Translation for a tattoo
 

Hi,
I was hoping someone would be able to help me with a translation. Im looking to get a tattoo that says 'death is a debt i must repay' but in spanish. I have tried translating this and was hoping someone could confirm if i have done it right or if not help me translate the sentence correctly.

i have translated the above phrase into spanish as:-

La muerte es una deuda que debo saldar

is this correct??

Just one thing needs changed.

Welcome to the forums, by the way.

thanks for the response, nice to know my spanish isnt as bad as i thought...... could you use saldar if you were to say it was a debt i must settle rather than pay??

You may, yes. Both terms are used. I think pagar would be the more frequently used of the two, though.

pagar = pay and repay

Just out of curiosity, what does the expression actually mean in English? :confused:

Ah, I think I get it as meaning it's something you can't avoid. My first thoughts were, "huh, murder?" :P

"La muerte es una deuda que debo saldar" is OK. I would choose this option.
"La muerte es una deuda que debo pagar" is also OK, with more used words, but sounds less poetic....
literally:
"La muerte es una deuda que debo saldar" ('death is a debt i must settle/repay/pay up)
"La muerte es una deuda que debo pagar" ('death is a debt i must pay)

For a common usage Rusty's option "pagar" is much better ("saldar " is less used today, only for debts/mortgage) but for a tatto is more powerful "saldar"

saludos :D