Greek Translation Of A Rhyme

Home | Classroom | Archive 1 | Archive 2 | Words | Phrases | Countries | Languages

Phrasebase Archive

squeak Wednesday 31st of May 2006 08:07:46 AM
Translation of a rhyme - Hi,

I wanted to practice not just translating from Greek, but also to Greek, so I tried to translate the rhyme below (though I have no idea where it came from!). Could correct it for me please?

While walking up the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d stay away

Τη στιγμή που ανέβηκα τη σκάλα
Γνωρίσα ένα άντρας που δεν ήτανε εκεί
Δεν ήτανε εκεί σήμερα επίσης
Εύχομαι, εύχομαι θα δεν έρχτει

Thanks

Luludya738 Tuesday 06th of June 2006 06:27:51 PM
- Your try is really nice but the translation is not exact and it contains some mistakes.
(I don\'t have greek characters here so i\'ll write with latin ones) :P
1. \"While walking up the stair\" would be \"kathos anevena ti skala\", because \"while\" + VB-ing shows an action taking place at that moment, but it\'s not punctual, \"ti stigmi pou\" would be the translation for \"the moment I...\" then, you used \"anevika\" which is P. Simple. You sould have used the continuos form. (Semanticaly, the first line is quite ok, anyway, because the meaning is not distorted).
2. \"I met a man who wasn\'t there\". Instead of \"gnorisa\" (to know) you could have better used \"sinantisa\" (from \"sinanto\" which means exactly \"to meet\"). If the vb \"to meet\" implies to get to know the person, than you can use \"gnorizo\" but if it only refers to physical encounter, then the best is \"sinanto\" (writen \"sunantw\").
Then, the real problem is that you can\'t say \"gnorisa ena antras\"
a) Because it is \"enan\" (this is the masc. article for acusative when the next word begins with a vowel)
b) And finally, because the form of the noun is \"antra\" (at the acusative form, all masc. nouns loose their final \"s\" (remember that ;))
So, the correct form would be \"Sinantisa enan antra, pou den itan ekei\" (\"itane\" is a popular form)
3. \"He wasn\'t there again today\" (now this sounds weird) :P my suggestion: \"Den itan ekei simera ksana\" (so it rhymes with \"skala\" a little. \"Episis\" means \"also\". \"Ksana\", \"pali\" mean \"again\".
4. \"I wish I wish he\'d stay away\". Now the last line of your translation is a bit wrong. What you wrote after \"efhomai\" makes no sense. The correct form is \"Efhomai, efhomai na min exei erthei\".

There are other options for the last line, but anyway, I won\'t make this post longer. Your attempt was really good anyway. It is difficult to make poems rhyme and you made it ;) Keep it that way :)

squeak Tuesday 06th of June 2006 06:44:03 PM
- Thank you so much

squeak Thursday 15th of June 2006 10:32:45 PM
- I keep meaning to put this on here:

Καθώς ανέβαινα τη σκάλα
Συνάντησα έναν άντρα, που δεν ήτανε εκεί
Δεν ήτανε εκεί σήμερα ξανά
Εύχομαι, εύχομαι να μην εκεί έρχτει

Is that what you meant?

Thanks.

Phrasebase Archive
	squeak	Wednesday 31st of May 2006 08:07:46 AM
	Translation of a rhyme - Hi, I wanted to practice not just translating from Greek, but also to Greek, so I tried to translate the rhyme below (though I have no idea where it came from!). Could correct it for me please? While walking up the stair I met a man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today I wish, I wish he’d stay away Τη στιγμή που ανέβηκα τη σκάλα Γνωρίσα ένα άντρας που δεν ήτανε εκεί Δεν ήτανε εκεί σήμερα επίσης Εύχομαι, εύχομαι θα δεν έρχτει Thanks
	Luludya738	Tuesday 06th of June 2006 06:27:51 PM
	- Your try is really nice but the translation is not exact and it contains some mistakes. (I don\'t have greek characters here so i\'ll write with latin ones) :P 1. \"While walking up the stair\" would be \"kathos anevena ti skala\", because \"while\" + VB-ing shows an action taking place at that moment, but it\'s not punctual, \"ti stigmi pou\" would be the translation for \"the moment I...\" then, you used \"anevika\" which is P. Simple. You sould have used the continuos form. (Semanticaly, the first line is quite ok, anyway, because the meaning is not distorted). 2. \"I met a man who wasn\'t there\". Instead of \"gnorisa\" (to know) you could have better used \"sinantisa\" (from \"sinanto\" which means exactly \"to meet\"). If the vb \"to meet\" implies to get to know the person, than you can use \"gnorizo\" but if it only refers to physical encounter, then the best is \"sinanto\" (writen \"sunantw\"). Then, the real problem is that you can\'t say \"gnorisa ena antras\" a) Because it is \"enan\" (this is the masc. article for acusative when the next word begins with a vowel) b) And finally, because the form of the noun is \"antra\" (at the acusative form, all masc. nouns loose their final \"s\" (remember that ;)) So, the correct form would be \"Sinantisa enan antra, pou den itan ekei\" (\"itane\" is a popular form) 3. \"He wasn\'t there again today\" (now this sounds weird) :P my suggestion: \"Den itan ekei simera ksana\" (so it rhymes with \"skala\" a little. \"Episis\" means \"also\". \"Ksana\", \"pali\" mean \"again\". 4. \"I wish I wish he\'d stay away\". Now the last line of your translation is a bit wrong. What you wrote after \"efhomai\" makes no sense. The correct form is \"Efhomai, efhomai na min exei erthei\". There are other options for the last line, but anyway, I won\'t make this post longer. Your attempt was really good anyway. It is difficult to make poems rhyme and you made it ;) Keep it that way :)
	squeak	Tuesday 06th of June 2006 06:44:03 PM
	- Thank you so much
	squeak	Thursday 15th of June 2006 10:32:45 PM
	- I keep meaning to put this on here: Καθώς ανέβαινα τη σκάλα Συνάντησα έναν άντρα, που δεν ήτανε εκεί Δεν ήτανε εκεί σήμερα ξανά Εύχομαι, εύχομαι να μην εκεί έρχτει Is that what you meant? Thanks.