Expert: Maria - 10/29/2010

Question
could you please translate the following phrase

my mistakes are my strength  

Answer
Hello,

“Ex erroribus fortitudo” is the best translation of “My mistakes are my strength” which cannot be translated word for word as a literal translation would be not so appropriate in Latin.

See below for grammatical analysis.
Best regards,
Maria
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GRAMMATICAL ANALYSIS of  “Ex erroribus fortitudo “ meaning:  “[It is]  from my mistakes [that derives my] strength”.


-EX (preposition which takes the ablative case) = from

-ERRORIBUS ( ablative plural of the noun ERROR, 3rd.declension) = my mistakes

-FORTITUDO (subject in the nominative, 3rd.declension)= strength (as inner strength).

Note that "It is ....that derives my" placed in square brackets is omitted in Latin as it is implied.