could someone help me out with translating these phrases?

monkey · Post by **monkey** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:23 pm

1. Came but for friendship, and took away love.

2. To love another person is to see the face of God.

3. Where there is love, there is life.

4. To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.

Thanks.

amans · Post by **amans** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:10 pm

These are my suggestions but don't use them for wedding rings or tattoos until you've heard the opinion of some of the "old timers" here...

1. Modo quaerendo amicitiam veni, et amorem abstuli.

(Your phrase has no explicit subject (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they?) but my Latin translation has "I came... and I took...")

2. Amare aliquem videre faciem Dei.

3. Ubi amor, ibi vita.

4. Amare levem auram coelorum accipere.

benissimus · Post by **benissimus** » Thu Nov 04, 2004 7:44 am

nice ones, amans.

In #1, the gerund normally does not take a direct object but puts the would-be direct object into the same case as itself. The dative of purpose is also to be avoided. I'd suggest changing the structure of the first part to something like modo amicitiae quaerendae causa veni or ...ad amicitiam quaerendam... (I know, it's not as pretty

). I suppose you could use a supine accusative (which can take a direct object).

Other than that half a sentence, word choice and sentences are quite good!

amans · Post by **amans** » Thu Nov 04, 2004 1:27 pm

Thanks, Benissime, I'm flattered

I look forward to refreshing my studies in the supine and the gerund.

cweb255 · Post by **cweb255** » Thu Nov 04, 2004 1:32 pm

or what about "modo gratia amicitiae veni, at amorem abstuli."

Is it possible to have ad amicitiam? amicitiam isn't a verb, and I don't recall seeing it, but would keep it simpler.

benissimus · Post by **benissimus** » Thu Nov 04, 2004 4:51 pm

cweb255 wrote:or what about "modo gratia amicitiae veni, at amorem abstuli."

I don't see any reason why this wouldn't work, but the genitive almost always directly precedes causa or gratia, when they hold the meaning "on account of, for the sake of, etc.".

Is it possible to have ad amicitiam? amicitiam isn't a verb, and I don't recall seeing it, but would keep it simpler.

I'm not sure what you are saying. amicitia, -ae is a noun of course, so there is no problem with making it the object of a preposition (verbs cannot be the object of a preposition).