Before my family comes nothing.

A

Anonymous

Guest

My subject is what I need translated. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. -J avier
 

Jason210

New Member

Hi

Here's my attempt. Hopefully Iynx or someone equally talented will confirm, correct or come up with something better:

Ante familia nihil venit

Not sure about "ante". It does mean before but is usually used with time. I think it can be used in this sense (worth) also.

The translation omits the word "mea" (my), as putting that in would make it sound very emphatical on whose family we're talking about. Keeping it more general makes the phrase more "elevated" and elegant.

Jason
 
A

Anonymous

Guest

Re:

Jason210 dixit:
Hi

Here's my attempt. Hopefully Iynx or someone equally talented will confirm, correct or come up with something better:

Ante familia nihil venit

Not sure about "ante". It does mean before but is usually used with time. I think it can be used in this sense (worth) also.

The translation omits the word "mea" (my), as putting that in would make it sound very emphatical on whose family we're talking about. Keeping it more general makes the phrase more "elevated" and elegant.

Jason
Doesn't ante take accusative? So wouldn't it be, Ante familiam [meam] nihil venit?

I am a beginner, so, I just wanted to know why it wouldn't be familiam :D
 
 

Matthaeus

Vemortuicida strenuus

  • Civis Illustris

  • Patronus

Location:
Varsovia
You're right; in this case it ought to be with the acc.
 
B

Bitmap

Guest

not sure if the word-for-word translation really works

how about
familiā nihil carius
 

Chamaeleo

New Member

Location:
Melbourne
Your phrase means ‘prior to the family, nothing arrives’.

It’s not impossible that the Romans would have given the phrase the same figurative meaning that ‘before my family comes nothing’ has in English, but I don’t see any reason to assume so.

I think we’d best say something like familiæ præstat nihil.
 

cortivo

New Member

Hello my friends.
I am planning to have a tattoo done in my left arm so i would be grateful if u could translate this phrase for me. I would also like to hear opinions on other sentenses in latin that would be nice for tatoo (including family)
Thanks in advance!
 
 

Matthaeus

Vemortuicida strenuus

  • Civis Illustris

  • Patronus

Location:
Varsovia
ANTE·FAMILIAM·NIHIL
is one possibility
 

hertsupreme72

New Member

I love this and have been looking for something like this myself, but could you possible translate it with the slight change

before my family THERES nothing
 
 

Matthaeus

Vemortuicida strenuus

  • Civis Illustris

  • Patronus

Location:
Varsovia
Sure, if you really want to emphasise "nothing"
 

Arca Defectionis

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
USA
I prefer the opening with "nihil" myself, but it's all personal preference. Either is fine, and which one you should use depends on your emphasis. I would have said "nothing comes before my family" in English, so perhaps Matthaeus's translation is more faithful to the question.
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
Or just ante meos nihil.

There's no exact translation for "family", at least in classical Latin.

Familia initially meant the whole household, including the whole body of slaves etc. I think in later Latin it may have been used in a sense closer to what we mean by "family" today, because some dictionaries have the definition "family" for it.

Propinqui = literally "the close ones", a way to talk about family.

Cognati = people related by birth, but I don't like this option very much, I think it lacks the emotional connotation you find in "family".

Mei is literally a possessive, "my" in plural, "the mine ones" if you will, understood as "my close people, family, etc". That's the option I personally prefer in this case.

Now you can make your choice between ante meos/propinquos meos/cognatos meos/familiam meam nihil. Before my family nothing.
 

Gavin Limb

New Member

I want "Nothing comes before family" translated into Latin but can't find a consistent result. All the online translators give different responses.
 

Iohannes Aurum

Technicus Auxiliarius

  • Technicus Auxiliarius

Location:
Torontum, Ontario, Canada
Merged threads. Oh, and online translators can never be trusted. Please read my sig.
 

EmmaAD12

New Member

"family is everything" and "before my family comes nothing"

Possibly going to be used for a tattoo

My family mean a lot to me so its a tattoo for them

I'm not sure if gender applied here but I'm female if it does

I hope someone can help
Thank you
 
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