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Live, Love, Laugh

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Escocia
January 04, 2015, 09:42 AM
How do i write "Live, Love, Laugh"

Gracias

wrholt
January 04, 2015, 11:10 AM
Let's see if we can guide you in figuring this out for yourself.

The expression "Live, Love, Laugh" is a series of 3 commands; each of these commands consists of a positive imperative verb that has no objects or other complements. However, it also has the structure of a proverb, adage or motto. It's not directed to any particular person, but generically to everyone as an individual.

A Spanish equivalent would also be a series of 3 commands, each consisting of a positive imperative verb that has no objects or other complements.

This article (http://grammar.tomisimo.org/Imperative) in the Grammar section of this site describes imperative verbs in Spanish.

Generic commands such as your expression are typically rendered in Spanish using singular imperatives, so we can ignore the plural imperatives for now; this restricts our choices to familiar "you" (either tú or vos) or to formal "you" (usted). As vos is regional and its verb forms vary regionally, we can ignore that for now.

So, the first step in translating your expression into Spanish is to identify which verb is the best translation equivalent for each part of your expression. The next step is choosing whether to use the tú imperative or the usted imperative, and then finding the appropriate verb form.

Do you have any guesses about which Spanish verbs are the best translation equivalents for "live", "love" and "laugh"?

Rusty
January 04, 2015, 11:29 AM
All are commands. You have several choices, depending on the audience.
I would choose the familiar, singular form if you're making a piece of art.


Formal, singular
Viva, ame, ríase

Formal, plural
Vivan, amen, ríanse

Familiar, singular
Vive, ama, ríete

Familiar, plural (Spain only)
Vivid, amad, reíos

Familiar, singular (Voseo - Argentina and others)
Viví, amá, reíte


EDIT: I see that wrholt responded first and that I provided you with a little more. Just so you know, there is a verb conjugator here in the forums.