Expert: Maria - 12/23/2008

Question
What is the translation of "This too shall pass" to Latin? I saw somewhere it said "Is quoque vadum obduco" and the someone said it was "Is quoque erit obduco"? Are either of those correct?

Answer
Hello,

In Classical  Latin "this too shall pass" can be translated as follows:

1-“Et hoc transibit”.

2-“Hoc etiam transibit“.

3-“Hoc quoque transibit”.

All the above phrases  are correct, of course,  and then you can pick the one you prefer, though I think that the best is “Et hoc transibit”.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Maria
_________________________________________________

Note that :

-this = HOC (nominative neuter of the demonstrative pronoun HIC))

-too = ET / ETIAM / QUOQUE

-shall  pass = TRANSIBIT (3rd.person singular, future of the verb TRANSEO)

As for the Latin translations  you mention, I’m sorry, but they both are absolutely wrong and make no sense at all, simply because they contain either grammatical or lexical errors.