Expert: Maria - 9/9/2007

Question
Could you please translate "let the good times roll" into Latin for me.  Thanks.

Answer
Hello,

"Let the good times roll" could be translated into Latin as follows:

-“Sine felix transeat tempus!”, if you are addressing to a 2nd.person singular, i.e. to only one person.

-“Sinite felix transeat tempus!”, if you are addressing to a 2nd.person plural, i.e. to two or more person.

Also, you could say simply:

"Felix transeat sane tempus!".


Best regards,
Maria
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Note that:

-Let = SINE (2nd.person singular, imperative, of SINO, I let) / SINITE (2nd.person plural, imperative, of SINO)

- the good = FELIX (neuter agreed with TEMPUS)

-times = TEMPUS ( in the singular  as Latin prefers the singular).

-roll = TRANSEAT (subjunctive present, 3rd.person singular, of TRANSEO,  related to TEMPUS).

As for the adverb SANE in the translation "Felix transeat sane tempus!", it emphasizes the subjunctive in Latin.

As you can see, Latin word order differs from English.