The original phrase in English was Just what will we come across this time?, but I doubt there is such a word in Latin that expresses humility in this sense, so I just threw just away and came up with Quendam modo inveniemus?, but I’m still not entirely sure about the pronoun and its case, the tense (present or future), and the sentence itself. Any thoughts?
1 Answer
It is not necessary to throw the "just" away; the exasperation expressed by it (if that is indeed what you want to express by it---you speak of "humility," which I do not quite understand) can be approximated with tandem.
Quendam means "a certain person" and is not an interrogative, so it is out of place here. Latin for "what" is simply: quid?
Finally, "this time" is arguably the most difficult part. Modo does not seem appropriate; one could say nunc, but that does not express the idea of repetition (i.e., that this is not the first time we come across something) as the English does. I would prefer the ridiculously literal hoc tempore, although it, too, really only means "now." But at least it implies that there may be or have been alia tempora.
So we end up with:
Quid tandem hoc tempore inveniemus?
answered Nov 27, 2021 at 19:03
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I had the same thought of hoc tempore (one more question about that: Isn’t the preposition in needed?), but I thought tempus would mean something more like a long period of time rather than an instance when a situation takes place. Thank you for your help! And by ‘humility’ I mean that a person accepts they’re ready to be put to some test, but maybe it’s only me who understands just this way. Nov 27, 2021 at 19:56
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@BöseKirsche the ablative is enough for "time when," no in needed (or allowed). Tempus is not restricted to long periods in general, but it is true that it does not mean "time" as in "third time," etc. If "just" here means "I'd just like to know," perhaps you could say something like Modo scire velim, quid hoc tempore inventuri simus. Nov 27, 2021 at 21:09
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@BöseKirsche I agree that tempus might be the wrong kind of “time”. I would like to suggest vicis. So, hac vice instead of hoc tempore.– Lukas GDec 4, 2021 at 7:48