# isn't but



## dalia1000

Witam, nie jestem pewna jak przetłumaczyć poniższe zdanie:

"A happy family isn't but a paradise in advanced"

To moja próba tłumaczenia:

"Szczęśliwa rodzina jest niczym innym (?) jak wcześniejszym/przedwczesnym (?) rajem"

Możecie mi pomóc?

Z góry dziękuję,
dalia


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## Rusak963

dalia1000 said:


> "A happy family isn't but a paradise in advanced"



A paradise in advanced? Seems strange. I would say: a paradise in advance. Where is this sentence from?  
Anyway, my translation would look like this: 
Szczęśliwa rodzina jest niczym innym jak przedsmakiem/próbką/zaliczką raju.


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## ><FISH'>

It is difficult to understand, even in English. It looks incorrect as well. Czy masz może jakieś kontekst?


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## dalia1000

Unfortunately, no, it's a quotation without context, but I think Rusak is right, or at least it must be sth similar. Actually, it was originally written in Spanish and it was "un paraiso anticipado", but on the Spanish-English forum I couldn't find a satisfactory answer, only the translation "a paradise in advance"...


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## Rusak963

It could also be translated as:
Szczęśliwa rodzina jest niczym innym jak kawałkiem nieba.


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## Amajel

Rusak963 said:


> ...
> Szczęśliwa rodzina jest niczym innym jak *przedsmakiem* raju.



If the original says "un paraiso anticipado" so I would go for Rusak's translation, I mean "przedsmak raju".


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## Szkot

If it helps, the Spanish is a translation of the English:

A happy family is but an earlier heaven  (Sir John Bowring)

Is raj na ziemi a possible Polish idiom (although przedsmak raju sounds better)?


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## Rusak963

Szkot said:


> If it helps, the Spanish is a translation of the English:
> 
> A happy family is but an earlier heaven  (Sir John Bowring)
> 
> Is raj na ziemi a possible Polish idiom (although przedsmak raju sounds better)?



Yes, "raj na ziemi" is a possible Polish idiom. I don't know if we should call it an idiom even. I'd call it an idiomatic expression.
Also, I think "przedsmak raju" suits better here as "earlier heaven" translated literally means "wcześniejsze niebo". So it's as if a demonstration, tralier, sneak peek, foretaste, etc. An advance too if it means "zaliczka".


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