r/French • u/spicybunny24 • 4d ago

Help translating please ❤️

Hi all! I am in desperate need of a quick translation. “To have her is to have the stars”

I’ve seen “L’avoir, c’est avoir les étoiles” suggested, but I want to make sure it’s grammatically correct

Would a native speaker phrase it differently?

Thank you endlessly to anyone who can help!!

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7

u/titoufred 🇨🇵 Native (Paris) 4d ago

What is the meaning of "to have" in the phrase "to have her" ?
What is the meaning of "to have the stars ?"

2

u/spicybunny24 3d ago

It is for a celestial inspired written piece. I wanted this to be the last line from the perspective of the man in the relationship who is French. As if saying “to have her love is the have the universe itself” but thought stars would also work more simply as it they’re referenced in another point of the poem

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u/titoufred 🇨🇵 Native (Paris) 3d ago

Ok, you can use avoir in the same way in French for a relationship. For instance, you can say « Quelle chance de t'avoir » to a relative, a friend, a partner. I would go for « L'avoir, c'est avoir les étoiles ».

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u/spicybunny24 3d ago

But wanted it to sound more possessive of her own power. The thought like “not all get to have her and if you do you get this”

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u/Mobile-Boot8097 3d ago

I think titoufred is on to something here. Avoir is too imprecise here. How would one "have" such a woman? She sounds too self-posessed to be "had" by anyone. In what way, and what quality, does the subject "have" the object? Answer that and you will find your phrasing.

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u/spicybunny24 3d ago

Would it work better to say “L'aimer, c'est avoir les étoiles” ???

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u/spicybunny24 3d ago

I think I’m going for more of a symbolic rather than literal phrasing. If I were speaking for the woman in the piece as myself. I understand I cannot be “had” I am my own. But I have the stars within me. So to have me and my love you have the stars. It is not so much an object but the idea that having her love is to also have the stars

5

u/Intelligent_Donut605 Native - Québec 3d ago

It works, but where in english her is relatively clear, l’avoir could refer to litteraly anything, not specifically a woman which makes the whole thing much more vague. It could just as well be referring to a mistical sword or a rocket or something

4

u/Dry_Appointment2486 4d ago

The translation is grammatically correct but doesn't work well, it sounds like a translation and unnatural. The verb "avoir" could work but not with this phrasing. "L'avoir" is too cryptic because you don't know the subject you're talking about. "L' " is too vague, you don't even know you're talking about a person, even less a woman, making the sentence barely comprehensible. In the end the sentence doesn't convey any romantic meaning.

You could use the verb "être" instead.

"Être avec elle c'est être dans les étoiles." could work. "To be with her is to be in/with the stars". Slightly different meaning, but it's a clearer phrasing, and it's clearly a romantic poetic sentence.

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u/spicybunny24 3d ago

By the way I appreciate all the helpful constructive advice in trying to figure this out :)

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u/Onlyfatwomenarefat 3d ago

In french you can't "avoir" a woman. It sounds more natural to "conquérir" (conquest) her.

I would suggest "la conquérir, c'est conquérir la lune" since conquesting the moon is idiomatic.

But you can stick to "conquérir les étoiles" if you absolument want to mention the stars

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u/DearPrudence70 2d ago

I would morph it into something like, “Être à côté d’elle — c’est atteindre les étoiles.” I’m not a native speaker, so that may not be perfect, but I think it fits the mood.

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u/ngou 23h ago

Seeing a few comments that, to me, try a bit too hard to circle back to common or at least natural expressions in French — but "to have her" isn't a way to commonly refer to a romantic relationship today in English either. Because it's a poem, rhythm and concision are more important — as well as keeping semantic focus aligned. For instance, translating a fairly subdued all-purpose verb like "have" with focus-grabbing words like "conquérir" etc. is overworking the translation a little. So actually "l'avoir, c'est avoir les étoiles" is better, I reckon.

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u/PoxonAllHoaxes 4d ago

Oh just get a room and enjoy life. You are trying to force another language to say something that you would say in English--and this almost never works right.

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u/spicybunny24 3d ago

Honestly will never understand comments like this. It is for a written project and I was just trying to see if the translation was understandable to a French speaking person. I’m not trying to force something, this is why I’m asking an audience. Stop being rude - that almost always works right ❤️