# You and I are you, my dear. I have always been G3 and G3 will always be you.



## GBoyer76

The line is: You and I are you, my dear. I have always been G3 and G3 will always be you

In this sentence both "you" and "G3" are female. 

[For the curious, in this sci fi novel, G3 is an AI that identifies as a Muslim woman]

Any advice would be appreciated.


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## elroy

Sorry, what does "You and I are you" mean?


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## GBoyer76

The AI is saying that she and the person she is speaking to, that she thinks of the two of them as the same person. They are part of a larger multi-dimensional organism that eats reality and excretes fantasy, but the woman two whom G3 is speaking, she is like the egg from which this organism sprouted into our universe . So, the idea is that although they seem like two different people, actually G3 is just an extension of this other woman. (It's kind of an "out there" sci fi novel, series of novels really.) Any help would be much appreciated!


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## normordm

May I suggest "You and I are one" instead?


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## GBoyer76

Well, actually, I didn't want to change the English. I was interested in how to translate it into Arabic. Thoughts?


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## elroy

This is tough because I know very little about sci-fi, but here’s an attempt:

أنا وأنتِ، كلانا أنتِ يا عزيزتي. أنا دائمًا كنتُ جي-٣، وجي-٣ ستكون أنتِ إلى الأبد.


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## wriight

elroy said:


> ستكون أنتِ


Is the subject pronoun appropriate here? (Or, is ستكون إياكِ valid at all?)

GBoyer76, I think normordm was asking if "you and I are one" would be an appropriate substitute in Arabic (as opposed to translating "you and I are you" literally). Would it be?


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## elroy

ستكون أنتِ does sound a bit funky (but then again, the whole statement is funky ), but إياكِ only works if the pronoun is filling in for a noun in the accusative.


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## wriight

I thought كان governed the accusative, though. I can see that كان + object pronoun isn't really found, if Google-indexed sources are any indication, but I'm not totally sure why.


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## elroy

Ah, you're right!  Maybe that's why ستكون إنتِ sounds funky!  But ستكون إياكِ sounds strange too, maybe because it's not used (much) in MSA, even though it has to be grammatically correct.  I would guess that it's more likely to be found in classical writing and/or poetry. 

We can resolve the issue in my translation suggestion by adding هي:

أنا وأنتِ، كلانا أنتِ يا عزيزتي. أنا دائمًا كنتُ جي-٣، وجي-٣ ستكون هي أنتِ إلى الأبد.


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## GBoyer76

Sounds great! So, elroy, you're saying, "أنا وأنتِ، كلانا أنتِ يا عزيزتي. أنا دائمًا كنتُ جي-٣، وجي-٣ ستكون هي أنتِ إلى الأبد" is your full translation of  "You and I are you, my dear. I have always been G3 and G3 will always be you"? 

If you think it's good, I will put this in the book. It's in final stages of proof-reading, and I really wanted to have a footnote with the Arabic. 

I just find Arabic to be such a beautiful language. Actually, I am hoping to learn it next. At this point, I only know English and Chinese. Actually, I'm going back to China in September. Sigh. I wish I had become interested in learning Arabic when I was younger.

And thank you, everyone for your help! I have never tried to use a forum before. I've enjoyed watching the conversation between you all play out!


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## elroy

GBoyer76 said:


> So, elroy, you're saying, "أنا وأنتِ، كلانا أنتِ يا عزيزتي. أنا دائمًا كنتُ جي-٣، وجي-٣ ستكون هي أنتِ إلى الأبد" is your full translation of "You and I are you, my dear. I have always been G3 and G3 will always be you"?


 Yes.  

Others might come along with better suggestions!


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## Ihsiin

All these constructions with ستكون sound weird to me. Why not إنها أنت أبدًا or something like that?

Also, just to note that جي-٣ is a transliteration of G3. If it were me I would leave that in Latin script: G3.


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## elroy

Ihsiin said:


> Why not إنها أنت أبدًا or something like that?


 إلى الأبد, not أبدًا.

I’m not sure your suggestion really fits, but I did consider using ستبقى rather than ستكون, which would give us

أنا وأنتِ، كلانا أنتِ يا عزيزتي. أنا دائمًا كنتُ جي-٣، وجي-٣ *ستبقى* هي أنتِ إلى الأبد.
Is that more to your liking?


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## Ihsiin

elroy said:


> إلى الأبد, not أبدًا.



What’s wrong with أبدًا? I mean, I know إلى الأبد is used, but so is أبدًا and the latter is what I would naturally go to.



> I’m not sure your suggestion really fits, but I did consider using ستبقى rather than ستكون, which would give us
> 
> أنا وأنتِ، كلانا أنتِ يا عزيزتي. أنا دائمًا كنتُ جي-٣، وجي-٣ *ستبقى* هي أنتِ إلى الأبد.
> Is that more to your liking?



It still sounds off, it sounds like a translation. I’m not 100% sure I understand the OP’s intention, but I think it’s supposed to be that the phrase is actually ‘said’ in Arabic and then ‘translated’ in narration, with the ‘original’ being provided in the footnote. Is this correct, @GBoyer76? If so I feel like we should go for something more natural that conveys the meaning, even if it strays a little from the original. Now, my فصحى is generally atrocious but I would suggest something like:

كلانا أنتِ يا عزيزتي. قد كنتُ دائمًا G3 وإنها أنتِ أبدًا (أو إلى الأبد if you prefer)

Which would translate to: We are both you, my dear. I have always been G3 and it will always be you.

Which is less wordy than the original but conveys the same message.


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## elroy

Ihsiin said:


> What’s wrong with أبدًا?


 I have never encountered أبدًا used to mean "forever."  Do you have any attestations or sources showing that it's used with that meaning? 


Ihsiin said:


> قد كنتُ دائمًا G3 وإنها أنتِ أبدًا (أو إلى الأبد if you prefer)


 I don't like this because it's not clear what إنها refers to.


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## Ihsiin

elroy said:


> I have never encountered أبدًا used to mean "forever."  Do you have any attestations or sources showing that it's used with that meaning?



Well, we use it in vernacular but Wehr also lists it as meaning: “always, forever.” Also Lane says: “أبدًا is an adv. n., of which the signification includes all future time.”



> I don't like this because it's not clear what إنها refers to.



Well, I suppose one could say  وإنّ G3 أنت but doesn’t sound as fluid and I’m not sure if it’s necessary, there’s only one third person in the phrase after all.


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