# God Willing



## Otter

Ciao you Angels of Translation:

Is "God Willing" used in Italian?  If so, how would I say it.  If not, what's the equivalent?

Context is something like   

God willing, I'll be there
and, God Willing, so will you.

(I don't need translations for the above sentence.  It's just to give the application of "God Willing".

Thanks so much.


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## disegno

I'm sure there will be better responses from natives...but I would say

Con la grazia di Dio, ci sarò
Con la grazia di Dio, ci sarai anche tu


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## Moogey

disegno said:
			
		

> I'm sure there will be better responses from natives...but I would say
> 
> Con la grazia di Dio, ci sarò
> Con la grazia di Dio, ci sarai anche tu



I was going to say this exactly!

-M


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## Otter

Grazie tante a tutti.


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## Moogey

Otter said:
			
		

> Grazie tanto a tutti.


I think it should be "tanto" (See what I mean about posting in Italian? [when you consider yourself able to] You can learn by being corrected!) You're welcome 

-M


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## Saoul

Moogey said:
			
		

> I think it should be "tanto" (See what I mean about posting in Italian? [when you consider yourself able to] You can learn by being corrected!) You're welcome
> 
> -M



MMM don't know Moogey. I'm quite happy with "grazie tante". I think it's sort of dialectal, maybe, but it does sound right to me. (Let's wait for some other Natives. I didn't sleep tonight, and my brain is a bit funny!)

Getting back to the main subject, here, the most common sentence for "God Willing", is "Se Dio vuole".

"Se Dio vuole, quest'estate andrò al mare!"
"Se Dio vuole, questo lavoro è finito!"

Hope this helps.
Saoul


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## Otter

Saoul said:
			
		

> MMM don't know Moogey. I'm quite happy with "grazie tante". I think it's sort of dialectal, maybe, but it does sound right to me. (Let's wait for some other Natives. I didn't sleep tonight, and my brain is a bit funny!)
> 
> Getting back to the main subject, here, the most common sentence for "God Willing", is "Se Dio vuole".
> 
> "Se Dio vuole, quest'estate andrò al mare!"
> "Se Dio vuole, questo lavoro è finito!"
> 
> Hope this helps.
> Saoul


 
Saoul.  Thanks so much.  Se Dio vuole means 'if God wishes'?
Also, You've actually written a sentence I think I want.  Does 'questo lavoro 'e finito' mean "this work is finished."?  Could I turn that around and use it as a question, 'questo lavoro 'e finito?"


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## emma1968

> Concordo naturalmente su "Se Dio vuole".
> A proposito di "grazie tante/tante grazie" posso dire che io lo uso tranquillamente ma anche a me sembra una forma dialettale.


 I agree with Saoul about the meaning of "God Willing"
About "grazie tante or tante grazie" I can say that I also use it, even though it seems to me as well a slang  form. 
Though I googled and found a lot of listenings about "tante grazie e grazie tante"


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## Saoul

Yep! 
and 
er... Yep!

Se Dio vuole is "If God wishes" and right you are. You can say "questo lavoro è finito?".


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## Otter

Yo, Emma,

Wouldyou please write that response in English for me, since I'm the one who used the phrase in question.   I'm translationally challenged tonight and it's so late here, all the letters are blurring.

Thanks so much.

Otter (needs some water for a swim, I think)


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## Otter

Saoul said:
			
		

> Yep!
> and
> er... Yep!
> 
> Se Dio vuole is "If God wishes" and right you are. You can say "questo lavoro è finito?".




Saoul, "é finito" - what would that mean?, as opposed to the accent mark in the other direction?  I started a thread about this but got no answer.  

Thanks.


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## Moogey

Otter said:
			
		

> [/color]
> 
> Saoul, "é finito" - what would that mean?, as opposed to the accent mark in the other direction?  I started a thread about this but got no answer.
> 
> Thanks.


Well I know I'm not Saoul  but è finito literally means "(it) is finished"... "Il lavoro è finito" literally means "The work is finished/over/done" It seems to me as if it has an idiomatic expression in this case.

-M


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## brian

Saoul said:
			
		

> Getting back to the main subject, here, the most common sentence for "God Willing", is "Se Dio vuole".


 Would an Italian ever say, _Dio volendo..._ or _Volendo Dio..._?  In English, "God willing" is a shortened gerund phrase for "With God (being) willing," which acts conditionally.  In Italian as well, so I've read, gerund phrases can act as conditional clauses as well.

_Volendo Dio, quest'estate andrò al mare!_

But even if it makes grammatical sense, if no one in Italy says it like so, then we shouldn't use it. 


Brian


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## Saoul

E' finito means simply "it is finished".
(I saw you're thread, but I think I wouldn't be accurate in answering right now, maybe in a three or four coffee time, I will be).

EDIT: Si Brian, hai ragione. "Dio volendo" "Volendo Dio" "Piacendo a Dio". We are a Catholic Country, here. God is quite everywhere, so we have loads of similar expressions.


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## Otter

Thanks.  Get coffee, come back.

I'm dying to know.  Actually it applies to something else I posted and I got two possibilities: (is true)  'e vero; and (is true) e' vero. 

So, now I'm really confused.  They're not interechangeable.  Maybe I'd better move this over to the e/e thread.

AARGHHH!!

Thanks so much to everyone who is putting up with my endless queries tonight.


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## Moogey

Otter, there's no such thing as 'e... e' can either be é or è... it's indistinguishable.

-M


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## Wolverine

Ciao avete ben detto

"se Dio vuole" is very used, expecially when not referred properly to God, but as a way to say.


"se dio vuole.."

In cases of conditional periods i suggest  "dio permettendo.. (if god wills).."

Ciao


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## Otter

Hi Wolverine,

I'm having trouble understanding the meaning of "is very used, expecially when not referred properly to God, but as a way to say."

Can you clarify for me?

Grazie
i


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## Wolverine

I'll try.

When you hope that something will happen you can use that expression, but using that not referring to God (as a prayer).
If you say se Dio vuole.. probalbly you are believing that something will happen, but you're not asking that to God.


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## moodywop

Otter said:
			
		

> I'm having trouble understanding the meaning of... "a way to say."
> 
> Can you clarify for me?


 
Otter

When Wolverine wrote "a way to say" he was translating literally the Italian phrase "un modo di dire", which I think is what you would call a fixed phrase or an idiomatic expression, like "have an axe to grind" or "a chip on the shoulder".

If you used these expressions and an Italian took them literally (for example, if he started examining your shoulders ), you could say "è (solo) un modo di dire".


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## Otter

Wolverine said:
			
		

> Ciao avete ben detto
> 
> "se Dio vuole" is very used, expecially when not referred properly to God, but as a way to say.
> 
> 
> "se dio vuole.."
> 
> In cases of conditional periods i suggest "dio permettendo.. (if god wills).."
> 
> Ciao


 
______________________

I feel like an idiot. That being said, I still do not understand how 'se Dio vuole" and "dio permettendo" are not interchangeable. , Is "dio permettendo" not also an idiomatic phrase in which one is not asking God directly? By the way, is 'dio' not capitalized in "dio permettendo". Is 'dio permettendo' a prayer?  Is that what you mean by conditional period?


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## claudine2006

The translation is:

Se Dio vuole, sarò lì
e, se Dio vuole, ci sarai anche tu. 

But nowadays is not very used, is an old fashioned expression (my grandma says it a lot).


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## Otter

Hi Claudine,

Would you give me that translation in English?  I don't really speak Italian yet.

Thanks.


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## claudine2006

I'm sorry I didn't get that you didn't need the translation. 
Do you need an example with the expression?


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## brian

Otter said:
			
		

> Hi Claudine,
> 
> Would you give me that translation in English?  I don't really speak Italian yet.
> 
> Thanks.


Hello again Otter, and good morning (well, afternoon for you now),

The Italian that Claudine has provided above is the translation of your English. (_God willing, I'll be there. And God willing, you'll be there, too._)

The phrase _se Dio vuole_ is what we're using for "God willing," but as you correctly pointed out earlier in the thread, it more literally means "If God wishes/wants."


Brian


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## Otter

I'm not sure what you were translating. Perhaps I missed a saying in English somewhere earlier on this thread. I need a translation, _in English, of what you wrote._. I don't speak Italian. I'm just trying to find a way to say, God Willing, in Italian.

Thanks, Claudine.

Edit:  Okay, thanks.  It was the example "context" I provided that Claudine was translating.  Thanks.  Our posts crossed.  I'll go back and finish reading yours now.


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## Otter

Hallo Brian.

Thanks.  Could you look at my post  #21 and respond?  I'd really appreciate it.  I'm getting lost here.


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## claudine2006

It was my fault, I should have written your text also.
Se Dio vuole means literally "If God wants".

Thanks Brian for your help.


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## moodywop

Otter said:
			
		

> ______________________
> 
> I still do not understand how 'se Dio vuole" and "dio permettendo" are not interchangeable. , Is "dio permettendo" not also an idiomatic phrase in which one is not asking God directly?


 
I think what was meant was that "se Dio vuole" is the one that is most commonly used as a fixed phrase and therefore also the one that's acquired the status of a cliché and become detached from its original religious meaning. It's like saying "hopefully" (yes I know this use of "hopefully" is frowned upon ) or "if all goes well". A non-believer will use it just as happily as a believer will.

However it all depends on who uses it. For instance, because my family is quite religious, whenever I said "Are we going to the beach?" or something like that as a child, somebody would reply "Se Dio vuole". Even if I made a statement like "questa estate me ne vado a Londra" somebody would complete my sentence with a "se Dio vuole" (in a reproachful tone). As a result I came to hate the phrase and never use it.


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## brian

Otter said:
			
		

> Hallo Brian.
> 
> Thanks.  Could you look at my post  #21 and respond?  I'd really appreciate it.  I'm getting lost here.


Not being a native, I can only make some guesses and either get confirmed or shot down by the natives. 

I honestly cannot say whether _se Dio vuole_ or _Dio permettendo _are interchangeable.  As for the capitalization, I gathered from Wolverine's response that if it's used in a religious context, you capitalize _Dio_, and if it's not in a religious context, you do not (necessarily) capitalize _dio_.  In other words, if it's used just as an expression to mean "hopefully," you don't have to capitalize _dio_.

I would venture to guess, however, that you could choose to capitalize _Dio_, as Saoul originally did (as well as Claudine), and perhaps it gives the phrase a little more "spirit" (no pun intended ), as if you really are praying to God that she'll be there.  Take this for example:

_I can't wait to get out of this godforsaken place._

_I can't wait to get out of this God-forsaken place._

The first uses the adjective "godforsaken" as just a strong adjective in place of "desolate/lonely/abandoned/worthless"; the second, to _some_ readers (but not to all), might convey a little more, as if God has abandoned this place and it's worse-off because of that (or less literally, perhaps it is implying that the place has a much more negative feel to it without the presence of any good [God]).


Brian


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## Otter

moodywop said:
			
		

> I think what was meant was that "se Dio vuole" is the one that is most commonly used as a fixed phrase and therefore also the one that's acquired the status of a cliché and become detached from its original religious meaning. It's like saying "hopefully" (yes I know this use of "hopefully" is frowned upon ) or "if all goes well". A non-believer will use it just as happily as a believer will.
> 
> However it all depends on who uses it. For instance, because my family is quite religious, whenever I said "Are we going to the beach?" or something like that as a child, somebody would reply "Se Dio vuole". Even if I made a statement like "questa estate me ne vado a Londra" somebody would complete my sentence with a "se Dio vuole" (in a reproachful tone). As a result I came to hate the phrase and never use it.


 
Moodywop, What phrase would you use for 'God willing', in the context I described or, say, "God Willing, I will always tell the truth', meaning if it's in my power, it is my intention.  

Thanks.


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## moodywop

Otter said:
			
		

> Moodywop, What phrase would you use for 'God willing', in the context I described or, say, "God Willing, I will always tell the truth', meaning if it's in my power, it is my intention.


 
Well, as I said, I have an idiosyncratic aversion to the phrase because I heard it every single day as a kid. Most Italians would happily use "se Dio vuole" in both your examples.

_Se Dio vuole sarò lì domani_

_Se Dio vuole dirò sempre la verità_

_*I* _might say:

_Se tutto va bene sarò lì domani_

_Spero di riuscire a dire sempre la verità (I hope I'll always be able to tell the truth)_


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