Eng. to Lat. Short Quotes

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CT5Holy
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Eng. to Lat. Short Quotes

Post by CT5Holy »

Since I don't have class for about a month, I've been trying to keep up with my Latin by translating small quotes by some of my favorite authors.

I've been trying to translate "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." But I have found several words for 'cry' and 'to happen or occur' and I'm unsure which would be best for this case.

This is what I came up with:

"Lacrima non quoniam perfectus est, subride quoniam contigit."

Some other concerns I have are:

*contigit is just a guess as to the perfect form of "contigo, contigere", a third conjugation verb I found online (the perfect form and passive perfect participle weren't listed.)

*Is perfectus "okay" or is there a better word for 'over' in this sense?


If anyone has comments or a better translation, I would appreciate it

Thanks! :lol:
So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads. - Theodor Geisel

adrianus
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Re: Eng. to Lat. Short Quotes

Post by adrianus »

Salve CT5Holy

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."
"Noli lacrimare quoniàm finitum est. Subride quòd factum [est]" or "quòd erat."

"Perfectus est" = "It is accomplished, completed" (quite positive, really, so maybe not great here)
"lacrimare/flere. Your "lacrimare" is very nice.
"Lacrima non quoniam perfectus est" = "Cry not because it is finished [...but cry for some other reason]". For a negative command = "Noli" (singular)/"nolite" (plural) + infinitive is better.
I think "contigit/evenit" were fine, also.
I think "quòd" or "quià" is better in the second sentence because they can deal with facts, whereas "quoniàm" more usually has to do with justifications, excuses or motives (so say Lewis and Short, anyway)
I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction, and not because I'm confident in how I express myself. Latinè scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar, non quod confidenter me exprimam.

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