I am studying Dr. Mastronarde’sUnit 28 which pertains to supplementary participles with direct and indirect discourse. I read the unit twice but am still feel awkward. For the first
exercise, I am supposed to translate this, “ταῦτα εἰπὼν οὐχ ἁμαρτήσῃ.”
I wrote, “Saying these things, you will not miss the mark.”
The answer book wrote, “You will not err if you say this. or You will not be wrong in saying this”
Shouldn’t ταῦτα be neuter plural “these”?
The answer book sounds better, but am I wrong with the way that I wrote it?
Seneca2008 and MWH have spoken about adding words to make a translation into English smoother.
Would I by wrong in adding a “by” and writing, “You will not miss the mark by saying these things.”
It seems to me that you have understood the Greek so your question is really about the translation. The crucial thing to communicate in this sentence is the tense of “ἁμαρτήσῃ” which you did.
ταῦτα often means “these things” but in English perhaps “this” is more idiomatic? How often do you say “saying these things” as opposed to “saying this” in your ordinary speech? I dont think I ever said the former before I started learning Greek. M. probably gives a variety of translations in his answer key to emphasise that whilst the Greek has a particular meaning the words used to convey this in English (translation) vary depending on what register you want to use or what you regard as idiomatic.
ἁμαρτάνω has the meaning “miss the mark, fail of hitting or having (+ gen.); err, make a mistake (+ part.) [hamartia]” see p. 239. When translating dont automatically take the first meaning given in your book. The idea of “miss the mark” comes from the use of the verb with throwing a spear. You throw a spear and it misses its mark. The idea of making a mistake then comes from this figurative use. If “err” is idiomatic for you then use it otherwise make a mistake or “be wrong” seems fine to me. (hamartia is a whole other can of worms)
Do you think there is any difference in meaning between “by saying these things” and “in saying this”? I think they mean the same.
If you come up with a translation which uses different words to those you find in an answer key, the first thing to check is whether the meaning the same. The aim in translating is not to come up with what you find in an answer key but to show you have understood the Greek. With more experience and asking as many questions as you like you will develop a feeling for what is “correct” or not in your translation. The essential thing is that you convey the meaning of the Greek, the words you choose are the ones which you think best convey that meaning. Avoid being literal as Greek and English express things differently.
Lukas, I’ve mostly stayed out of these conversations because of the wonderful job Seneca and Michael are doing in helping you. If I may, I think part of the problem is that you are simply afraid of getting it wrong. If this is the case, don’t be: getting it wrong, and sometimes, getting it right but with a slightly different answer than your answer key is all part of the learning process, and you are making good progress.
With regard to your sentence, you understand the Greek well enough, and your translation, while “literal,” is fine. The participle is adverbial, and this is the important thing, can be translated in more than one way depending on context. Yes, ταῦτα is literally “these things,” but English usually idiomatically simply uses “this” in such contexts.
Apart from context, you have several possible correct renderings. Adding “by” (making the participle instrumental) is certainly possible, as are more circumstantial renderings such “when,” the conditional “if” (as the answer key does) or the causal “because.” When doing such exercises with my students, they usually give a literal rendering such as you have done, and I say “What other possible ways might we do this?” And then we have fun with it.