Doug Kerr
Well-known member
As Dante warned:
Often translated as:
But equally acceptable (and actually better) would be:
Or, deeming "hope" to be non-countable (like "oatmeal"):
Voi is informal but explicitly plural. Ye is a synonym for you, and like it, is ambiguous as to number in modern English.
Some may prefer, so as to resolve that ambiguity and clearly indicate the plural:
or perhaps even one of its colloquial regional forms:
Then some may simplify [5] to:
perhaps on the grounds that the "every" (or "all") would be implied by the lack of a qualifier such as "some" (as the French would say, when one has omitted du, "Oh, you are speaking of all the cheese on the world), or perhaps just by mis-remembering form [4].
As to the "here", as in:
you're on your own. It certainly sounds good, the kind of thing I often put gratuitously into news accounts when I read them aloud to Carla at breakfast when "I would have written it that way".
Best regards,
Doug
"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate" [1]
Often translated as:
"Abandon every hope, ye that enter!" [2]
But equally acceptable (and actually better) would be:
"Abandon every hope, ye who enter!" [3]
Or, deeming "hope" to be non-countable (like "oatmeal"):
"Abandon all hope, ye who enter!" [4]
Voi is informal but explicitly plural. Ye is a synonym for you, and like it, is ambiguous as to number in modern English.
Some may prefer, so as to resolve that ambiguity and clearly indicate the plural:
"Abandon every hope, all ye who enter!" [5]
or perhaps even one of its colloquial regional forms:
"Abandon every hope, y'all who enter!" [6]
or"Abandon every hope, youse who enter!" [7]
Then some may simplify [5] to:
"Abandon hope, all ye who enter!" [8]
perhaps on the grounds that the "every" (or "all") would be implied by the lack of a qualifier such as "some" (as the French would say, when one has omitted du, "Oh, you are speaking of all the cheese on the world), or perhaps just by mis-remembering form [4].
As to the "here", as in:
"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here!" [9]
you're on your own. It certainly sounds good, the kind of thing I often put gratuitously into news accounts when I read them aloud to Carla at breakfast when "I would have written it that way".
Best regards,
Doug