You aren’t too far behind me at all

[J352SAURUS]

Hi everyone,

I am answering a letter from my friend. I recently graduated from university, but unfortunately she failed one class that she now must repeat so she was unable to graduate on time. She will be able to graduate in a few months once she retakes the class, and I'm trying to reassure her that even though she didn't graduate with me, she's almost there. I'm trying to say:

You aren’t too far behind me at all.

As in, "you will be able to graduate soon", or "I may have graduated, but your graduation is not far away/your graduation is coming soon so don't worry". Does that make sense? This is my attempt:

Non sei troppo indietro affatto di me.

However, I feel like my translation is far too literal (like she's literally not that far behind me), and I also suspect that "affatto" might be in the wrong place. I'm pretty stuck on this one! What are your thoughts?

Thank you very much.

 

[Necsus]

HI. You actually don't need affatto, you can say "Non sei troppo indietro affatto di rispetto a me", or simply a more natural "non sei molto più indietro di me".

 

[J352SAURUS]

HI. You actually don't need affatto, you can say "Non sei troppo indietro affatto di rispetto a me", or simply a more natural "non sei molto più indietro di me".

Hi! Thank you for your contribution! I was quite lost with this one, but you've cleared it up very nicely. So does that mean "at all" really isn't translatable in this sense? I guess it's more to soften the sentence and act as a bit of "reassurance" that the distance she is behind me really isn't that far.

 

[Necsus]

You can't use affatto because it would mean she is not far from you at all, but that's not true, there is a (little) difference between you two..!

 

[J352SAURUS]

You can't use affatto because it would mean she is not far from you at all, but that's not true, there is a (little) difference between you two..!

Ohhh so "affatto" is used negatively. Got it! Thank you!

 

[Necsus]

Affatto is an intensifier, it can be positive or negative, depending from the sentence.

 

[J352SAURUS]

Affatto is an intensifier, it can be positive or negative, depending from the sentence.

Oh boy, haha. This will take a while to get the hang of. Thank you! Are you able to show me a positive and negative sentence using "affatto"?

 

[Necsus]

Affatto means completely, totally. If you ask me"Ti è piaciuto il film?" and I answer "Affatto" it means very much, otherwise I should say "Niente affatto/Per niente". From Treccani (my underlining):
affatto avv. [comp. di a e fatto 2]. – Del tutto, interamente: è affatto sordo. Più comunemente, si usa per rafforzare una negazione: non lo conosco affatto, per nulla; e come negazione recisa: niente affatto. Non ha di per sé stesso valore negativo; è perciò ritenuto scorretto l’uso del semplice affatto col senso di «niente affatto, no davvero».

 

[Pietruzzo]

So does that mean "at all" really isn't translatable in this sense?

You should split the sentence. Eg. "Non sei poi così indietro a me. Per niente! "

Affatto means completely, totally. If you ask me"Ti è piaciuto il film?" and I answer "Affatto" it means very much, otherwise I should say "Niente affatto

I guess most people (and I for one) would understand "affatto" and "nient'affatto" as synonymous.

 

[Necsus]

I guess most people (and I for one) would understand "affatto" and "nient'affatto" as synonymous

I understand that, but I wouldn't suggest to a foreign user a grammatically incorrect solution.

 

[Tellure]

You should split the sentence. Eg. "Non sei poi così indietro a me. Per niente! "

Oppure, "Non sei affatto (per niente) così indietro rispetto a me".

Sono d'accordo con Necsus, per me suona meglio "rispetto a me".

 

[Pietruzzo]

I understand that, but I wouldn't suggest to a foreign user a grammatically incorrect solution.

I see. As far as I'm concerned I would recommend not to use "affatto" meaning "a lot". Just to avoid misunderstandings.

per me suona meglio "rispetto a me".

Effettivamente "indietro a me" è un po' troppo colloquiale.