# Need help translating these into French **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 15, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-translating-these-into-french/698571 "2014-09-15T16:12:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-translating-these-into-french/698571/1 "2014-09-15T16:12:18Z")
I need to have some sentences translated into French. I hope this isn’t too long. (No, this isn’t a homework assignment or anything.) 1. Life is what you make of it, so make something of it. 2. Life is good if you want it to be. 3. You’re looking good today! 4. Effort breeds success. 5. Become the person it takes to achieve your goals. 6. Live to love and love to live. 7. See the sublime in the mundane. 8. Life isn’t perfect, but it has its perfect moments. 9. Some things in life are just worth the risk. 10. If you don’t have dreams, they can’t come true. 11. You may not know where you’re going, but try to enjoy the ride. 12. Remember, you’re still learning about the world. As we all are. 13. There is still so much love and beauty in the world. 14. Don’t just follow your dreams. Chase them. 15. Anything worthwhile takes time. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-translating-these-into-french/698571/2 "2014-09-15T17:20:21Z")
[Google translate](https://translate.google.com/) works well for these kinds of translations. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-translating-these-into-french/698571/3 "2014-09-15T17:50:41Z")
I expect the OP doesn’t just want translations but appropriate idiomatic usage. Emily, are these supposed to be read by French people, other French speakers, or students? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-translating-these-into-french/698571/4 "2014-09-15T18:06:42Z")
Other French speakers. And this is for a French workplace. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-translating-these-into-french/698571/5 "2014-09-15T19:19:00Z")
1. Life is what you make of it, so make something of it. La vie est ce que vous en faites, alors faites-en quelque chose. 2. Life is good if you want it to be. La vie est belle si vous voulez qu’elle le soit. 3. You’re looking good today! Tu as l’air superbe, aujourd’hui. 4. Effort breeds success. Les efforts conduisent au succès 5. Become the person it takes to achieve your goals. Devenez la personne qu’il faut pour accomplir vos objectifs. 6. Live to love and love to live. Vivez pour aimez et aimez pour vivre. 7. See the sublime in the mundane. Sachez voir le sublime dans l’ordinaire. 8. Life isn’t perfect, but it has its perfect moments. La vie n’est pas parfaite, mais elle a ses moments parfaits. 9. Some things in life are just worth the risk. 10. If you don’t have dreams, they can’t come true. Si vous n’avez pas de rêves, ils ne peuvent pas se réaliser. 11. You may not know where you’re going, but try to enjoy the ride. Vous ne savez peut-être pas où vous allez, mais essayez d’apprécier le voyage. 12. Remember, you’re still learning about the world. As we all are. Souvenez-vous : vous êtes toujours en train de découvrir le monde. Comme nous tous. 13. There is still so much love and beauty in the world. Il y a toujours tant d’amour et de beauté dans le monde. 14. Don’t just follow your dreams. Chase them. Ne faites pas que poursuivre vos rêves. Traquez-les. 15. Anything worthwhile takes time. Tout ce qui en vaut la peine prend du temps. And that’s typically the kind of things for which online translators are useless. If the specific meaning of a specific sentence is important, they shouldn’t be used. There are only useful to get a rough idea of what is being said. Trying with the first five : 1 La vie est ce que vous faites de lui, afin de faire quelque chose. (gramatically wrong, and the meaning is changed) 2 La vie est belle si vous voulez qu’il soit. (gramatically wrong) 3 Vous êtes à la recherche bien aujourd’hui! (the sentence doesn’t make any sense) 4. effort engendre le succès. (only an article lacking) 5. Devenir la personne qu’il faut pour atteindre vos objectifs.(not exactly wrong, but the tense changed, giving the sentence a different twist). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-translating-these-into-french/698571/6 "2014-09-16T10:36:31Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > 1. Live to love and love to live. > Vivez pour aimez et aimez pour vivre. Shouldn’t that be “Vivez pour **aimer** …” or is there some subtlety I am missing? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-translating-these-into-french/698571/7 "2014-09-16T21:51:04Z")
Thank you **clairobscur**! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-translating-these-into-french/698571/8 "2014-09-17T11:31:47Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Shouldn’t that be “Vivez pour **aimer** …” or is there some subtlety I am missing? Ahem…I’m afraid there’s no subtlety, but a gross mispelling. ☹