Expert: Maria - 2/28/2011

Question
I am getting a bracelet for a friend who has been spending time in hospital and I want to get it inscribed with "no pain, no gain" in Latin,
Hope you can help
Thanks

Answer
Hello,

The literal translation of the sentence  “No pain, no gain” is the following:
-“Nulla poena, nullus fructus”

There is however a quotation from Horace, Satires, Book 1, satire 9, lines 59-60 which reads: “Nil sine magno labore“ just meaning “Nothing without pain”.

Wishing your friend and you all the best,
Maria
______________________________________________________________________
Note that:

-No = NULLA  (adjective in the nominative feminine agreed with POENA)

-pain = POENA (nominative, feminine noun, 1st.declension)

-no = NULLUS (adjective in the nominative masculine agreed with FRUCTUS)

-gain = FRUCTUS (nominative, masculine noun, 4th.declension). _______________________________________________________________________________

-NIL (nominative neuter) = nothing

-SINE (preposition which takes the ablative) = without

-MAGNO (Ablative masculine singular of the adjective MAGNUS agreed with LABORE) = great

-LABORE (ablative singular of LABOR, masculine noun,  3rd.declension)= pain