Toki Pona Forums

toki!
I decided to organize a translation contest. Every few days I will post an aphorism or a short quote from a book of mine. You goal is to find the cleanest translation possible.
At the end of a round, I will select the best translation in my opinion and give one point to the author.
I think it could motivate people to get into toki pona and make others practice!
Here’s the first challenge: "When you have time, you often lose it." — Daniel

toki! utala musi ni li pona tawa mi.

tenpo kama lili la mi lukin ante e toki lili ni tawa toki pona. ona li ike lili tawa mi. mi o toki insa...

mi o lukin. ken la:

sina jo e tenpo la tenpo li tawa

ken la ni li ante mute. mi sona ala...

mi wile e ni: jan Tepan en jan Kipo li lukin ante e toki lili ni. mi kama sona e ijo mute pi toki pona tan ona tu.

toki sina li pona. taso ken la jan Tepan en jan Kipo li lukin e ni.
tenpo suno nanpa tu la mi pana e toki mi.

Boringly 'sina jo e tenpo la temp mute la ona li tawa weka.' But that doesn’t,t get to deeper meaning, which I can't seem to formulate. Maybe, 'sina pilin e ni: sina jo e tenpo suli la sina kepeken sona ala ona.'

jan Sanje wrote:toki!
I decided to organize a translation contest. Every few days I will post an aphorism or a short quote from a book of mine. You goal is to find the cleanest translation possible.
At the end of a round, I will select the best translation in my opinion and give one point to the author.
I think it could motivate people to get into toki pona and make others practice!

Leaderboard:
jan Ala: 0

Here’s the first challenge: "When you have time, you often lose it." — Daniel

toki, jan Sanje o!

"sina jo e tenpo la, tenpo mute la sina ken ala awen e ona."

sama la lipu sona Tatowepa la jan li ken utala.

awen pona!
jan Tepan

WasoPimeja
sina jo e tenpo la tenpo li tawa.

Your translation is synthetic but two points are missing in my opinion:
- We don’t understand that you are responsible for the loss of time
- The "often" nuance is not there

janKipo
sina pilin e ni: sina jo e tenpo suli la sina kepeken sona ala ona.

I love this one! "kepeken sona ala" is great!

janTepanNetaPelin
sina jo e tenpo la, tenpo mute la sina ken ala awen e ona.

Definitely my favorite translation! It is really clear and using "awen ala" for "lose" is smart. I also appreciate the two contexts.

So I give the very first point to janTepanNetaPelin! The next challenge is about feelings.

jan Sanje wrote:

"Jealousy lasts longer than love." — Charles Joseph

A complex abstract concept and a comparison! ike!

taso mi pilin e ni: mi sona e nasin...

olin li awen. olin pakala li awen mute.


ken la ni li ike. mi sona ala ante e nimi 'jealousy' kepeken (anu 'lon'?) nasin pona.

jan Sanje wrote:WasoPimeja

"Jealousy lasts longer than love." — Charles Joseph

(olin pona li awen lon tenpo pi suli mute. olin utala li awen lon tenpo pi suli lili.)

olin pona li kama suli. olin utala li awen lili.