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La vie n'a pas de prix.

English translation: You can't put a price on life


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:La vie n'a pas de prix.
English translation:You can't put a price on life
Entered by: DocteurPC
Options:
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00:36 Nov 20, 2004
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
French term or phrase: La vie n'a pas de prix.
I'm translating a letter and this is one of the sentences. From what I can gather, it is some sort of saying. Does anyone know what it is comparable to in English?
Mary Watson
Local time: 06:12
You can't put a price on life
Explanation:
I know I agreed with «life is priceless» but this could be a better translation, again, depending on the context
Selected response from:

DocteurPC
Canada
Local time: 06:12
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +13You can't put a price on life
DocteurPC
3 +9life is priceless
Margarita
3 +2life is worth more than goldRHELLER


  

Answers


9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +9
life is priceless


Explanation:
I guess it'd be 'life is priceless', although I did run across a literal 'life does not have a price'. The latter one usually has either a 'life is priceless' meaning or a 'life costs nothing these days' connotation.
And, as always, the way you translate it would depend on the context of the letter.

Margarita
United States
Local time: 06:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  DocteurPC: life is priceless is better English depending on the context (the rest of the text)
2 mins
  -> thank you!
agree  Paul Kozelka: This would seem to be the more upbeat/romantic(?)/poetic choice for a letter.
6 mins
  -> thanks!
agree  Ségolène Neilson
48 mins
  -> thank you!
agree  Sara Noss
58 mins
  -> thank you!
agree  Johanne Bouthillier: Right, you can't buy or sell life. Life is or is not. No one owns life. It is a gift. It can be shared, given, or stolen, but it can never be bought or sold.
1 hr
  -> thanks a lot!
agree  Shaila Kamath
1 hr
  -> thank you!
agree  Dennis Mahony: "Argent! Trop chère! La vie n'a pas de prix!..." (Name that tune!)
2 hrs
  -> Téléphone? Jean-Louis Aubert? Thanks!
agree  Emine Fougner
2 hrs
  -> Thanks!
neutral  xxxCMJ_Trans: sorry but "priceless" has quite other connotations when used like this
8 hrs
  -> I wish you elaborated on this...
neutral  xxxIanW: With CMJ - "priceless" is generally understood to mean "funny"
11 hrs
  -> If we're talking about a famous Mastercard commercial, then yes! But a simple Google search shows that there're many book titles, articles, and other texts, where this phrase (and this word specifically) is used in its original sense.
agree  Lillian van den Broeck
3 days3 hrs
  -> Thanks!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +13
You can't put a price on life


Explanation:
I know I agreed with «life is priceless» but this could be a better translation, again, depending on the context

DocteurPC
Canada
Local time: 06:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Dr Sue Levy: this is what popped into my mind as soon as I read the French
18 mins
agree  roneill: This is great
1 hr
agree  Lindsay Sabadosa
2 hrs
agree  Emine Fougner: i came up w/ that too
2 hrs
agree  jerrie
6 hrs
agree  Anne McKee
7 hrs
agree  Tony M: Yes, this is the most 'standard' expression I am familiar with
7 hrs
agree  tappi_k
7 hrs
agree  Aisha Maniar
7 hrs
agree  Sonya Mountford-Jones
9 hrs
agree  Gabrielle Lyons: The best translation if, as often, you are contrasting it with things that have cost or value eg "Une pile ne coûte pas cher, mais la vie etc" (smoke detector campaign)
9 hrs
agree  xxxIanW
11 hrs
agree  translatol
17 hrs
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49 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
life is worth more than gold


Explanation:
-

RHELLER
Local time: 04:12
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 38

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michel A.
6 hrs
agree  Lillian van den Broeck
3 days3 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)




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