# Take me back to the start



## LudivineB

Hello everyone! 

I have a question, you can find this a bit silly, but I would like to get a tattoo in Hebrew. The big issue is that I am a translator and so I don't trust online dictionaries.

I would like to translate this sentence "Take me back to the start". It would be great if you could help me.

Thanks


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## tFighterPilot

החזר אותי להתחלה


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## anipo

Welcome to the forum, LudvineB.!
The answer above is perfect if you are asking a man to take you back to the start.
If it is a woman it should be: החזירי אותי להתחלה.


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## origumi

anipo said:


> If it is a woman it should be: החזירי אותי להתחלה.


If it's the Coldplay song - sounds like man to woman, so this proposal is the one.


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## LudivineB

Thank you for answering. But I also mean in the context of life, for example when you think that everything is falling apart. Can I use this translation?


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## Carrot Ironfoundersson

> you can find this a bit silly...



Not at all, not at all... 



> Thank you for answering. But I also mean in the context of life, for  example when you think that everything is falling apart. Can I use this  translation?



You've been given a literal translation, and it's up to you to decide on the sense you want to put in it. BTW, if you're not addressing anyone in particular, you may want to use החזירו instead.


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## OsehAlyah

LudivineB said:


> Thank you for answering. But I also mean in the context of life, for example when you think that everything is falling apart. Can I use this translation?


It seems like it depends on who you are speaking to, and who you are asking to take you back to the start.


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## LudivineB

Well, I understand, but is there a way to say it if I am not asking that to anyone? Should I use this translation as *Carrot Ironfound**ersson* suggested "החזירו אותי להתחלה". It's not about a relationship or a particular situation, just life.

Anyway thank you for helping


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## Carrot Ironfoundersson

החזירו אותי להתחלה(cry of the soul, you know) looks and sounds fine to me.


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## LudivineB

I think that's what I want


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## arielipi

as a native! the direct translation was given in the first reply.

now if you want the meaning as of crying to go back to where it all began[more of like turn back the time and set everything right]

תחזיר אותי לאחור
which means sort of [in time you] put me back[wards]
just ask for the right context you want and ill give it to you....hebrew is hard when speaking with no water in your hands/words on air.


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## LudivineB

I'm not sure I want a direct translation, when I think about "Take me back to the start" it means take me back where everything was still possible, where hope was still there. Take me back to the start before everything starts falling appart. 

But it's probably what you said "to go back where it all began" even if you dont know if it's possible to fix everything.

I guess Hebrew is really hard, I wish I had learnt it, but no lessons in my city or close to where I live.


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## arielipi

well, there are few options for that...theres the higher-text level which can be
השיבה ימי קדם
hashiva yemey kedem - meaning bring back the old days[literal, though it is used as for the days we had hope]
if you want the backward the time its
להשיב את הזמן לאחור
lehashiv et hazman le'akhor - [to] return time backward

we have a saying in hebrew which is similar to the above in meaning, though its metaphor:
להחזיר את הגלגל לאחור
to [get the] wheel [to] turn back - lehakhzir et hagalgal le'akhor.


hope that helps... we dont have a certain way of saying it, it really depends on the context, and this one is especially hard to say because it can be changed by emotions.
if you want more literals ways of saying it like - bring back the days of teen-age...days of hope - then its alot easier

hope i helped


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## arielipi

the thing thats hard about it is, in many ways of speaking,and especially wishful, we say it ...+can/could/would/etc + [to] Infinitive + rest of the sentence...thats why its hard - because the differences are so small but the meaninig of each - the strong emotion,regret or desperation - is emphasized more in each certain way.

so...which one is it - is it like, out of "just for one day to have that feeling again" or is it  something else?​


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## LudivineB

As you said the problem is that I dont refer to a particular situation, for example when I was a teenager or whatever...

No it's not just for one day, it's more the feeling you have when you know you made mistakes, wrong choices, that life is not what you expected and so you want it back when you were happy or still had hope, even if you do not  refer to a particular period of time. 

Take me back to the start, meaning before everything went wrong.

Maybe your metaphor is the closest to what I mean.

Thanks for helping


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## arielipi

id pick the metaphor in that way...though perhaps you should wait for more opinions of natives...
the metaphor is the most general ofc...all the others are said on a certain thing/time/period of time...place and such known things that you can point to[no matter how much space/time they took hold]


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## OsehAlyah

LudivineB said:


> As you said the problem is that I dont refer to a particular situation, for example when I was a teenager or whatever...
> 
> No it's not just for one day, it's more the feeling you have when you know you made mistakes, wrong choices, that life is not what you expected and so you want it back when you were happy or still had hope, even if you do not  refer to a particular period of time.
> 
> Take me back to the start, meaning before everything went wrong.
> 
> Maybe your metaphor is the closest to what I mean.
> 
> Thanks for helping


There's another, more popular, expression for this in English: "Start from Scratch" or start with a Clean Sheet of Paper. Ludivine if this matches what you are trying to say, maybe this will help to find its closest equivalent in Hebrew.
Also, take another look at what Carrot suggested and make sure you understand it. When he does post, he is usually spot on. They don't say carrots are good for you for nothing you know.


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## arielipi

oooh! if you take oseh aliyah said:
lehatkhil hakol mehatkhala - to start everything from the beginning 
להתחיל הכל מהתחלה


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## LudivineB

OsehAlyah said:


> There's another, more popular, expression for this in English: "Start from Scratch" or start with a Clean Sheet of Paper. Ludivine if this matches what you are trying to say, maybe this will help to find its closest equivalent in Hebrew.
> Also, take another look at what Carrot suggested and make sure you understand it. When he does post, he is usually spot on. They don't say carrots are good for you for nothing you know.





you were right, I think Carrot was right since the beginning, it's just so confusing because I don't know anything about hebrew and I wanted to be really sure before getting a tattoo.

Thanks everyone for helping


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## OsehAlyah

LudivineB said:


> it's just so confusing because I don't know anything about hebrew and I wanted to be really sure before getting a tattoo.


More questions are OK if anything at all is still unclear.


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