A love that is lost

[charlie2]

How would you translate the following in French?
"It is better to have a love that is lost than to have no love at all."
Can I make use of the structure in Mieux vaut tard que jamais to make something like : Mieux vaut avoir l'amour perdu que ne pas l'avoir du tout?
Thank you.

 

[leonestdebil]

je dirais
"mieux vaut avoir perdu un amour que ne jamais avoir aimé"
mais je te conseille d'attendre d'autres suggestions
L.

 

[Benjy]

mm i think more usual turning of that expression in english is "it is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all"

 

[charlie2]

mm i think more usual turning of that expression in english is "it is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all"

You're probably right. It doesn't actually matter so far as I am concerned. I am just interested in learning the "Mieux vaut ..." structure when infinitives are used. ( I have seen sentences with Mieux vaut de ... que de ... and sentences without the "de" ) I thought this example is more interesting to use than Prevention is better than cure.Thanks a lot, still.

 

[Benjy]

ahh ok
mieux vaut tourner la langue sept fois avant de parler que de se révéler idiot

 

[charlie2]

ahh ok
mieux vaut tourner la langue sept fois avant de parler que de se révéler idiot

Ton conseil est très utile mais il ne concerne pas our dear friend "love" (lost or not). (I like it!)
Edit : So, "de" is only used after "que"?

 

[fetchezlavache]

i'm curious as to what instances you can provide, charlie, with 'mieux vaut de'. none come to my mind at the moment.

as far as i know, it's always 'mieux vaut consulter wordreference qu'un autre dictionnaire'.

'mieux vaut poser une question sur le forum que se croire omniscient'.


edit : regarding your 'love' proverb, i think leonestdebil's translation is excellent.

 

[timpeac]

i'm curious as to what instances you can provide, charlie, with 'mieux vaut de'. none come to my mind at the moment.

as far as i know, it's always 'mieux vaut consulter wordreference qu'un autre dictionnaire'.

'mieux vaut poser une question sur le forum que se croire omniscient'.


edit : regarding your 'love' proverb, i think leonestdebil's translation is excellent.

When do we put the "de" in sentences like this? Could you say "que de se croire omniscient"? Would this be colloquial? Thanks.

 

[Gil]

ahh ok
mieux vaut tourner la langue sept fois avant de parler que de se révéler idiot

Fallait pas me provoquer. C'est ce que je vais faire. Mais je crois que tu vas aimer mon exemple:

"Vieux motard que j'aimais"...

Edit:
Il y a des exemples plus brillants à:

http://www.evene.fr/citations/thema.php?idt=164

J'aime bien celui de Montaigne...

 

[Benjy]

ahahahha! top!

 

[mybeau]

Ton conseil est très utile mais il ne concerne pas our dear friend "love" (lost or not). (I like it!)
Edit : So, "de" is only used after "que"?

Si si. Cela a quelque chose a y voir.
C'est probablement en tournant sa langue sept fois dans la bouche de sa "love" qu'il l'a perdue.