Looking for latin translation?

Question

I am looking for a latin translation of something like this "I have been waiting for you...for all of eternity". Online translators are of no help as usual when it comes to latin and I speak very limited and do not under sentence structure or verbs. Thank you so much.

Answer 1

I think that Koresh's translation is great, there's just a missing word - "ad" or "in", or "per". "Exspectavi te in omnem aeternitatem". "In perpetuum" could be used instead of "in omnem aeternitatem", but I think that the aeternitatem phrase sounds better.

I think that I prefer another word order - "Te exspectavi in omnem aeternitatem". It puts the emphasis slightly more on "you", and slightly less on the business of waiting. But both are correct.

However, if what you want to convey is that you have been waiting for someone forever, you should say "ab omni aeternitate" instead. "Ad (or in, or per) omnem aeternitatem" points towards the future, like in "I will wait for you for all eternity".

Answer 2

Exspectavi te omnem aeternitatem.

Using a participle and form of "to be" to express ongoing action is an English idiom and not proper Latin. "Semper" is also generally more forward-looking than retrospective.

Exspectavi te - "I waited/have been waiting for you" (the temporal phrase will make the distinction)

To express duration of time, you need to use the accusative case.

Once more: In Latin, to express duration of time (such as "for thirty years" or "all day long" or "for a few moments") you use the accusative case *without* a participle.

"All of eternity" doesn't strike me as being especially idiomatic Latin, though it would translate as "omnem aeternitatem." Perhaps you could use "meam omnem vitam" (my entire life) or "omnes meos annos" (all my years) instead.