translating some latin into english

Here you can discuss all things Latin. Use this board to ask questions about grammar, discuss learning strategies, get help with a difficult passage of Latin, and more.
Post Reply
User avatar
bestiatrionfante
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 3:13 pm
Location: Italy

translating some latin into english

Post by bestiatrionfante »

hi, i'm looking for some advice...
how would you translate in english these sentences:

1)proprii liberi carissimi cuique sunt.

2)erant duo filii Rheae Silviae, quorum alteri erat nomen romulus, alteri remus.

it is correct to translate ''quorum alteri'' with ''one of which''? or ''one of them'' wuold be better?
and it is correct to translate ''proprii liberi'' with ''everyone's own children''?

thank you for attention, have a good day.
in tristitia hilaris, in hilaritate tristis

Qimmik
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 2090
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:15 pm

Re: translating some latin into english

Post by Qimmik »

proprii liberi carissimi cuique sunt.

"Everyone's own children are dearest to them."

Some English-speakers have been trained to avoid singular "them," but it's a well-established English usage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they

The alternatives would be "dearest to him or her," which is ugly, or "dearest to him," using "him" as a gender-neutral pronoun, which is out of favor, and rightly so. Singular "they," "them" and "their," properly used, is the best solution and has been a part of the English language since time immemorial.

erant duo filii Rheae Silviae, quorum alteri erat nomen romulus, alteri remus.

"Rhea Silvia had two sons, one of whom was named Romulus and the other Remus."

Generally, "who" and "whom" are used for human beings, rather than "which." "Which" is usually reserved for non-human antecedents. Some of us use "who" for our companion animals.

If you break this into two sentences, you could write: "Rhea Silvia had two sons. One of them was named Romulus and the other Remus.

User avatar
bestiatrionfante
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 3:13 pm
Location: Italy

Re: translating some latin into english

Post by bestiatrionfante »

gratias tibi ago plurimas :) thank you so much for answering so fast.
in tristitia hilaris, in hilaritate tristis

Post Reply