where the light is

[lilia casillas]

i am looking for a translation of that exact sentence.

If possible, I am also looking for"keep me where the light is"

Thanks for taking the time to read and thank you in advance.​

 

[Mafalda]

Ubi est lux.
I am not quite sure about the keeping though. Is it supposed to be a tip for keeping a house plant?

 

[Dantius]

It's worth noting that if anyone saw just the phrase ubi est lux, they would probably interpret it as "where is the light?" Since "where the light is" is not a full sentence, it's hard to translate on its own.

 

[Mafalda]

There is no interrogation mark.

 

[Dantius]

Depending on what the poster intends to do with this translation, there may or may not be punctuation marks anyway. And the Romans didn't use them, so they presumably expected that their sentences could be understood without them.

 

[lilia casillas]

its intended for a tatto but i didnt want to rely soley on google translate

its lyrics to a song so its kind of a statement as to keep oneself where the light is or just where the light is not as a question but rather a statement

 

[Dantius]

If it's intended for a tattoo, then you'll probably want to get a full translation of "keep me where the light is". It's impossible to translate "where the light is" alone as a statement — any translation would be interpreted as a question (where is the light?).

So let's work on translating "keep me where the light is":
How many people are you talking to with this sentence. Are you telling one person to keep you where the light is, or are you telling a group of people?

 

[lilia casillas]

the whole sentence is "just keep me where the light is " its not telling a group of people just in general to be kept where the light is as in it being a place

 

[Dantius]

"keep me..." is grammatically imperative (a command). In Latin, imperatives have to be either singular or plural, depending on whether you want to tell one person to do something, or several people.

 

[lilia casillas]

the singular would be best fitting

 

[Dantius]

I suppose we could avoid this question by slightly rephrasing it:
ibi retinendus sum, ubi lux est.
I must be kept where the light is.

You should wait for other confirmations/suggestions before getting a tattoo of this translation.

 

[Dantius]

If you want to use the singular imperative:
ibi me retine, ubi lux est.
keep me where the light is.

 

[lilia casillas]

thank you so much! the simple ubi lux est wouldnt make sence on its own?

 

[Dantius]

"ubi lux est" on its own means "where is the light?"

 

[lilia casillas]

ubi lux est and ubi est lux is the same? i understood ubi est lux is a question ubi lux est is a statement

 

[Dantius]

No, in Latin the word order is very flexible, so "ubi lux est" and "ubi est lux" are pretty much exactly the same.

 

[lilia casillas]

great thanks for all the help !

 

[Pacifica]

I suppose we could avoid this question by slightly rephrasing it:
ibi retinendus sum, ubi lux est.
I must be kept where the light is.

She's probably going to choose the other version, but just in case, if referring to a female it should be retinenda.