Could you please translate this into one of French, German, Italian or Spanish?

Question

(but feel free to provide more than one if you don't mind):

The combined ages of Mary and Ann are forty-four years, and Mary is twice as old as Ann was when Mary was half as old as Ann will be when Ann is three times as old as Mary was when Mary was three times as old as Ann. How old is Mary?

Spider 1: Not 26, I'm afraid. I'll give the Answer when I choose the winner.

Bia: Please submit your Portugese translation.

Mark B: Neither is 22, sorry.

Answer 1

Gli anni compiuti da Maria e Anna sono quarantaquattro complessivamente, e Maria ne ha il doppio di quanti ne aveva Anna quando Maria ne aveva la meta' di quanti Anna ne avra' quando Anna ne avra' il triplo di quanti ne aveva Maria quando Maria ne aveva il triplo di quanti ne aveva Anna. Quanti anni ha Maria?

PAZZESCO !!!! It's bad enough in English! I assure you this is a good translation ... I am bilingual, but I doubt that anyone will be able to get to grips with it ... good luck. This was fun, thanks! Possibly the most complex sentence I have ever seen.

Sorry, I'm only good enough to do this in Italian.

Shaba's version is also OK but there is a mistake at the end ... the bit that says "se ..." should be "quando [not se, which means if] Maria era [not e', which is present tense] tre volte piu' vecchia di Anne". To be honest though, I like my version better ... it's just plain nasty, like the original!

Edit...
I wouldn't have attempted it myself, but my Spanish is good enough to recognise that you have good answers there. The first of the French versions is good ... the second is a good attempt.

Answer 2

Congratulations to all answerers. Not precisely correct, but much better than anything babel fish or babylon would have come up with.
Don't trust computer translations!
The vodka's OK, but the meat's off - The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Translated from English into Russian and back to English using a computer programme. Ca. 1966, cited by Naom Chomsky. Some things never change!

Answer 3

Whyyyyy???

I think this is right though in german that is ....

Mary und Ann sind zusammen 44 Jahre alt, und Mary ist doppelt so alt wie Ann war als Mary halb so alt war wie Ann sein wird, wenn Ann dreimal so alt ist wie Mary war als Mary dreimal so alt war wie Ann. Wie alt ist Mary?

Answer 4

French.

L'ages combine de Mary et Ann est quarante-quatre ans, et Mary es deux fois plus l'age de Ann a ete quand Mary a ete moitie que vieusse que Ann sera quand Ann est trois fois que vieusse que Mary a ete quand Mary a ete trois fois que vieusse que Ann. Quel age a Mary?

That's the only language I can translate to since I'm studying it. I probably got it wrong though.

Answer 5

Das kombinierte Alter von Mary und von Ann ist vierundvierzig Jahre, und Mary ist zweimal so alt, wie Ann war, als Mary halbes so altes war, wie Ann ist, wenn Ann dreialte mal so ist, wie Mary war, als Mary dreimal war, die so alt sind wie Ankündigung. Welches Alter ist Mary?

Answer 6

French:

L'âge combiné de Marie et Anne est quarante-quatre ans et Marie est deux fois plus agée qu'Anne l'était quand Marie n'avait que la moitié de l'âge actuel qu'aura Anne quand cette dernière serait trois fois plus agée que Marie était quand Marie était trois fois plus agée qu'Anne. Quel âge a Marie?

GOD I hate word problems! My head hurts :(

Answer 7

I'll translate it into German, my native language:

Mary und Ann sind zusammen 44 Jahre alt, und Mary ist doppelt so alt wie Ann war als Mary halb so alt war wie Ann sein wird, wenn Ann dreimal so alt ist wie Mary war als Mary dreimal so alt war wie Ann. Wie alt ist Mary?

Answer 8

Les ages combines de Marie et Anne sont de quarant-quatre ans, et Marie est deux fois plus vielles qu'Anne etait quand Marie etait demi aussi de vielle qu'Anne sera quand Anne est trois fois plus vielles que Marie quand Marie etait trois fois plus vielles qu' Anne. Quel age a Marie?

Answer 9

Sorry no but is Mary 26?

Answer 10

La suma de edades de María y Ana es de 44años,y María tiene la misma edad que Ana tenía cuando María tenía la mitad de edad que Ana tendrá cuando Ana sea tres veces mayor que la edad que tenía María cuando maría era tres veces mayor que Ana.¿Qué edad tiene María?