"Better"

[Pootmaster]

Heya everyone!
So I have yet another question... suppose you wanted to say "something is better" or "someone is getting better" (for example, "I am getting better at Klingon"), how exactly would you go about expressing that?
I thought of maybe something along the lines of.. QaQqu' jImoj... though that would translate to something more like "I become very good". Any ideas?
(And while we're at it, I'm stuck trying to translate the sentence "I am getting better at Klingon", some help with that would also be greatly appreciated )

Thanks!

[tesseraktik]

You have a good idea with QaQqu' jImoj, although what you're really saying is "It's very good!  I become."  Even if you were to switch the jI- { first person singular subject, no object } to a vI- { first person singular subject, third-person singular/plural object }, I don't think the word moj accomplishes quite what you want it to do; QaQqu' vImoj would mean something like "I become the phrase 'It is very good!'.", or - if the subject were clearly your understanding of Klingon - "My understanding of Klingon is very good, and I become my own understanding of Klingon."
I think you may want something more like QaQqu'choHtaH tlhIngan Hol SovwI' { My Klingon language knowledge are starting to be really good }, or tlhIngan Hol SovwI' vIDubtaH { I am improving my Klingon language knowledge }.

Now, in general, comparatives are a bit tricky in Klingon, and it gets especially tricky when one says something is becoming more something than something else.  The general form is A Q law' B Q puS, where Q is the property that objects A and B are being compared with respect to, A is the object that best exhibits the property.  For instance, targh QaQ law' Sargh QaQ puS means "The targ is better than the sar.", and qach mach tIn law' tlhIngan tIn tIn puS would mean "A small house is larger than a large Klingon."
Perhaps something like DaHjaj tlhIngan Hol SovwI' QaQ law' wa'Hu' tlhIngan Hol SovwI' QaQ puS { Today's Klingon language my-knowledge is better than yesterday's Klingon language my-knowledge. }, but I'm not entirely certain.
That being said, it does seem that one can sometimes sneak sentences into such phrases, such as in the proverb tlhutlhmeH HIq ngeb qaq law' bIQ qaq puS { Drinking fake ale is more preferable than drinking water. }.  Now, I don't know exactly how this works, but in that case it may be possible to construct something like DaHjaj tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh po' law' wa'Hu' tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh po' puS { Today I speak Klingon more skilfully than I speak Klingon yesterday. }.

If time isn't of the essence, you can divide the comparative into multiple phrases:
qen tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh QaQ puS.  DaH tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh QaQ.  tugh tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhchu'.
{ Recently I speak Klingon it is good it is few.  Now I speka Klingon it is good it is many.  Soon I speak Klingon perfectly. }

[Pootmaster]

Wow, thanks for the informative reply!
I think tlhIngan Hol SovwI' vIDubtaH is the best translation for what I'm trying to say.
A mistake that a lot of beginners (such as myself) make in basically any language, is that we try to translate an idea that works in English directly to that other language. When I was studying Japanese for example, I had to get into the frame of mind that the Japanese culture and language are so different from our western cultures, and translating an idea that works in one language involves more than just the correct words and syntax. What I'm trying to say is, you need to really think about the idea you're trying to convey, rather than just the words.
Kinda went off on a semi-rant there, but it's somewhat valid I suppose
Anyways, thank you for the information, it was very helpful

[ter'eS]

I think you may want something more like QaQqu'choHtaH tlhIngan Hol SovwI' { My Klingon language knowledge are starting to be really good }, or tlhIngan Hol SovwI' vIDubtaH { I am improving my Klingon language knowledge }.

Note: Sov as an inanimate thing takes -wIj: SovwIj 'my knowledge'.

That being said, it does seem that one can sometimes sneak sentences into such phrases, such as in the proverb tlhutlhmeH HIq ngeb qaq law' bIQ qaq puS { Drinking fake ale is more preferable than drinking water. }.  Now, I don't know exactly how this works, but in that case it may be possible to construct something like DaHjaj tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh po' law' wa'Hu' tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh po' puS { Today I speak Klingon more skilfully than I speak Klingon yesterday. }.

Although you are correct that comparisons can be preceded by a verb phrase, the thing compared in these phrases is always a thing, so you'd need to say tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhbogh 'the Klingon which I speak'.

If time isn't of the essence, you can divide the comparative into multiple phrases:
qen tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh QaQ puS.  DaH tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh QaQ.  tugh tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhchu'.
{ Recently I speak Klingon it is good it is few.  Now I speka Klingon it is good it is many.  Soon I speak Klingon perfectly. }

You can't break up the law'/puS construction like you did in the first sentence. vIjatlh QaQ puS just means 'I speak it is good it is few'. Consider jatlhHa' 'speak wrongly'.

[tesseraktik]

HIvqa' veqlargh!  jIHaDtaH.  choghojmoHmo', ter'eS qatlho'. { D'oh! My studies continue.  Because you cause me to learn, I am grateful towards you, ter'eS. }

[QoghtlhIH'u']

So what is the end result of Fraeks
qen tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh QaQ puS.  DaH tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh QaQ.  tugh tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhchu'.
after ter'eS comments ?
Should it be:
DaH tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhbogh QaQ law' qen tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhbogh QaQ puS. tugh tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhchu'.
?

According to Okrand jatlhHa' means misspeak which I understand as saying wrong things, lying or slandering, not speaking incorrectly in the linguistic sense.

tughojmoH ter'eS Fraek je

[ter'eS]

So what is the end result of Fraeks
qen tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh QaQ puS.  DaH tlhIngan Hol vIjatlh QaQ.  tugh tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhchu'.
after ter'eS comments ?
Should it be:
DaH tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhbogh QaQ law' qen tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhbogh QaQ puS. tugh tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhchu'.
?

According to Okrand jatlhHa' means misspeak which I understand as saying wrong things, lying or slandering, not speaking incorrectly in the linguistic sense.

tughojmoH ter'eS Fraek je

That looks good to me.

[QoghtlhIH'u']

I would like to make a collection of sayings that are concocted, constructed and translated on this forum and put spoken Klingon to it. That is why I want to be sure of the end result of these constructions. Only now I am not sure whether:

DaH tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhbogh QaQ law' qen tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhbogh QaQ puS. tugh tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhchu'.

should be back-translated into

Now I speak the Klingon language better than I did recently. Soon I wil speak Klingon very well.

[tesseraktik]

I would like to make a collection of sayings that are concocted, constructed and translated on this forum and put spoken Klingon to it. That is why I want to be sure of the end result of these constructions. Only now I am not sure whether:

DaH tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhbogh QaQ law' qen tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhbogh QaQ puS. tugh tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhchu'.

should be back-translated into

Now I speak the Klingon language better than I did recently. Soon I wil speak Klingon very well.

Managed to miss this somehow.  Sounds like a great idea, and I'd argue that that's a good back-translation, although I'd argue that you should write "perfectly." or "fluently." instead of "very well." (one might argue that this is not necessary, as it's not a literal translation, but I think one should try to be clear about what it is tha the -chu'-suffix communicates).