# All Slavic: Living in the present, creating the future



## FedeG

Hi, 

I am translating the sentence "Living the present, creating the future. Together." in Bulgarian, Slovak, and Slovenian. I am wondering whether for such kind of slogans you use the gerund form of verbs as in English, or rather the infinity form as in Italian ("Vivere il presente. Creare il Futuro. Insieme."). Could you please help me with that?

The sentence is meant to be a standing alone one for an artistic project on peace.

Thank you, 
Fede


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## DarkChild

Bulgarian doesn't have an infinitive and the gerund has a very limited function.

I would translate it as Живеем в настоящето, създаваме бъдещето. Заедно. (We live in the present, we create the future).


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## ahvalj

In Russian, this is usually translated with the adverbial participles (_Живя в настоящем, создавая будущее. Вместе :: Vivendo il presente, creando il futuro. Insieme_), but I've been always wondering where is the grammar in these sentences. Regardless of that, in my humble opinion such slogans are of bad taste, even in English.

P. S. And of course the Infinitive is possible here, too: _Жить в настоящем, создавать будущее. Вместе._


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## ahvalj

DarkChild said:


> Bulgarian doesn't have an infinitive and the gerund has a very limited function.
> 
> I would translate it as Живеем в настоящето, създаваме бъдещето. Заедно. (We live in the present, we create the future).


Can you use _не_-nouns here (_живеене, създаване_)?


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## FedeG

Thanks both! The translation using "we" could also work. I hadn't thought about that (I thought there was an infinitive in Bulgarian). Perhaps this is the most suitable translation, if other forms sound bad in your language.


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## DarkChild

ahvalj said:


> Can you use _не_-nouns here (_живеене, създаване_)?


Theoretically, yes, but in this case it doesn't sound good at all. Sounds generic (it's not clear who's living and who's creating).


FedeG said:


> Thanks both! The translation using "we" could also work. I hadn't thought about that (I thought there was an infinitive in Bulgarian). Perhaps this is the most suitable translation, if other forms sound bad in your language.


I think this is closest to the original meaning.


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## FedeG

Thanks!


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## trance0

In Slovene it is better to use the infinitive than the participle construction in such cases: "Živeti v sedanjosti, ustvarjati prihodnost.". It is also possible to use the present tense instead of the infinitive: "Živimo v sedanjosti, ustvarjamo prihodnost.". While it is also possible to use the present participle, this construction sounds the least natural in Slovene: "Živeč v sedanjosti, ustvarjajoč prihodnost.".


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## FedeG

Thank you trance0!

Is "Živeti sedanjosti" grammatically correct too (the original sentence is actually "Living the present")? Or does it sound weird in Slovenian?


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## trance0

It doesn`t sound weird at all: "živeti sedanjost", you must use the accusative instead of the locative.


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## FedeG

Thanks for the correction!


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