalan: No sé.
French: Je ne sais pas.
Italian: Non so.
Romanian: Nu ştiu.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.
Swedish: Jag vet inte.
Dutch: Ik weet het niet. / Weet ik niet.
Icelandic: Ég veit ekki.
Faroese: Eg veit ikki.
Norwegian (bokmål): Jeg ve(i)t ikke.
Norwegian (nynorsk): Eg veit ikkje.

Breton: Ne gouzon (gouezan) ket.

Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.
Russian: Я не знаю.

Ancient Greek: Ὀυκ οἶδα.
Modern Greek: Δεν ξέρω.

Estonian: Ma ei tea.
Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.
North Sami: In dieđe.

Standard Arabic: لا أعرف.‏ lā ’a‘rifu
Hebrew: אני לא יודע. (ani lo yodea)

[jiantizi]Chinese: (我)不知道。[/jiantizi] (Wǒ) bù zhīdào.

Japanese: 分かりません。(wa ka ri ma senn)

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.
Interlingua: Io non sape.

Cámpe: Benéer pí lembé.
lweltelk: na jin ma
Sjal: Åtton.
Wasaqalu: Uñoñuqu, uwaquru.

[Narbleh]

My point was that "I don't know" can be used more broadly without a specific antecedent, whereas "je l'ignore" cannot. So French doesn't truly have an intransitive "not know" verb as I meant

A: Comment vas-tu ?
B: Je ne sais pas. Je l'ignore.

A: Qui est cet homme ?
B: Je ne sais pas. Je l'ignore. Je ne le connais pas.

A: Qu'est-ce qui t'est arrivé ?
B: Je ne sais pas. Je l'ignore.

etc.

[Emandir]

My point was that "I don't know" can be used more broadly without a specific antecedent, whereas "je l'ignore" cannot. So French doesn't truly have an intransitive "not know" verb as I meant

IGNORER. v. tr. Ne pas connaître (Dictionnaire de L'Académie française, 8th Edition (1932-5)
Ignorer, v[erbe] a[ctif] : Ne pas savoir, ne pas connaître. (Littré)

You're not going to teach me how to speak French, are you?
Anyway, ignorer is now used quite only in formal language, but you may find it in books, so it's good not to ignore what it means.

Est-elle brune, blonde ou rousse? Je l'ignore.
Paul Verlaine, Mon rêve familier

[Narbleh]

It's not my goal to teach you how to speak your own language. I was trying to clarify that "ignorer" isn't an equivalent of what I was curious about. Basically, French doesn't have an intransitive equivalent of "not know" as some languages like the Greenlandic dialects and my conlang do. I guess my examples of where "je l'ignore" is inappropriate but "je ne sais pas" is not weren't clear enough or were faulty.

[Emandir]

It's not my goal to teach you how to speak your own language. I was trying to clarify that "ignorer" isn't an equivalent of what I was curious about. Basically, French doesn't have an intransitive equivalent of "not know" as some languages like the Greenlandic dialects and my conlang do. I guess my examples of where "je l'ignore" is inappropriate but "je ne sais pas" is not weren't clear enough or were faulty.

Savoir is not intransitive so why would ignorer be?
You can use ignorer wherever you can use ne pas savoir, the only difference is that you can't omit the complement of ignorer...

[Ludwig Whitby]

Catalan: No sé.
French: Je ne sais pas.
Italian: Non so.
Romanian: Nu ştiu.
Spanish: No sé.

English: I don’t know.
German: Ich weiß nicht.
Swedish: Jag vet inte.
Dutch: Ik weet het niet. / Weet ik niet.
Icelandic: Ég veit ekki.
Faroese: Eg veit ikki.
Norwegian (bokmål): Jeg ve(i)t ikke.
Norwegian (nynorsk): Eg veit ikkje.

Breton: Ne gouzon (gouezan) ket.

Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Ne znam.
Czech: Nevím.
Polish: Nie wiem.
Russian: Я не знаю.
Serbian: Не знам.
Slovenian: Ne vem.

Ancient Greek: Ὀυκ οἶδα.
Modern Greek: Δεν ξέρω.

Estonian: Ma ei tea.
Finnish: En tiedä.
Hungarian: Nem tudom.
North Sami: In dieđe.

Standard Arabic: لا أعرف.‏ lā ’a‘rifu
Hebrew: אני לא יודע. (ani lo yodea)

Chinese: (我)不知道。 (Wǒ) bù zhīdào.

Japanese: 分かりません。(wa ka ri ma senn)

Esperanto: Mi ne scias.
Interlingua: Io non sape.

Cámpe: Benéer pí lembé.
lweltelk: na jin ma
Sjal: Åtton.
Wasaqalu: Uñoñuqu, uwaquru.

[Narbleh]

It's not my goal to teach you how to speak your own language. I was trying to clarify that "ignorer" isn't an equivalent of what I was curious about. Basically, French doesn't have an intransitive equivalent of "not know" as some languages like the Greenlandic dialects and my conlang do. I guess my examples of where "je l'ignore" is inappropriate but "je ne sais pas" is not weren't clear enough or were faulty.

Savoir is not intransitive so why would ignorer be?
You can use ignorer wherever you can use ne pas savoir, the only difference is that you can't omit the complement of ignorer...

Tut-tut. I won't accuse you of deliberately misunderstanding me, but I guess I just can't get my point across this time.

[Emandir]

Tut-tut. I won't accuse you of deliberately misunderstanding me, but I guess I just can't get my point across this time.

I'm not misunderstanding you, I just don't understand you at all...
I don't get how someone can know or not know intransitively: knowledge needs an object.
Unless you mean something like "to be ignorant", not to know anything...