Expert: Maria - 9/11/2008

Question
hello, would it be possible to ask for the translation for 'watch over me' or 'watch over me, i pray.' as if asking for protection from a guardian angel?

Answer
Hello,

Here are the Latin translations you asked me:

-“Me custodi” or “Pro me vigila”(“Watch over me”)

-“Me, quaeso, custodi” or “Pro me, quaeso, vigila” (“Watch over me, I pray).

All the above translations are correct, of course, and thus you can choose the one you prefer.

Best regards,
Maria
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Note that:

-Watch over = CUSTODI (imperative, 2nd.person singular, of  CUSTODIO) or VIGILA (imperative, 2nd.person singular, of   VIGILO)

-Me= ME ( personal pronoun in the accusative as a direct object) or PRO ME where PRO is a preposition.

-I pray = QUAESO (interjection as a polite expression of entreaty meaning ‘I beseech you', ‘I pray', ‘please’)

As you can see, Latin word order can be different from English, for Latin is an inflected language where syntactical relationships are indicated by the endings, not by the order of the words.