Sorry to ask an utter favour but does anyone speak / can translate into Italian

[BasiliskStare]

I want to send a letter of condolence to the husband of a woman I knew , not well , but over a number of years Very very sad she has died His english is better than my Italian , but not perfect .Would anyone be prepared for me to send a PM with what I want to say and translate it so that I can write a letter. I have sent an email to his son ( who speaks english better ) l but I would like to write him ( the husband ) a proper letter . I do not speak Italian and am afraid if I try to do it on translate dot com or whatever those things are it will come out all wrongly.

I realise this is a big favour to ask but if anyone could help me I would be grateful - or if anyone thinks this is a rubbish thing to do - please say

Type the whole thing into google translate!

well I would but slightly nervous of a horrible mistake coming up ( so in the sense of those translation things you see as jokes where they nearly got the right word / phrase but translated very badly. Were it German I would give it a bash myself - Italian - I just don't speak it. ( - I'll try it ( Google though or indeed just write it in english & am sure son could get the most of it )

Do google translate, then do it back again - you'll see if there are any mistakes. Anyway if there is a small mistake no-one will mind.

Thanks @ ArgyMargy - that is a good idea I will do that - silly of me not to have thought of it. Thank you

Right I have done the google translate thing and then translating back into English it - when I said She made me laugh it comes back with It made me laugh - as if her death made me laugh - which actually would have made her laugh but the sort of thing I was trying to avoid. Oh I will find a way to do it but thank you both for suggestion

Change the word for "it" to her name and see if that is better upon retranslation.

@ ContadoraExplorer Thank you - I went for a cup of tea and though that as well - excellent suggestion - Thank you

@BasiliskStare what you're doing is kind and will certainly be appreciated. x

Pm me and I'll ask my Italian friend.

Ive done that and still comes back with things I would not say - perhaps just better to write in English and he will have someone who can help translate - his english is so much better than my italian , but I think this may have been a misguided attempt at niceness

Anyway thank you all for help - I shall just write it in english & we shall see if the message gets across - his son is pretty good at english so I am sure it will.

Decision made - but thanks for help

Hopefully someone will come along who can translate for you. I completely understand that for such a sensitive message you want to get it just right, although the husband would most likely appreciate the sentiment, even with a few mistakes.

If no one can translate the whole thing, could you just write a sentence or two in Italian, which you know is correct (by typing how do you write xxxx in Italian. If you check on several sites you can be fairly sure the translation is correct).

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.

@H20H20Everywhere

That is so kind of you - thank you

What I have decided is that I will start off with saying "Dear X " in Italian and then end it with ( not thought through but If best I can get this right ) words to effect of all our best wishes and thoughts - and just do the short bit in between in English. I am sure his son will be able to translate. I just thought it might be nice to make the effort , but as I do not speak Italian I would rather make my words clear in what I want to say. As I said upthread I have some German , - I would give myself a shot at writing a short letter in German , Italian , sadly is a language I have little grasp of.

But thank you all for your help

@Originofspecies

cross posted but your idea is exactly what I am thinking - a sentence or two to show I have made some effort but I would rather write what I want to write than make a mess of it because of google. So yes - that is the line I am going to go down but nonetheless I appreciate @H20H20Everywhere offer of help - I am sure her Italian friend would have got the nuance , but I am going with a hybrid letter where I know I pretty much have said what I wanted to and hope they will take it in the spirit in which it is itended .

Thank you all

When I've needed to do this, OP, I've opened with a line of two in the language and signed off in the language, then written the bit in the middle in English.

My reasoning was there are often set phrases to use that are less likely to be wrong or inappropriate (the equivalent of 'I'm sorry for your loss', iyswim).

I was told the sentiment of trying was appreciated and someone else read and translated the English - maybe the son, in this instance.

Would that work, do you think?

Sorry cross post - see you and PP got there first!

@Ginpuddles - thank you - I thought I might be nice to write in Italian. Problem is I don't speak Italian - in German I could give it a decent shot - more MFL anyone So It did the translate thing - but lots of things came out clumsily. So I am going to give my poor Italian a go with opening and closing but to get across what I want to say I will do it in english so I know I have made my point. ( Their son speaks english pretty well I am sure if the DH ( father ) doesn't get all of it the son will be able to do it.

Oh I do not know I just thought it might be a nice gesture , but on the other hand as is often said " Let not the perfect get in the way of the good" So sure as anything my Italian is not perfect ( well pretty much non existent ) - so I am going with some phrases and just writing to this man and his son who have lost such a strong , lovely & funny wife and mother in the best way I know which will be in English. Son speaks English - it will work - it was more for the husband / father but I will just try to say what I want to say & that is easier in English for me. So That is my plan & I am going to stick to it But I very much appreciate people's views, and offers of help. Thank you all