# We only live once



## violaiiine142

Hi everybody! 

I am looking for someone who could translate an english sentence in greek for me please? 

"We only live once" 

Could you help me ? 

Thanks a lot!

V.


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## sotos

Γιατί ζούμε μόνο μία φορά;


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## cougr

violaiiine142 said:


> Hi everybody!
> 
> I am looking for someone who could translate an english sentence in greek for me please?
> 
> "We only live once"
> 
> Could you help me ?
> 
> Thanks a lot!
> 
> V.



Ζούμε μόνο/μονάχα μια φόρα.


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## violaiiine142

So there're many ways to translate this sentence? 

Thanks!


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## violaiiine142

Can you write this with english letters for me please? it's for the pronunciation  thanks!!


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## cougr

Zume mono  mia fora.   (The u in zume is pronounced like the u in Zumba fitness).


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## BrendaP

Also, in Greek, the "ε" at the end of a word is pronounced "eh" so I think it would be "zumeh".


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## shawnee

I'm partial to putting this the other way around, which is how I would expect to see it expressed in Greek: Μια φορά μονάχα ζούμε. That would sound like, _mieá forá monácha zoúmeh_.


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## Perseas

_ζούμε μόνο (or μονάχα) μια φορά_ ---> /'zume 'mono (mo'naxa) mɲa fo'ra/.
_μόνο_ and _μονάχα_ are interchangeable.


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## Δημήτρης

I am surprised by the fact that noone mentioned "μια ζωή την έχουμε", which is far more idiomatic in Greek.
Pronounced /mɲa zo'i  tin 'exume/ (or "mgnazo*ï* tin*è*KHoumè", respelled in French, as I see it's OP's native langue).


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## shawnee

Δημήτρης said:


> I am surprised by the fact that noone mentioned "μια ζωή την έχουμε", which is far more idiomatic in Greek.
> Pronounced /mɲa zo'i  tin 'exume/ (or "mgnazo*ï* tin*è*KHoumè", respelled in French, as I see it's OP's native langue).



And a great song too  «... και αν δεν την γλεντισουμέ», just like « μια φορά μονάχα ζούμε μες στον ψευτικό ντουνιά»


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## Perseas

Δημήτρης said:


> I am surprised by the fact that noone mentioned "μια ζωή την έχουμε", which is far more idiomatic in Greek.


Δημήτρη, 
if by "far more idiomatic" you mean more correct Greek, I don't agree. It depends on the situation. If the situation were more serious/severe , I would hesitate about using it (maybe because this phrase would remind people of the song mentioned by shawnee). 
P.S. "μια φορά μονάχα ζούμε" is the same as "ζούμε μονάχα μια φορά"; only the order of the words changes.


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## Δημήτρης

More idiomatic, as in more, how should I say it, colloquial? Not sounding suspiciously like a calque phrase? I never implied that it was grammatically incorrect.


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## shawnee

Perseas said:


> Δημήτρη,
> 
> P.S. "μια φορά μονάχα ζούμε" is the same as "ζούμε μονάχα μια φορά"; only the order of the words changes.


Nor did I wish to imply that by chnging the order there was a greater or lesser degree of correctness between the two. It is just that the English 'We only live once' is more often than not stated with a degree of, how shall I say, _élan_, rather than a dry statement of biological fact. I remains my impression that my recommended word order gave the Greek that extra bit of expressiveness. I realise that I am relying on ears that are far from the Greek speaking epicentre so I am prepared as always to be corrected.


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## Perseas

shawnee said:


> Nor did I wish to imply that by chnging the order there was a greater or lesser degree of correctness between the two.


Hi shawnee,
neither did I imply that you had implied that .



> It is just that the English 'We only live once' is more often than not stated with a degree of, how shall I say, _élan_, rather than a dry statement of biological fact. I remains my impression that my recommended word order gave the Greek that extra bit of expressiveness. I realise that I am relying on ears that are far from the Greek speaking epicentre so I am prepared as always to be corrected.


Thanks for your explanations.


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