h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

need a translation for

"we are all angels with one wing; we (can) only fly if we have someone to hold"

A Latin teacher might want to use different variations of the subjunctive to convey different connotations, but I think the following captures the concept fairly well:

omnes angeli sumus una cum ala; modo volaremus si aliquem tenere sit.

could you explain the last part "si aliquem tenere sit".
i don't understand why you use "sit". please explain.

Do you mind if I lurk ? Only because I'm interested....

bump

..and again

and yet again

Hi hussamo :

I think I can propose my translation, perhaps a little more accurate:

Omnes angeli una cum ala sumus, (sed) tantum volabimus aliquem si habuerimus prehendendum.

looks pretty accurate, but i don't think prehendum is the right word to use

I use sit (subjunctive) here rather than est to pair it with the subjunctive volaremus to make it more speculative and less matter of fact. I would re-translate it to English more like: . . . we would fly only if there were someone to hold.

I actually wanted to make it more matter of fact. You know like: "we are only able to fly, when/if we have someone to hold."

For a more matter of fact statement, I would use the present indicative:
modo possumus volare si aliquem tenere habemus.