# Be my guest!



## jana.bo99

Slovenian: Bodi moj gost

Croatian: Budi moj gost

German: Sei mein Freund


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## Outsider

Portuguese:

_Está à vontade._

or

_Esteja à vontade._


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## Grop

French: I am not fond of _Soyez mon hôte_, so I would suggest _Veuillez accepter mon hospitalité_. Both are very formal.


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## jana.bo99

Bonjour Grop,

Veuillez accepter mon hospitalité!

We are not that formal as you are in France. 

Merci a toi.


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## Mahaodeh

In Arabic it's literally كُن ضيفي = kun Dhaifi; but the expression is not used at all and does not make sense. The most common way to express what is meant by it in English is to say تفضّل = tafaDhal = can be loosely translated to "do a favor [to me]", meaning that the person will do you a favor if he, as an example, used your stapler!


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## kusurija

In Czech:
Buď mým hostem. (sorry letter "ď " shows properly only this font)

In Lithuanian:
Būk mano svečias/svečiu.


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## kittykate

*Italian*: 

(wrong and misleading  )

caterina

EDIT: 



			
				brian8733 said:
			
		

> (in a shop)
> Customer: Can I browse through these magazines?
> Shopkeep: Be my guest! / Go right ahead! / Sure, help yourself! / By all means! Prego/Faccia pure/Non c'è problema
> 
> (in a house)
> A: Could I get a glass of water?
> B: Be my guest! / Go right ahead! / Sure, help yourself! / By all means! Ma certo/Serviti/Serviti pure


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## brian

Hi everyone, I have a feeling some people haven't quite understood the idiomatic meaning of "Be my guest" in English. Here are some synonyms: _Go right ahead, By all means, Please do, Help yourself_ (depending on context), etc. Here is an example:

(in a shop)
Customer: Can I browse through these magazines?
Shopkeep: Be my guest! / Go right ahead! / Sure, help yourself! / By all means!

(in a house)
A: Could I get a glass of water?
B: Be my guest! / Go right ahead! / Sure, help yourself! / By all means!

The idea is that the person should feel perfectly comfortable to do as he pleases. It has nothing to do with favors (@Mahaodah), nor with offering anything (@kittykate).

For *Italian* I would say:

*Faccia* *pure!* (formal singular)
*Fai pure!* (informal singular)
*Fate pure!* (formal & informal plural)

In *German* I have the feeling "Sei mein Freund" means simply "Be my friend." I would propose:

_*Nur zu!*_

...but will need native confirmation for that.


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## Grop

Then the French would be _Faites comme chez vous!_ (Or _Fais comme chez toi_).


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## Joannes

The Dutch translation would very much depend on the context.


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## kusurija

brian8733 said:


> Hi everyone, I have a feeling some people haven't quite understood the idiomatic meaning of "Be my guest" in English. Here are some synonyms: _Go right ahead, By all means, Please do, Help yourself_ (depending on context), etc. Here is an example:
> 
> (in a shop)
> Customer: Can I browse through these magazines?
> Shopkeep: Be my guest! / Go right ahead! / Sure, help yourself! / By all means!
> 
> (in a house)
> A: Could I get a glass of water?
> B: Be my guest! / Go right ahead! / Sure, help yourself! / By all means!
> 
> The idea is that the person should feel perfectly comfortable to do as he pleases. ...




Yes, You are right, I didn't understand it as idiom for these circumstances.
In these cases the Czech translation would very much depend on the context and circumstances. Some (little) of them might be:
(in a shop)
Samozřejmě..  _or_
Jak je libo. _or_
Prosím, prosím. 
(in a house)
... jako doma.
Nežinýruj se. 

The Lithuanian translation also would very much depend on the context.
(in a shop) 
Prašom.
Kaip pageidausit.
(in a house)
Jauskis kaip namuose.


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## jana.bo99

brian8733 said:


> Hi everyone, I have a feeling some people haven't quite understood the idiomatic meaning of "Be my guest" in English. Here are some synonyms: _Go right ahead, By all means, Please do, Help yourself_ (depending on context), etc. Here is an example:
> (in a shop)
> Customer: Can I browse through these magazines?
> Shopkeep: Be my guest! / Go right ahead! / Sure, help yourself! / By all means!
> (in a house)
> A: Could I get a glass of water?
> B: Be my guest! / Go right ahead! / Sure, help yourself! / By all means!
> The idea is that the person should feel perfectly comfortable to do as he pleases. It has nothing to do with favors (@Mahaodah), nor with offering anything (@kittykate).
> For *Italian* I would say:
> *Faccia* *pure!* (formal singular)
> *Fai pure!* (informal singular)
> *Fate pure!* (formal & informal plural)
> In *German* I have the feeling "Sei mein Freund" means simply "Be my friend." I would propose:
> _*Nur zu!*_
> ...but will need native confirmation for that.


Hi Brian,

Thank you for very clear explanation. I was ready first to write what that in fact means (not that you can be guest in my home), but was somehow sure the members of the forum maybe know what that means. 

About German: Nur zu! (I have never heard although I was living in Germany - maybe they don't say that very often?)

Regards,
jana.bo


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## Setwale_Charm

*Russian:* 
Будьте моим гостем - Be my guest!
Чувствуйте себя как дома... -Make yourself at home!


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## ahshav

In Hebrew you be my guest would literally translate into תהיה האורח שלי (t'hiyeh ha'ore'ach sheli), however in Israel, in context the term more commonly used would be בכבוד (b'khavod = with honor), or more informally, sometimes the Arabic  تفضّل = tafaDhal (as explained by mahaodeh), would be used and understood, as well.


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## ronanpoirier

Outsider said:
			
		

> Portuguese:
> 
> _Está à vontade._
> 
> or
> 
> _Esteja à vontade._


_

_In Brazil we'd say:_

Fica à vontade

_or_

Fique à vontade

_And also, _fiquem à vontade _for plural.


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## arsham

Persian:
مهمان من باش 
mehmān-e man bāš (informal)
مهمان من باشید
mehmān-e man bāšīd (formal)


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## valo__fan

Turkish:
Misafirim olun!


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## anarosa

In German the most common used expression would be : 
"Nur Zu!"
Or "Fühl dich wie zu Hause!"


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## Evros

valo__fan said:


> Turkish:
> Misafirim olun!



This is direct translation,but idiomatic translation is different : it must be "buyrun"
In slovak that must be "nech sa paci" , if this idiom somehow means "here you are"..


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## Azori

Evros said:


> In slovak that must be "nech sa paci" , if this idiom somehow means "here you are"..


Almost correct, it's _"__Nech_ _sa_ _páči." _(with diacritics)


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## jana.bo99

anarosa said:


> In German the most common used expression would be :
> "Nur Zu!"
> Or "Fühl dich wie zu Hause!"


The first one I hear first time: "Nur zu"! 
I was in Germany few years and nobody told me something like that.
The second is right: "Fühl dich wie zu Hause!"


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## Encolpius

Joannes said:


> The Dutch translation would very much depend on the context.



What are you talking about here? What does this sentence mean? I agree with Joannes, it all depends on the context!!!


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## apmoy70

brian said:


> Hi everyone, I have a feeling some people haven't quite understood the idiomatic meaning of "Be my guest" in English. Here are some synonyms: _Go right ahead, By all means, Please do, Help yourself_ (depending on context), etc. Here is an example:
> 
> (in a shop)
> Customer: Can I browse through these magazines?
> Shopkeep: Be my guest! / Go right ahead! / Sure, help yourself! / By all means!
> 
> (in a house)
> A: Could I get a glass of water?
> B: Be my guest! / Go right ahead! / Sure, help yourself! / By all means!
> 
> The idea is that the person should feel perfectly comfortable to do as he pleases


In that context, the corresponding expression in Greek would be «σαν στο σπίτι σου» (san sto 'spiti su), roughly, "feel like home"


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## Rallino

Evros said:


> This is direct translation,but idiomatic translation is different : it must be "buyrun"
> In slovak that must be "nech sa paci" , if this idiom somehow means "here you are"..



_It is spelt Buy*u*run_ and is way too formal for this context. A more appropriate translation would be: _*Rahatına bak**!* _which is something like:_ suit yourself._


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## mataripis

Tagalog: Maging panauhin kita.


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## Ko-lo-bok-

brian said:


> Hi everyone, I have a feeling some people haven't quite understood the idiomatic meaning of "Be my guest" in English. Here are some synonyms: _Go right ahead, By all means, Please do, Help yourself_ (depending on context), etc.


Russian: "[да] ради бога" (for God's), "[да] пожалуйста" (please do) (with "да" both are less formal and more commanding, without "да" both may be used in formal as well as in informal contexts), "прошу Вас" ('I beg you' , it's formal).


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## mataripis

Tagalog: Ayos kang kasama!  (you are welcome to join with me/with us)


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## ThomasK

Dutch: "Ga uw gang" (Go your go, lit.), though there might be other possibilities, as Joannes suggests...


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