# E' un po' che non ci sentiamo



## Roseann

Hello, 

I am wondering if this expression: "E' un po' che non ci sentiamo" means something like "We haven't talked to each other in a while." 

Thanks!


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## danalto

Yes!


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## claudine2006

Yes, you're right.


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## Roseann

Grazie mille!


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## CharlieSierra

This is the opening sentence of an email from a friend in Italy.  I've tried to make sense of it, but I'm still such a novice at this.  Can anyone help?

E' un pò che non ci sentiamo, come va la vita?

My attempt:
It is a little unusual to hear from you, how are things in life?

Thanks


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## Hermocrates

_*"I haven't heard from you in a while, how are you?"*_


Rye


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## Juri

Just litteral: It's a time we didn't hear us,how goes your life?


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## Danieloid

Just for learners:
È un pò 
È un po'


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## CharlieSierra

I was close I guess, that's encourgaging.
Grazie!

Chris


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## rafanadal

Juri said:


> Just litteral: It's a time we didn't hear us,how goes your life?


 
Is it correct, really?
All of the sentence?


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## neuromatico

Juri said:


> Just literal: It's a time we didn't hear us.
> How goes your life?


The quasi-literal translation of the first part, (which should be a sentence), would be:
"We haven't heard from each other for a while".

"How goes your life?" is colloquial AE and perfectly acceptable.


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## Hermocrates

neuromatico said:


> "How goes your life?" is colloquial AE and perfectly acceptable.



An even more colloquial variant: "How's life?" 


Rye


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## rafanadal

neuromatico said:


> The quasi-literal translation of the first part, (which should be a sentence), would be:
> "We haven't heard from each other for a while".
> 
> "How goes your life?" is colloquial AE and perfectly acceptable.


 
But would there be a correct formulation of the sentence starting with:
"It's been a while we....." ?


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## neuromatico

rafanadal said:


> But would there be a correct formulation of the sentence starting with:
> "It's been a while we....." ?


Yup. You can flip it around. 
"It's been a while since we've heard from each other."



			
				ryenart said:
			
		

> An even more colloquial variant: "How's life?"


I wouldn't say than one was more colloquial than the other. 
My point was that Juri's "How goes your life?" was 'proper'  colloquial AE.


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## rafanadal

neuromatico said:
			
		

> I wouldn't say than one was more colloquial than the other.
> My point was that Juri's translation was 'proper'  colloquial AE.


 
That's interesting. So you're saying that an AmE speaker could actually say this and sound as a native speaker?


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## neuromatico

rafanadal said:


> That's interesting. So you're saying that an AmE speaker could actually say this and sound like a native speaker?


Absolutely. We say it all the time. 

I can't speak for Juri, but I suspect his translation was a happy accident.


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## rafanadal

But you mean the WHOLE sentence?


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## neuromatico

rafanadal said:


> But you mean the WHOLE sentence?


NO!  
Just: "How goes your life?"


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## rafanadal

Aah, it DID sound so wrong the first part.
thanks Neuro


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## Juri

Really, I din't translate the Italian phrase in English, but only literally explained  the meaning!


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## novizio

The colloquial translation in my area of AmE is "We haven't been in touch with each other in awhile, what have you been up to?", the addition of "la vita" adds a bit of emphasis that the first party is not looking for a mere courtesy response ("I'm fine")but wants some detail as to what the second party has done since last they communicated.


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## brian

I'd say: _(I) Haven't heard from you / We haven't spoken in a while. How's life?_


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## TimLA

Juri said:


> It's a time we didn't hear us,how goes your life?


 
Let me be supportive of Juri here, I think he was just trying to give a literal translation for didactic purposes.

E'____un__pò__che___non___ci___sentiamo,___come__va__la__vita?
It is__a__time_that__didn't__we__hear us,____how___goes_your___life?

Another approach might be:

E'____un po' (di tempo)___che___non_____(ci sentiamo),
It is____a little time______that___not___we hear each other,

...come____va____la___vita?
...how____goes__the___life?


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## You little ripper!

neuromatico said:


> "How goes your life?" is colloquial AE and perfectly acceptable.


Is that also colloquial CE, neuro? It sounds a bit strange to me and it would have to be a first if it is. A colloquial way of saying that in Australia is "How goes it?". But that may sound strange to you.


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## neuromatico

I would say AE/CE, but I didn't mean to imply that "How goes your life?" was our most commonly used expression of this kind, not by a long shot.  That would be "How's it going?", (which is on par with "Come va?").

My only point was that in attempting a literal translation, Juri unintentionally came up with a colloquialism. 

Your "How goes it?" sounds perfectly natural to me. 
(Would you say that "it" stands in for "your life"?)


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## brian

I don't think I'd ever _say_, "How goes your life?" (though I definitely say, "How goes it?"), but perhaps I might _write _it if I wanted to sound a bit different.

Another option: _How's life treating you?_


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## You little ripper!

neuromatico said:


> Your "How goes it?" sounds perfectly natural to me.
> (Would you say that "it" stands in for "your life"?)


Yes.


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## figidi00

salve a tutti potreste dirmi se è corretto dire in inglese "it's a little of time that we don't feel/write on" 

grazie


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## brian

figidi00 said:


> salve a tutti potreste dirmi se è corretto dire in inglese "it's a little of time that we don't feel/write on"



No, sorry, non si può dire.

Leggi un po' il thread sopra e troverai delle buone traduzioni.


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