# Gute Reise!/Bon voyage/have a good trip



## *Ginnyminny*

Hi
I'm sorry I don't know the meaning of "Gute Reise!" in English. But I want to know how to say that in Arabic. Can you help me?


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## Whodunit

I'll translate it for Cherine: It means "Bon voyage!" in French. 

EDIT: And for everyone (): Have a good trip!


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## cherine

Thanks Whodunit 
(though you could still just translate it for everyone, right ?  )

Hi Ginnyminny and welcome to the forum 
According to Whodunit's translation, this sentence mean in Arabic : رحلة سعيدة ri7la sa3iida


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## CarlosPerezMartinez

cherine said:
			
		

> Thanks Whodunit
> (though you could still just translate it for everyone, right ?  )
> 
> Hi Ginnyminny and welcome to the forum
> According to Whodunit's translation, this sentence mean in Arabic : رحلة سعيدة ri7la sa3iida


 
Hi, Cherine, is there any difference between رحلة سعيدة and سفر سعيد ? 
Thanx


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## cherine

Hi Carlos,
A little difference : سفر "safar" can be any kind of voyage/trip : for pleasure, for business.... whereas رحلة "ri7la" is mainly a trip for pleasure.


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## CarlosPerezMartinez

cherine said:
			
		

> Hi Carlos,
> A little difference : سفر "safar" can be any kind of voyage/trip : for pleasure, for business.... whereas رحلة "ri7la" is mainly a trip for pleasure.


 
Wallah? I didn't know that! Thank you very much.


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## cherine

You're welcome 

P.S. Just so I won't be misleading anyone, I hope you note that sometimes -many times actually- the usage of words may differ from an Arab country to another.
So, this is how I'd understand the usage of these two words in Egypt.


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## *Ginnyminny*

So much answers! Thank you very much!


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## linguist786

*Ginnyminny* said:
			
		

> So many answers! Thank you very much!


To cherine: would it be "rihlatu sa3iidatu" (I mean in MSA)?
(I know in spoken Arabic, these endings are often missed out)


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## elroy

linguist786 said:
			
		

> To cherine: would it be "rihlatu sa3iidatu" (I mean in MSA)?
> (I know in spoken Arabic, these endings are often missed out)


Close.  It would be "ri7latu*n* sa3iidatu*n*" because it's undefinied. 

Carlos, just to add to Cherine's answer, سفر is the maSdar, as you must know, so it wouldn't work here.  Even if you were referring to any type of trip you would have to say سفرة سعيدة.  You are referring to a trip, not to the act of traveling.


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## CarlosPerezMartinez

elroy said:
			
		

> Close. It would be "ri7latu*n* sa3iidatu*n*" because it's undefinied.
> 
> Carlos, just to add to Cherine's answer, سفر is the maSdar, as you must know, so it wouldn't work here. Even if you were referring to any type of trip you would have to say سفرة سعيدة. You are referring to a trip, not to the act of traveling.


 
Well, if that's the case سفر will mean something like "the fact of travelling, trip". Actually I heard before نتمنى لك سفر سعيد instead of سفرة . And if you travel with Saudi Arabian airlines you may hear the دعاء السفر prayer for the trip (safar, not safra). With other words I would agree with you (like شجر trees شجرة one tree) but with سفر I am not so sure.


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## Whodunit

elroy said:
			
		

> Close. It would be "ri7latu*n* sa3iidatu*n*" because it's undefinied.


 
Hm, you may be right, but why isn't it in the accusative? Isn't it just a shorter way of saying "I wish you a good trip" or "Have a good trip?", in which "a good trip" is definitely in the accusative.

It's the same as we say "Gute*n* Tag" (acc) in German - and not "Gute*r* Tag" (nom).


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## CarlosPerezMartinez

Whodunit said:
			
		

> Hm, you may be right, but why isn't it in the accusative? Isn't it just a shorter way of saying "I wish you a good trip" or "Have a good trip?", in which "a good trip" is definitely in the accusative.
> 
> It's the same as we say "Gute*n* Tag" (acc) in German - and not "Gute*r* Tag" (nom).


 
You are right. It should be نتمنى لك سفرا سعيدا (my mistake) but the fact is that I never saw سفرة


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## elroy

CarlosPerezMartinez said:
			
		

> Well, if that's the case سفر will mean something like "the fact of travelling, trip". Actually I heard before نتمنى لك سفر سعيد instead of سفرة . And if you travel with Saudi Arabian airlines you may hear the دعاء السفر prayer for the trip (safar, not safra). With other words I would agree with you (like شجر trees شجرة one tree) but with سفر I am not so sure.


سفر definitely does not refer to one particular trip, but rather to "the act of traveling, the idea of traveling."  I would translate the expression you quote as "We wish you happy travels" and not "We wish you a happy trip."  Similarly, دعاء السفر = "traveling prayer."  سفرة is the word to use if the reference is to one particular trip ("un viaje" in Spanish).


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## elroy

CarlosPerezMartinez said:
			
		

> You are right. It should be نتمنى لك سفرا سعيدا (my mistake) but the fact is that I never saw سفرة


Yes, technically it should be منصوب but when a noun is used in isolation (when there's an ellipsis), there's more flexibility and many times people will inflect the noun as مرفوع (the "default case," as in German).  In any case, it's actually a moot point because most people would pronounce this particular expression with no inflection ("ri7la sa3iida").

Carlos, سفرة is definitely a word.  I don't know why you haven't come across it yet.


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## AnalyzeThis

i don't know where "سفرة" came from
it's not a valid arabic word


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## CarlosPerezMartinez

Carlos, سفرة is definitely a word. I don't know why you haven't come across it yet. [/quote]

Well, with Arabic you never stop learning new things  . 

Thank you for your comments


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## cherine

AnalyzeThis said:
			
		

> i don't know where "سفرة" came from
> it's not a valid arabic word


It is an Arabic word 
See this text from Lisaan al-3Arab لسان العرب، لابن منظور :


> ويقال: جعلها الله سَفْرة مُرْجِعةً.
> والمُرْجِعةُ: التي لها ثَوابٌ وعاقبة حَسَنة.


It's true we don't use it as much as رحلة but this doesn't mean that it's not an Arabic word


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## lama

I think "رحلة موفقة"is the best translation,cause it's the most expression used,even in dialects.


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